Food and Recipes Recipes Carla Hall's Warm Carrot Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing Be the first to rate & review! Layers of warm, spiced carrots, along with lightly caramelized pineapple chunks and tart, crunchy apples come together with a creamy and bright lemon dressing to make carrots the star of the show. By Carla Hall Carla Hall Chef, best-selling author, and television personality Carla Hall has been entertaining audiences for years. She competed on Bravo's "Top Chef" and "Top Chef: All Stars" and shared her philosophy to always cook with love. Currently, she can be seen hosting Food Network's "Holiday Baking Championship." Carla believes food connects us all, and she strives to communicate this through her work, her cooking, and in her daily interactions with others.Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Carla Hall grew up surrounded by Soul Food. Her career path was unique, from working as an accountant to runway model to finally coming back to food, her real passion. Today, she is a trained chef who has worked in several professional restaurant kitchens in and around the Washington, D.C. area and is an accomplished television personality and author. Carla is also a published author. Her latest cookbook, Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration. She has two previous cookbooks: Carla's Comfort Food: Favorite Dishes from Around the World and Cooking with Love: Comfort Food That Hugs You. Recently she published a children's book: Carla and the Christmas Cornbread. Carla was a guest on the Southern Living Biscuits & Jam podcast in 2021. Find her on social media @carlaphall and at carlahall.com. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on March 19, 2021 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: McCormick Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins Total Time: 45 mins Servings: 4 Jump to recipe Celebrity chef Carla Hall teamed up with McCormick to dish out a delicious culinary tribute to the Easter bunny's all-time favorite food: the humble carrot. "I love carrots," the Nashville-native said in an IGTV demonstration. "I think they are the 'and' vegetable—they're good raw and cooked. They can be sweet and savory." In Hall's spruced-up, super-colorful carrot salad, your tastebuds will experience carrots in both their sweet and savory glory. Rainbow carrots—a fancier version of the beloved veggie—in hues of purple, red, orange, and yellows give the dish a fun pop of color. No offense to the traditional orange, of course! Golden raisins, pineapple, and chunks of Granny Smith apple add sweetness and tang to the roasted carrots, while a generous splash of creamy lemon dressing tie all the elements together. The finished result is a festive, Easter-inspired dish that will bring guests hopping back for more. Ingredients 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 pound medium rainbow carrots, trimmed and peeled 1 small Granny Smith apple, cored 1/4 cup golden raisins 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 cup canned pineapple in juice, drained (with juice reserved), cut into 1/2-inch chunks Creamy Lemon Dressing 1/4 cup cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons pineapple juice (reserved from can) 2 teaspoons dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract Directions Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk olive oil, sesame seed, salt, black pepper and cayenne in small bowl. Arrange carrots in single layer on parchment-lined sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil mixture, rolling carrots to coat well. Roast 30 minutes, turning carrots halfway through cooking. Meanwhile, cut apple into 1/2-inch chunks; toss with raisins and lemon juice in medium bowl; set aside. Remove pan from oven and push carrots to one side of pan. Arrange pineapple chunks on other side of pan. Roast 10 to 15 minutes longer, until carrots are fork tender and pineapple is lightly browned. Remove pan from the oven. Keeping separate from the carrots, add apple mixture to pineapple on sheet pan, tossing gently to allow mixture to pick up any pan juices and seasonings. Allow carrots and pineapple mixture to cool slightly. For the Creamy Lemon Dressing, whisk all ingredients in small bowl. To assemble salad, arrange carrots on rectangular serving platter. Sprinkle pineapple mixture across center of carrots. Drizzle with Creamy Lemon Dressing to serve. Tips Produce sizes vary across different regions and seasons. To prepare with larger carrots, cut in half lengthwise before roasting. The cooking time may vary slightly depending on the size of your carrots, so check for tenderness starting at 20 minutes. Rate it Print