Tropical carrot salad

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are looking for a lush little side dish that has the flavors of the tropics, you can not go wrong with the lovely carrot salad. Keep it simple but lush by soaking the raisins ahead of time and make sure to keep this one chilled until needed. It goes well with grilled fish, chicken, or Hawaiian burgers to complete a tropical themed lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of shredded carrots
  
• 1 15-ounce can pineapple tidbits in juice, drained and juice reserved
  
• 1 cup golden raisins
  
• 1 cup coconut flaked
  
• 1 cup mayonnaise
  
• 1 cup cashew nuts chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  

Instructions:

• In a medium bowl, mix carrots, pineapple, raisins and coconut.
  
• In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise, coconut extract and 1 ½ tablespoons of the pineapple juice until blended. Drizzle mixture over carrot mixture and mix thoroughly making sure all of the carrots are well coated. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
  
• Tip: If you are making a large batch of this carrot salad, consider freezing remaining pineapple juice in ice cube trays to use in drinks later.
  
• Tip: Soak raisins in orange juice for a few hours prior to making this salad for a delicious extra layer of flavor. You can also soak them in some of left over pineapple juice.
  

More side dish salad recipes for you:

Creamy veggie pasta salad
Mexican Beef Salad
Southern Style Potato Salad