Greetings, friends! For fun I am resurrecting one of the blog posts I wrote back in 2010 – a warm butter bean salad bowl, garlic-roasted carrots and wild rice. Why I am re-publishing a decade-old recipe? Well, for one I thought that there are a bunch of new followers around here who have never even seen this delight (hello, by the way)! Second, most of you who have been here since the beginning may have forgotten about it. Third, it’s the ideal pantry staple recipe. And lastly, because it’s very, very delicious. Creamy butter beans, golden garlic-y carrots coins, chewy wild rice, crisp and bright pickled onions, silky kale, and refreshing dill, all coming together with a lick-your-lips mustardy dressing that is divine on just about everything – this salad and beyond.
I’ve also re-named it the Spring Supper Salad because it’s the perfect seasonal transition meal (yea baby, it’s definitely a meal) incorporating both winter and spring produce and flavours, as we make our way into the light of the upswing! Hooray!
This recipe brings back so many memories for me. It was around this time that I had been working in restaurants in Copenhagen for about 3 years. I loved my job, and could hardly believe that someone actually paid me to spend all day in a hot, cramped kitchen, cooking a dozen new dishes every day without a menu or recipes – definitely still in the honeymoon phase. I felt confident in the food I was making, applying my deep understanding of nutrition to recipe development, and I used every day to push myself creatively, keenly aware of how fast I was learning and growing. I was certainly in the vortex, and it was a very exciting time of my life.
I started my shift around 8 am, and the majority of my dishes needed to be ready at 12 noon when we opened the doors for lunch. This is a relatively short window of time to pump out 200 servings of anything, but after some years, I developed short cuts that would deliver a lot of flavour in a hurry. One of these short cuts, was garlic oil – the first thing I would make after tying my apron strings, that would act as a marinade, a roasting medium, and a base for soups, stews, dressings and sauces for the entire day. In fact, I don’t think that there were many dishes coming off of my station that didn’t have garlic in them back then (such an easy way to make things taste good!). This oil sat on my bench and it got tossed into all the things, and all the people kept coming back for more.
One thing I loved using the garlic oil on, was winter veggies. I could toss them in said liquid gold, crank up the oven, and in half an hour, I’d have a blistered, glistening pile of roasted rainbow roots to serve, only needing a squeeze of lemon juice and a smattering of fresh herbs to make it presentable. Who wouldn’t want to dive into that?! Plus, it was cheap. Like most restaurants, we were always looking at the bottom line and how we could make even the most humble foods taste exquisite. Garlic oil was the ticket.
At the restaurant, my signature move was combining veggies, grains, and beans in exciting ways (which was very novel at the time!) so this dish emerged from a commercial oven’s worth of garlic-roasted carrots needing a home. With some tender and creamy butter beans coming off the stove, and some day-old, steamed wild rice calling out to me from the fridge, this combination came together very organically, taking the varied textures, colours, and flavours into consideration.
The secret to this dish is the consistency of the garlic in the oil. Different from mincing garlic and adding it to oil, here you must must must grate it or blend it up together so it becomes almost paste-like. This way, the garlic goes everywhere the oil does, and evenly caramelizes into the most divine, delectable gold, that’s mellow and sweet and roast-y. You will not hate it.
Stop! Fiber time.
Fiber is probably the least sexy and alluring of all the nutrients we hear about. It’s all about Protein! Fat! And if you hear about carbohydrates, it’s probably something ignorant and unfair (I really hate jerks picking on macronutrients, back off!). Fiber seems pretty boring and something only your grandmother cares about, so why do you need to?
One reason that plant-rich diets are so health-sustaining, is not only due to their high fiber content, but their potential for fiber diversity. In the past, fiber has been broken down into two main categories: soluble and insoluble. What’s new and exciting in this field of research, is that we can see that fiber can be broken down into several more categories (viscous, non-viscous, non-starch polysaccharides, resistant starches etc.) each one bringing forth the potential for diversified food sources for our gut bacteria. In short, the greater the diversity of plants we eat, the greater the diversity of our microbiome.
Why does this matter? Because our gut is the foundation for our overall health. If we’ve got a wide range of troops on the front lines of our immune system, the better our chances are for not just surviving, but thriving. The fiber we eat also feeds our good bacteria, and specific types of fiber feed specific types of bacteria. Enjoy eating the widest variety of plants you can, to ensure that you’re supporting the widest variety of good guys in your digestive system. They will repay you in spades I’m tellin’ ya!
The foods with the highest amounts of fiber are beans and lentils, vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts and seeds (remember that there is no fiber in animal-based foods). Different proportions of soluble, insoluble fiber, as well as viscous / non-viscous fiber, and fermentable fiber can be found in all of these food groups, it is highly recommended that you eat from each of them. And instead of focusing on grams (the minimum daily recommended intake is a measly 25g, not that we’re talking about that…), we need to focus on diversity. Enjoy as many plant-based foods as you can, and experience the terrain of your body slowly begin to change. Everything comes back to the gut, and not just what you are eating, but what your gut-bacteria are eating too.
With this dish, you’ll be feeding those good guys with fiber from six different plants! Talk about a solid mix. Beans, whole grains, 3 different veggies, plus herbs, add up to serious fiber diversity. Good, good, good fiberations! 😉
The fun thing about revisiting this recipe, was seeing if there was anything I would change this time around. I have learned so much and grown incredibly as a cook in the past ten years, so I was surprised that I didn’t have many tweaks to make. The only two things I felt this salad needed was a dark leafy green and a pickle – classic Sarah B moves at this point! Since we still don’t have any spring greens happening yet, I decided kale was the winner, and obviously it needed to be massaged! I turned the red onions in the original recipe into a quick pickle, as this is another indispensable kitchen technique that I’ve learned since posting the first time around.
This salad-meal has everything you need and crave from a single bowl: it’s super flavourful and filling, with all of the textures in the mix to satisfy your noshing desires. The elements can all be made separately, even on separate days, if it seems like too many things to cook at once for a single dish. If you go the rollover route, boil the beans and rice a day or so before (and make extra while you’re at it, because meal prep is for winners), and pickle the onions up to a week ahead. The kale can be prepped / massaged a day or so in advance, but the carrots should be roasted right before serving.
If you don’t have butter beans, any white bean would work (navy, cannellini, Great Northern, or baby lima beans are some varieties) and if you want to switch up the grain, any kind of rice would work – even millet or quinoa would be delicious! Instead of carrots, use any root veg you have kicking around your crisper: beets, sweet potato, turnip, or winter squash would taste great in the garlic oil. And if dill isn’t the herb of your dreams, try substituting it with flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, basil, or tarragon.
Butter Bean, Wild Rice, and Garlic-Roasted Carrot Salad
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1/2 cup wild rice
1 cup dried butter beans
4-5 medium carrots
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch fresh dill
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
a handful of quick-pickled red onion (recipe follows)
1 batch massaged kale (recipe follows)
Dressing:
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt
Directions:
1. Soak beans for 8 hours or overnight. Drain, rinse well and cover with fresh water. Add a teaspoon of sea salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until beans are soft – about 45 minutes.
2. While the beans are cooking, rinse the wild rice well, drain, and put in a pot. Cover rice with 1.5 cups fresh water, add a couple pinches of sea salt, bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer. Cook until rice is chewy-tender – about 45 minutes. You will know the rice is done when the grains open up to reveal their purple-gray inner portion.
3. Preheat the oven to 400F. While the rice is cooking, wash the carrots and slice them on the diagonal into ‘coins’, place on a baking sheet. Grate the garlic with a microplane and combine it with the oil. Pour over carrots and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven and roast, turning them a few times over the course of 15-20 minutes. The carrots should be cooked but not mushy – al dente!
4. Make the dressing by combining all ingredients together, shake well.
5. Now all the elements come together: Drain and rinse beans in cool water to stop the cooking process. Pour dressing over warm beans and toss. Let sit for 5 minutes or so. Drain the rice if any water remains, cool slightly. Mix with beans. Toss in the carrots, scraping the pan to add garlic oil to the remainder of the ingredients. Throw in the massaged kale, as many pickled onions as you fancy, and an explosion of dill. Cracked black pepper too, if it’s calling to you.
6. Serve immediately and enjoy.
Quick-Pickled Red Onion
Ingredients:
¾ cup / 175ml raw apple cider vinegar
½ cup / 125ml water
2 tsp. fine sea salt
3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. Combine the vinegar, water, salt, and maple syrup in a large jar. Stir to dissolve the salt and syrup. Add the onions to the jar and put them in the fridge. Enjoy after at least 30 minutes, keeps for up to two weeks.
Massaged Kale
Ingredients:
3 cups / 90g shredded curly or dino kale
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 pinches of fine sea salt, plus more as needed
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the shredded kale, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Using your hands, rub and squeeze the kale together as if you are giving it a massage, until the kale leaves are dark green and tender, about 2 minutes. Enjoy immediately in the salad, or store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
I really hope you enjoy this delicious and satisfying meal soon. These days are asking so much of us, and I continue to come back to the kitchen for grounding, clarity, and connection. There are no answers, just presence. And in that presence I find myself over a cutting board, being grateful for just what is front of me, slicing a carrot, then another, saying thank you for simple things.
Love to you all. Stay well and safe out there.
xo, Sarah B
Fresh seasonal salads are a simple way to bring more variety and color to everyday meals. Combining crisp vegetables, fresh herbs, and a flavorful dressing can turn basic ingredients into something satisfying without requiring complicated cooking steps. Trying new recipes is also a great way to keep learning, and Sena Sofia Plus offers another place to explore educational information and opportunities for personal development.
As a runner, I’m always looking for hearty plant-based meals that actually keep me fueled, and this salad looks like a winner. The garlic-roasted carrot coins with creamy butter beans sound like such a satisfying combination. I love the tip about grating the garlic into the oil instead of mincing it — little details like that make a recipe. This is going on my post-long-run meal list!
I love how the garlic‑roasted carrot coins add a caramelized depth that balances the creamy butter beans. The mustardy dressing, with its subtle dill, ties the wild rice and kale together into a cohesive, season‑transition meal.
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A fresh spring salad is a lovely way to enjoy seasonal ingredients and bring more variety to everyday meals. The recipe offers nice inspiration for anyone looking for a colorful, nourishing dish that feels light yet satisfying.
I love how the author highlights the garlic‑oil shortcut from his Copenhagen kitchen—using it as a base for everything from roasting carrots to dressing the salad. The combination of creamy butter beans with crisp pickled onions and a mustardy dressing really showcases how simple pantry staples can create a season‑transition meal that feels both comforting and fresh.
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The pickled onions against the mustardy dressing is the part that made me read twice — the vinegar cuts the sweetness of the carrots just enough, and the wild rice keeps it from feeling heavy. I made a rough version of it on Tuesday with what was already in the cupboard, though I skipped the pickling and regretted it.
Different kind of cooking on my end this week: a poster for a small spring supper at our community hall. I typed one line — the date, the hall, the word “supper” — and got back a laid-out poster with the headline type, palette and composition already chosen. That’s what shimmerpic.com does, free in the browser and it exports at print size. The small line of address text at the bottom drifted on the first run and needed a second go, which is about what I expected. Still, I had a printable thing in ten minutes instead of an evening in a design app, and the beans were done by then too.
I love how the garlic‑roasted carrots add a caramelized depth that balances the creamy butter beans. The mustardy dressing, with its subtle heat, ties the wild rice and pickled onions together, making the salad feel both hearty and refreshing.
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The tip about grating or blending the garlic into the oil rather than mincing it is the kind of detail that actually changes a dish — paste-like garlic disperses evenly and caramelizes instead of burning in pockets. I’d add that this same trick works for roasting any root vegetable, and the fiber-diversity point lands well: rotating beans, grains, and greens through one bowl does more for your gut than counting grams.
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I was telling my friend about a bean and grain salad that I can’t stop making and eating. And Then SHE told me about YOUR recipe. I am so GLAD to get it, I needed a new really really insanely delicious salad like this. Love it. It’s got all the right elements. This is the way I like to eat. But the other thing I enjoy almost as much as eating your salad is how your love of the whole cooking process , it comes through, your writing, your natural flow, wisdom and sense of humor. You tell it like you feel it and see it and basically let er’ rip, and it works.
Hello Surati! This is such a wonderful comment – thank you so much for writing! Be well, Sarah B
Nice Blog! A healthy diet is very necessary these days for a healthy life. Thanks for sharing.
One of the best recipes on the blog! We have been making it regularly since 2010, I learned how to make the massaged kale, marinated red onions and roasted garlicky carrots which we now use for other dishes too!
I love this delicious spring supper salad! Thank you for sharing!
Wow! Looking Great! I’m also creating and enjoy this sort of stuff (recipes) and also have a website with the name “https://susancooksvegan.com/”. I always enhance my skill to make people learn and cook like a pro! Once again great stuff!
This salad was so good I went back for seconds! Perfect for a late spring/early summer lunch. 🙂 The dressing is the perfect mix of sweet and savory and the pickled red onions are truly the piece de resistance. I’ll definitely be making this again; thank you for sharing your delicious and nutritious creations with the world!
Hi Caroline!
So happy you hear that you enjoyed 🙂
Simple and healthy. Thanks for giving me new ideas in the kitchen
What a great recipe: yummy and healthy and perfectly balanced to be a satisfying meal to keep you full for hours. Definitely I am going to try this asap!
You are amazing I made this spring salad – omg so good – I have your two cookbooks and am going trough them recipe by recipe – thank you for giving us recipes that not only work but are taste sensations xox -Irene
Hi Irene! Thanks so much for the sweet comment — so glad you find joy and inspiration from My New Roots!
Healthy Food in Morning Breakfast. So Easy and Delicious Recipe. Thank You for Sharing. I Also try this Recipe in the Same Order.
Yum! I need to eat more salad, can’t wait to try this recipe, thank you for sharing!!
I can’t wait to make the recipe soon.
I learn new great recipe from your article. Thanks for sharing such a good blog.
This is a great salad recipe. Would love to have it as soon as possible.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe- it was delicious!
It’s a very wonderful recipe! I’m sure that this will be very healthy for us. Thanks for sharing the idea!
I and my wife are trying to have/make a very good salad as our neighbours who happen to be also a couple are coming over to share the night with us. Thanks for sharing this awesomely healthy and unbelievably cheap and doable dish! I don’t think I’ll nail what you did with yours though, but I promise I’ll make a decent comparison out of it!
Absolutely delicious-thank you !
Loved this salad, so tasty, used millet instead of rice and a mix of carrots & golden beetroot (lack of carrots) The fresh pickled red onion is a revelation! Thank you Sarah, delicious and gets better over a couple of days.
The Spring salad is something yummy we need to include in our daily ration. I am sure that I will try my best in order to make the same one.
Good to know that works too! It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Wow great post.
Thanks for sharing such a lovely recipe
This is the unique salad recipe I was looking for. thanks for such a delicious recipe. When I meet with my daughters, I look forward to trying with them.
A friend shared a secret with me for mayonnaise-based pasta salads. Use a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and half the mayonnaise I would normally use and some season salt.
I love d it! It turned out really amazing! I used a garlic paste instead of garlic but it worked just fine. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
Thanks Ghulam!
Such a wonderful recipe dear Sarah!! So worth it, love to learn this small detais that can make a salad so nutricious and delicious.
Thanks for sharing Sarah. Keep save.
Thanks for your lovely comment, Claudia! I hope you enjoy the recipe. Stay safe as well <3
xo, Sarah B
Yum Yum yum. My daughters and I just made the beans and rice and dressing and we haven’t even gotten to the carrots and Kale and already we are eating it straight for the bowl! Rancho Gordo beans will push this-over the edge of yummy. Thank you!
Hey Betzy!
Haha, that’s AMAZING!! What a comment 😀 Love Rancho Gordo beans…enjoy every bite!
xo, Sarah B
I just love your pantry salads! This one looks like another winner and great way to use that wild rice that has been sitting in the cupboard for a while now. Another favorite is your lentil salad. Hope you and yours are staying well.
Hej.
I live in northern British Columbia and try as I might, which includes sourcing on line, I cannot find either raw or cooked butter beans. Please advise where I can order them.
Tak!
Hej Marianne,
I got mine at a local independent health food store, but I often bring them back from Denmark, believe it or not! Super Brugsen sells them 😉
I hope you can find some online…amazon is sold out!
Best,
Sarah B