Carrot Lox

by Lisa Apfelberg

Unsure what to put on your bagel? We've got you covered! This recipe will give you all the flavors of lox, with none of the harm to fish and the planet. It doesn't get much better than that!


Ingredients

2 cups coarse sea salt*
3 large unpeeled carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 pieces of roasted seaweed (from the eat-out-of-the-package snack), crumbled into small pieces or chopped
Juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons of capers including liquid


Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (191 degrees Celsius).
  2. Place one cup coarse salt into a glass baking dish and place uncut washed, still wet carrots into the salt, making sure they are surrounded by salt but not touching the bottom of the baking dish. Pour the remaining salt over the top.
  3. Roast uncovered for about an hour and a half, checking occasionally to ensure carrots have not become too soft. When they’re ready will depend on how thick your carrots were.
  4. When done, remove carrots from salt and allow to cool. Push off any extra salt and peel the skin. Use the peeler to cut the carrots into ribbons.
  5. Prepare the marinade by whisking together the olive oil, liquid smoke, vinegar, seaweed, lemon juice, and capers with liquid.
  6. Add the carrots to the marinade in a glass container with a lid. The carrots need to be placed into the refrigerator for at least two days so the flavor becomes like lox and the carrots will get softer and smoother.
  7. Serve on a bagel with vegan cream cheese and tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, dill, and salt and pepper.

Notes

*You may need more salt if your baking dish is very large. The idea is to submerge the carrots in salt.