Skinny Carrot Raisin Salad (Pineapple Chobani Style!)

I sincerely adore Chick-fil-A's carrot raisin salad.  It is actually my favorite thing on the menu, and I am very sad that the location on campus here does not have it.  I understand that it is a miniature selection of their menu, but everyone should have CRS on demand!

What I do not love, however, is the 12 grams of fat.  At all.  So naturally, I set out to make my own version.  Now, without using mayo this of course does not have quite the same flavor as the original, but this did come out with a fantastically bright flavor that is oh so right up my alley.

I used 3 carrots, 1/4 C golden raisins, 3 oz pineapple Chobani Greek Yogurt (half a container), 1/2 can crushed pineapple, 1 TB honey, a couple drops of lemon extract (feel free to just use a little squirt of lemon juice), and a pinch of brown sugar. 

I finely shredded the carrots and added the remaining ingredients.  I personally did not drain the pineapple and so mine has juiced up a bit, but I am not worried about this one. You can feel free to add regular raisins or a mix of them, I just happen to prefer golden in general so I used what I had.  Also, you can add as many as you like.  I think raisins are especially delicious in this type of dish.

Again, it does not taste identical but I think it tastes delicious!  Instead of the 12 grams of fat, Chobani Pineapple has 2.5 grams for the whole container and we are only using half here.  Not to mention, the yogurt in here alone brings in almost 7 grams of protein itself.  Carrots pack a pretty decent punch when it comes to Vitamin C, and they aren't crunchy and rabbit-y when you shred them finely.

It should hold out fine in your fridge for a couple of days.  I would say this recipe makes a similar amount to what you would get in a large order, my container was pretty full by the time it was done.

If anyone had told me a few years ago that I would be buying 2 pound bags of carrots every couple of weeks at the grocery, I would have told them they had lost their mind.  But as it turns out, they are a lot more versatile than what I think they get credit for, especially when you finely shred them.  Between this and my carrot raisin bites recipe (found here http://greenzebra9.blogspot.com/2013/03/carrot-raisin-bites.html) I definitely can see me going through this bag and a whole lot of yogurt.

Happy crafting!