Grated Beet & Carrot Salad with Radish-Miso Dressing

Ali Segersten Jan 13, 2010 14 comments

Creating delicious salad dressings on the Elimination Diet can feel limiting—especially when you're avoiding vinegar, citrus, and fruit. But healing foods always find a way to surprise us with their abundance.

This Asian-inspired dressing is both vinegar-free and citrus-free, yet full of vibrant flavor and digestive support. The inspiration came from a reader’s heartfelt email, asking for Elimination Diet recipes without any fruit. That small spark of inquiry led me into the kitchen...and then, a lightbulb moment: radishes!

Grated radishes provide a bright, peppery base that mimics the acidity we often crave in dressings—without the need for vinegar or lemon juice. When blended with Adzuki Bean Miso (a soy-free, gluten-free miso from South River Miso Company), it transforms into a creamy, savory, probiotic-rich dressing that nourishes the gut and delights the palate.

I recently demonstrated this recipe during an Elimination Diet cooking class at our local co-op, and it was a total hit. Simple, unexpected, and deeply satisfying—this dressing is one I know you'll come back to again and again.

ALI-2023-PHOTO-VERTICAL-2

About the Author

Alissa Segersten, MS, CN

Alissa Segersten, MS, CN, is the founder of Nourishing Meals®, an online meal-planning membership with over 1,800 nourishing recipes and tools to support dietary change and better health. As a functional nutritionist, professional recipe developer, and author of The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, Nourishing Meals, and co-author of The Elimination Diet, she helps people overcome health challenges through food. A mother of five, Alissa understands the importance of creating nutrient-dense meals for the whole family. Rooted in science and deep nourishment, her work makes healthy eating accessible, empowering thousands to transform their well-being through food.

See More

Nourishing Meals Newsletter

Email updates.

Add Comment

Comments

This salad dressing sounds great! I've been on a real salad kick lately and like to find new, original ideas. Thanks!

Your blog is fantastic... full of healthy and original recipes that just make you want to cook! Great job! I'll be following along :)

Okay, I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical about using radishes in salad dressing. Radishes *and* miso just sounded a little too different, so I didn't make it until I happened to notice that our market does carry South River Adzuki miso. In need of a new food for phase one, I decided to give it a go, and I am now addicted to it. I like it more than any other salad dressing I've ever made. The beet/carrot/greens/cilantro mix with it is just divine with a bit of cooked salmon. I love-love-love it. It's a good thing we've got lots of radishes growing! :-)

Ali, you and I are on the same page, seriously, everything you've been making lately is so similar to what I've been making in my own kitchen! The azuki yam hash ,this salad, wow, i think we are totally food connected... Looks great, as always - great dressing idea with the radishes. And I just cracked open a fresh jar of the miso today, and planned on making a salad dressing for my salad at dinner tonight. Weird, I tell you, weird. :)

Kim || www.affairsofliving.com

Ali,
This salad is really good. Love the dressing!

Thanks..

Anon - Eat regularly, and add more protein and fat into your daily meals. It is totally normal to feel this way after a day smoothies and juice. There is a very broad range of feelings with this diet; some feel fantastic the first week and some feel awful. :)

Katie - Penzey's spices are gluten-free (but unfortunately not organic).

Ali,

Since I am very sensitive to gluten, I am concerned about cross contamination with spices. Can you tell me a brand of spices that is certainly gluten free? Thank you!

Katie

ok...i'm on day 3 and am feeling woozy: very ditzy, tired and worn. i haven't tried the salmon yet and am hoping that phase 1 foods will help boost me up. anyone else out there feeling the same? any suggestions?

Thanks gals!

Check your local health food store or Whole Foods. South River's chickpea miso might work as a replacement.

Happy cooking! -Ali :)

Hi there, I just went to the south river site to order the miso but they are out of stock. Do you know of another place to purchase this product? Thanks in advance.
-S

I was at the class Monday night and can whole-heartedly agree that this salad was amazing! I'm going to get some of the miso today. Thank you for sharing it!

Wow, looks so pretty. Wish I could get someone around here to eat like that.

Funny you should mention protein, Ali. I'm on Phase 1 & must've been needing some protein. A co-worker brought home-smoked wild salmon to work yesterday & I didn't hesitate--it was delicious!

You always have colorful, beautiful dishes, but they are seeming especially so with the elimination diet recipes. Love that! :-) Thanks for the info on the miso, too.

Shirley

Related Posts

WINTER SQUASH-CUTTING BOARD-1
Apr 28, 2025

11 Restorative Foods That Support Deep Transformation

When you've taken the courageous step of removing inflammatory foods and potential sensitivities from your diet, your body enters a remarkable phase. One of renewal and receptivity. This is the replace phase. The time to fill your plate with foods that rebuild, repair, and restore. Replacing isn’t just about substitutions, it’s about intentional nourishment. This is where food becomes medicine—where digestion begins to strengthen, the microbiome starts to diversify, and the nervous system begins to regulate. It’s not simply about finding a gluten-free bread or a dairy-free milk. It’s about delivering the nutrients your cells need, soothing inflammation at its root, and laying the groundwork for deep healing. When you feed your body this kind of nourishment, food becomes more than sustenance—it becomes sacred medicine.

Read More
LAVENDER FIELDS SUNSET-1
Apr 18, 2025

How to Leave the Known and Rewire Your Brain for Lasting Change

There comes a moment, often disguised as discomfort, when you know it’s time to change. Time to stop shrinking into old patterns that once kept you safe, but now keep you stuck. Time to step over the edge of the known and into the luminous unknown where real change begins. But if you’ve ever tried to shift your diet, a habit, a thought loop, or a way of being that feels like second nature, you know how hard it can be. Your mind may long for transformation, but your nervous system clings to the familiar—even when it no longer serves. This isn’t weakness. It’s biology. Your brain is wired to protect you—to favor what’s known, what feels safe, what conserves energy. It stores habits—of thought, behavior, even self-talk—like well-worn trails in the forest. Walking a new path requires effort, repetition, and, most of all, self-love.

Read More
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET FOOD-2
Apr 14, 2025

How to Do an Anti-Inflammatory Diet to Calm Inflammation

Our bodies are always speaking to us. And at some point, the signs become too loud to ignore. We wake up tired. Our digestion feels off. We are holding on to extra weight. Our skin flares, our moods swing, and we barely recognize the energy we once had. We know we aren’t eating the way we should—but we also don’t know where to begin. It all feels overwhelming, so we keep putting it off. And eventually, we begin to wonder...“Is this just how I’m supposed to feel now?” When your body feels inflamed, tired, bloated, or foggy—despite your best efforts to eat well—it may be a sign of hidden inflammation quietly impacting your energy, digestion, and clarity. Through a therapeutic, whole foods-based approach, the Anti-Inflammatory Diet offers a powerful path to restore balance by removing common food triggers, calming the immune system, and nourishing your body at a cellular level.

Read More
sacred pause candle-1
Mar 28, 2025

The Sacred Pause: How to Begin Healing by Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back

Sometimes the deepest healing doesn’t come from adding more—but from letting go. When we release what no longer serves us, we create the space our body needs to restore balance and begin to heal. The remove phase of the elimination diet process invites us into a rare and sacred moment: a pause. Not just from inflammatory foods, but from the unconscious patterns and loops that have kept our bodies in distress and our minds disconnected from our inner knowing. This isn't about lack or restriction. It’s about reverence. The kind that allows us to create space for healing, listening, and nourishing ourselves on every level. Letting go can stir up more than just cravings. It can awaken grief, uncertainty, even identity questions. You may find yourself asking: Who am I without my morning coffee? Without that glass of wine to unwind? Without the comforting foods I reach for when life feels overwhelming?

Read More
GLUTEN-FREE IMAGE-1
Mar 24, 2025

Your Gut on Gluten: Why Removing It Might Change Everything

Have you ever wondered if gluten could be silently sabotaging your health—affecting your digestion, brain, skin, hormones, or immune system—even if you’ve never been diagnosed with celiac disease? You’re not alone. More and more people are waking up to the realization that their daily discomforts—like bloating, fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, joint pain, migraines, or stubborn skin issues—might not be random…but rather connected to something as simple and foundational as what’s on their plate. Gluten is often viewed as harmless unless you have a medical diagnosis. But emerging research—and the powerful healing stories of those who’ve removed it—tell a different story. For some, gluten is just another protein. But for others, it’s a daily trigger for immune disruption, systemic inflammation, and a slow, quiet breakdown of the gut lining.

Read More
FLOWERS ON BENCH SUNSET
Mar 21, 2025

Letting Go of Food Addictions During an Elimination Diet

Food is more than just fuel—it’s emotional, cultural, and deeply tied to our daily habits. But for many, it also becomes a source of addiction, keeping us stuck in negative cycles of cravings, energy crashes, and emotional eating. Processed foods, high in sugar, unhealthy fats, and artificial additives, are designed to hijack our brain’s reward system, triggering dopamine releases that make us reach for more, even when we know they’re harming our health. Letting go of food addictions isn’t just about willpower—it’s about breaking free from old patterns and stepping into alignment with your future self. Over the years, one of the biggest struggles I’ve seen during the elimination diet process is the difficulty of letting go of foods that have been part of one’s daily diet for years—or even decades. The cravings for sugar, gluten, dairy, and processed foods can feel overwhelming, and ironically, they often get stronger when we try to break away from them.

Read More