When Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish new year – rolls around, sugar, and specifically honey, often is on the menu. It’s a kind of edible prayer, a hopeful way of attracting sweet things to one’s life in the year to come.

That’s why this salad is based on a sweet vegetable – the carrot – and flavored with honey and dates. But you don’t have to celebrate Rosh Hashanah to love this recipe. Refreshing and simple to prepare, it’s a great and healthy end-of-summer treat no matter what your faith.

Technique-wise, I borrowed a trick I learned for beets: I grate them.