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I've been getting carrots lately in my CSA with their tops attached, so I did some googling to find out what I could do with carrot tops, other than find an animal to feed them to.

Came across this recipe: https://www.loveandlemons.com/carrot-green-chimichurri/

I made it last night and it was really delicious. I subbed out ACV for the white vinegar because that's what I had on hand. Had leftovers today for lunch and it still tastes great.

Curious if others had recipes/suggestions for parts of vegetables that often get tossed out?

Chickens get our left overs, but they dont like the carrot tops. I'll have to show this to my partner, who likes doing the cooking

I would feed them to my horses, or my chickens. Horses love them!

I generally feed carrot greens to the guinea pigs, they love their treats. But, I had a fantastic carrot green pesto in a restaurant a few years ago that has me giving the pigs side eye. One of these days they’re not getting the carrot greens!!

silk wrote:I would feed them to my horses, or my chickens. Horses love them!

Yes, that's the usual approach. But this chimichurri will likely keep me hoarding them

Carrots and garlic scapes are usually ready at the same time, so I like to make a carrot and garlic scape pesto.

The scapes are quite the delicacy though, so sometimes I just prepare them much like asparagus.

Fresh radish greens are nice too. I will slice them thinly and sprinkle them in a salad along with the roots. OT, but if you ever have excess radishes, they are nice cooked - the flavor mellows, so they can be used as a side dish on their own.

heddylamar wrote:I generally feed carrot greens to the guinea pigs, they love their treats. But, I had a fantastic carrot green pesto in a restaurant a few years ago that has me giving the pigs side eye. One of these days they’re not getting the carrot greens!!

I do too but not too often. I was told that (unless organic, maybe?) the carrot greens store a lot of the nitrate from fertilization. No Idea if that's true.

AmityBee wrote:I do too but not too often. I was told that (unless organic, maybe?) the carrot greens store a lot of the nitrate from fertilization. No Idea if that's true.

That’s good to know. Fortunately, I’ve never bought carrots greens specifically for the little beggers. They just get the greens that come with our organic CSA share. So lots of natural (composted cow and goat manure!) fertilizers

There are probably fewer nitrates and nitrites in carrot tops than you have in your own well water. The body actually needs a certain level of nitrates, ( which it converts into nitrites) nitrites in saliva are part of the bodys first defense against bacteria, and nitrites is essential to the body in the dilation of blood vessels, in fact they are used in treatment post heart attack.

i know the world of orthorexia puts a nix on nitrates but in moderation your body needs them.

that said i am not a fan of carrot greens but they are actually nutritionally more healthy than the root, they have vitamin K, calcium and lots of good stuff that i cannot name off the top of my head.

maybe i will give eating them a try again

I collect and freeze anything that I can use when I make stock. Bits of onion, including skin, wilty scallion greens and the little root ends, celery remnants, bones/skin from cooked chicken, any skin/fat removed from chicken before cooking.

blob wrote:I've been getting carrots lately in my CSA with their tops attached, so I did some googling to find out what I could do with carrot tops, other than find an animal to feed them to.

Came across this recipe: https://www.loveandlemons.com/carrot-green-chimichurri/

I made it last night and it was really delicious. I subbed out ACV for the white vinegar because that's what I had on hand. Had leftovers today for lunch and it still tastes great.

Curious if others had recipes/suggestions for parts of vegetables that often get tossed out?

I made this chimichurri tonight. I put it over the roasted carrots, and on a turkey burger. It's delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe, blob.

Glad you enjoyed it, KathyK!

I'll definitely be making it again with future carrot tops! Easy and tasty!