Danielle Moore
If you only think of rabbit food when you think of the green leaves of the carrot, you can now relearn: the green carrot contains lots of vitamins and also tastes extremely delicious. Here you can find out how you can use the fresh green of the carrots.
Not only rabbits and guinea pigs taste the juicy green of the carrots. We humans can also eat the aromatic foliage – both raw and cooked.
Carrot greens are high in valuable calcium, which we need to fight inflammation, keep our heart, lungs and kidneys functioning, and keep our bones and teeth healthy.
Because of the risk of pesticide residues, you should only eat the green of organic carrots as a precaution.
If you buy carrots in a bunch, you get a lot of “greens” in addition to the crunchy vegetables: the leaves of the carrot, called carrot greens or carrot greens. As with the leaves of the kohlrabi, the leaves of the carrot also contain many vitamins and nutrients – above all calcium.
The normal path of the carrot greens usually leads directly to the organic waste bin or the rabbit hutch. But the fresh green is much too good for that. Here’s how to recycle carrot greens:
Use carrot greens: 4 delicious ideas
The aromatic green goes well in homemade vegetable seasoning paste, as an herb for seasoning salads and soups (as a rule of thumb: where parsley is tasty, carrot greens are also suitable) and in green smoothies.
Carrot Green Pesto – the ingredients
- Carrot greens from a bunch of carrots
- 100 ml high quality olive oil
- 3 tablespoons cashew or pine nuts
- ½ garlic clove
- 50g grated Parmesan or Pecorino
- Salt pepper
Make carrot green pesto yourself – that’s how it works
Wash the carrot greens, shake dry or dry in the salad spinner. Then cut into small pieces.
Put the cabbage in the blender or puree with the hand blender together with the garlic, nuts and oil.
Grate and stir in the parmesan.
Season with salt and pepper.
Carrot green = carrot spice
The carrot green goes perfectly with carrot vegetables. Simply chop some of the greens finely and pour over the steamed carrots. If you serve carrots as a snack, you can season the dip with carrot greens.
Smoothie with carrot greens
An idea for a smoothie with carrot greens: Blend 3 carrots (greens included), 2 oranges, 1 apple and a piece of ginger for a vitamin-packed smoothie. In all smoothie recipes with fresh spinach, you can replace it with carrot greens.
Grow carrot greens
Cut off the end of the carrot, leaving about three to four inches of green. Then place the carrot, cut side down, in a bowl of water. It is enough if the bottom is covered with water. Too much water may cause the carrot to go moldy.
When the carrot greens start to sprout after a few days, you can transplant them into a pot with soil. Place your regrowing carrots in a bright spot and water them regularly – so you always have fresh carrot greens at hand.
Reusing carrot greens: tips & tricks
Only eat the green of organic carrots. Conventional goods are often sprayed, and the green can also contain pesticide residues.
Do not use dead leaves, only fresh greens.
Like other herbs, carrot greens can be frozen without any problems. Chop the washed and shaken dry leaves, pack them airtight in a freezer bag and then freeze them in the refrigerator or freezer.
