I got a beautiful mess of small orange and red carrots from my CSA last week…sadly one of the last shares of the season…and the green feathery tops were so lush and verdant, I just couldn’t cut them off and plunge them into the waste bin. Also, it’s just become too rare to actually find carrots at the store with their tops on; and if they are still attached, then usually they look sad and floppy. So this seemed like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I know they can be used in place of herbs to make a terrific pesto, but I still have plenty of the stuff in the freezer from summer. Then in the deep recesses of my brain, I recalled eating a roasted carrot in a restaurant once, that still had its top attached— papery, slightly charred, and meant to eat. It was excellent. So I decided to give it a try with my tops…
I basically winged it, deciding to roast the tops with them still attached to the carrots (rather than cut them off and roast them separately), since the carrots were so small and fresh-out-of-the-ground, I knew they wouldn’t take long to roast, nor would the tops burn. I tossed the carrots with olive oil, salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin and cardamon; the tops with just the olive oil, salt and pepper. I roasted them on a sheet covered with parchment paper for about 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees (if you do this at home I suggest adjusting the time depending on the size of your carrots). They came out tasting like potato chip-salty and crunchy— but obviously a bit better for you. I crumpled them into a grain salad along with the carrots, some roasted beets, avocado, lettuce, and a mustard-vinaigrette. But you could just eat them like this:
Enjoy!
