Here's a recipe for carrots and a pesto made out of carrot tops. This is a very light and healthy recipe for carrots that is perfect for springtime.
Carrots have such a delightfully sweet flavor that an acidic, bright, vinegary pistou really balances out their natural flavors. while roasting carrots is much more popular, I think blanching them lets their natural sweetness come through a little more without the oiliness that roasting can impart.
This recipe is (also) adapted from ilene rosen's saladish, a vegetable-forward seasonal cookbook that is my new fave.
carrot-top pistou is quite literally a pesto made of carrot tops, so if you buy carrots at the farmers market, save the tops for carrot-top pistou.
Carrots with Carrot-Top Pesto
a bright, root-to-tip carrot salad
Ingredients
- 1 lbs colorful carrots w/ their tops still on
Carrot Top Pesto
- 1 cup carrot tops
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1-2 teaspoon of dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon salt & pepper
- ½ cup fruity olive oil
Instructions
- boil a large pot of water and add a palmful of salt. prepare an ice bath
- trim and peel the carrots; blanch the carrots for 5 mins. toss into the ice bath when done.
- in a food procesor, pulse to combine the carrot tops, garlic, dijon mustard, salt and pepper. stream in olive oil until just formed into a pesto-y consistency. taste + adjust seasoning as needed
- plate with carrots + pistou + a fleck of maldon salt.
Nutrition
Serving: 4ozCalories: 298kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 2gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 93mgPotassium: 363mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 18944IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 88mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!