Carrots and Tops

STOP!

DO NOT THROW AWAY THOSE CARROT TOPS!!!

After receiving carrots with their tops several times, I decided to research the edibility of carrot tops and was quite surprised to find out they were edible! No wonder they kept sending them with the tops on! Carrot tops are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, especially potassium and can be used as substitutes in many places where you would use parsley. They do kind of have a "carroty" flavor, so you may want to do half parsley and half carrot tops.

Here's a fun way to use the whole vegetable in one go:


Carrots and Tops

6 carrots with tops
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Cut the carrot tops off the carrots and wash well. They tend to be quite dirty, especially near the base. Finely chop the garlic and carrot tops. Cut the carrots into 1-inch chunks. Heat the olive oil on high a large skillet. Add the garlic and stir constantly until the garlic just begins to brown. Add the carrot tops and the salt. Once the carrot tops have wilted, add the carrots and cook until just heated through, or longer if you like your carrots softer.

Bon Apetit!

Butternut Leek Pasta Sauce

I used the butternut squash in the last box and the leeks in this week's box to make a pasta sauce. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I brought it to a potluck today and it got all eaten up, so I think it worked! This has a few more steps than a lot of the recipes I've been posting lately, but i think it's worth it.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

2 leeks*

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp each salt & nutmeg

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

Cut the stem off of the butternut squash if it has one and then cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and place the 2 halves cut-side down on a baking sheet. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

While the squash is baking, clean the leeks well.** Thinly slice the leeks crosswise. Over high heat in a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Stir constantly to prevent burning. Just as the butter begins to brown, add the leeks, salt and nutmeg. Stir constantly to prevent burning. When the leeks have begun to brown, turn the heat off and add the evaporated milk. Stir to combine.

When the squash is cooked, scoop out the flesh into a large bowl.*** Add the leek mixture and mix well. Toss with cooked pasta.

This makes enough sauce for 2 pounds of pasta.

* I threw in 1 stalk of green garlic that I had left from the last box. I imagine this recipe would work quite nicely using just green garlic, about 4 stalks total would do I think. Also, 2 regular onions can be substituted for the leeks.

** See the "Roasted Root Vegetable Salad" entry for instructions and pictures on cleaning leeks.

*** I had roasted some root vegetables while I was baking the squash. Instead of throwing the squash skins away, I tore them up into bit-sized pieces and tossed them with the roasted vegetables. Butternut squash skins are very tender and quite tasty, and this way there's no waste!

Potato Celeriac Mash

Ingredients:

about 2 pounds potatoes

1 large celery root (celeriac)

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

Wash and peel the celery root. The skin is quite thick; make sure to get rid of all the tough, fibrous bits. Cut it in half lengthwise.

Wash the potatoes and leave whole.

Toss everything in a light coating of olive oil and put on a baking sheet. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Transfer vegetables to a large bowl, add the butter and salt, an mash everything together.

If you just got a veggie box, I used all the potatoes we got this week, and the celery root that was in there. Perfect combo! Sorry, no pictures. I roasted the beets at the same time and they tinted everything red, so my mash is pink O_o.

Bon Apetit!

Guatemalan Potatoes

This recipe is kind of late, busy with the holidays and all. Luckily, potatoes are readily available at any time of the year, not just veggie boxes, so here we go! A friend from Guatemala taught me how to do this, so I'm not sure if it's actually a Guatemalan thing or if was just her family thing. This is probably one of the easiest recipes I will ever post on this blog, but it is just so tasty and satisfying, I had to include it. Bonus: there's only 4 ingredients, no measuring, and there is absolutely no fat in this AT ALL! Also, totally vegan. Usually when you think potatoes, you think butter and cream, but trust me, these taste so good you won't even miss the extra fat.

Ingredients:

potatoes

lemon

salt

pepper

Wash and boil the potatoes whole with the skin on. Once the potatoes are thoroughly cooked, removed them from the water and cut them into big chunks. Drizzle with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Sea salt is best, but regular table salt is fine. Please, please, please try to use fresh lemons for this! There's just no substitute for the real thing. If you absolutely have to, juice from one of those plastic lemons will work, but the juice always tastes off because of the preservatives they use. I hope you like this!

Bon Apetit!