Carrot Top Dressing

During the trip in Italy Katie and I got to talking about using your greens. Beet greens is what we discussed I think, but then I got back to France, salivating at just the thought of grocery shopping, and fell upon these pretty little carrots, avec greens. Well why not carrot greens? So I did some googling (and photoshooting as you can see) and came across a recipe posted a while back by the New York Times for a carrot top vinaigrette. Parfait.



Yeah they look scary but let me tell you the benefits! For one - carrot greens are packed with vitamin K - something you wont find in carrots themselves. Plus, when you buy carrots with their tops, you are cutting down on the amount of processing they go through (think saved energy plus less people and machines messing with your food) and you also know for sure that they are fresh. If you buy a bag of carrots already peeled, decapitated and washed..well you might get home to find some woody gross carrots in that bag. If you buy a bunch of green attached carrots you can't go wrong. If the greens are mushy or limp you know they aren't fresh. If they are vibrant and pretty - well what do you think?



Carrot Top Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp chopped carrot top
pinch or two of salt

1. Put the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until the ingredients are emulsified.
2. Add the carrot top and some salt and pulse until you have a creamy green sauce with tiny flecks of green leaf.
3. Taste - salt more if you like. Serve



Do note - carrot tops are a bit bitter, so pair it with things that perhaps are not - sweet red cabbage, avocados, beets, maybe strawberries?