Three Ways to Use Forgotten Vegetable Tops in Your Food
The last time I bought carrots at the supermarket, the cashier asked if I wanted to rip off the tops. “Almost everyone says yes,” he told me. This is very bad, because many vegetable tops are completely safe and delicious. Here are three drugs to try.
Turn Radish Tops Into Pesto
Like radish itself, radish greens have a peppery taste with a hint of bitterness. They contain a lot of water and don’t last long, so I usually rinse and rinse off the sand as soon as I take them out and then toss them into the food processor along with a bunch of other things to make flexible green pesto . Not only do I use the leaves, but I also make a sauce for the raw radish slices.
Add carrot tops to the next pot of soup
Contrary to popular belief, carrot tops are non-toxic , so you should definitely eat them. In fact, it’s another popular addition to pesto (type in “carrot-topped pesto” and you’ll see what I mean). For flavor, consider them sweeter, more carrot-like parsley. Cookbook author Deborah Madison, author of the highly respected Vegetarian Cooking for All , has a fantastic soup recipe in which carrots and their leaves impart a particularly rich carrot flavor.
Roast beetroot
If you like dark leafy greens like rainbows or Swiss chard, you should definitely explore cooking with beet greens as they have similar texture and taste. The easiest way to eat them is to fry or fry them in a little oil until they wither; Martha Stewart likes to add a little tomato paste , but I often just add a few cloves of garlic. Bonus: you can toss a few fried beet onions in a sauté for a full root to stem on a plate.
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