A while back, we published an article on how to repuspose carrot peelings. Why throw them out, when you can turn them into something delicious, packed with nutrients?

The same is true with the leafy green carrot tops (photo #1).

Why buy freshly-harvested carrots at the farmers market, only to cut off and toss the glorious, frilly leaves?

 
In America, we have too much food and we waste much of what would be readily consumed elsewhere. Think of how good you’ll feel when you do what top chefs are doing all over the country: turning kitchen scraps into good food.

If you don’t want to eat the tops, stems and leaves yourself, at least find the nearest neighbor with a bunny, gerbil or hamster (or, a home cook who loves to make soup).

Today’s focus is those lovely, leafy carrot tops.

First off: There is a long-circulating myth that carrot tops are poisonous. They are not poisonous!

Some people are allergic to carrot tops, just as some are allergic to avocado, corn, eggs, even red meat.

While some vegetable parts are toxic*, especially if eaten raw, enjoy carrot tops raw or cooked to your heart’s content. Here’s a longer explanation.

Ready To Cook With Carrot Tops?

Think of carrot tops as parsley or dill: Use them in the same way.

Carrot tops have a very concentrated carrot flavor with a bit of bitterness. If you don’t like the bitterness, blanch them for a moment.
 
 
10 WAYS TO USE CARROT TOPS

1. Chimichurri

Chimichurri is the national sauce (salsa) of Argentina. Very popular with steak (Argentina’s national protein as it were), it is made from parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, vinegar and red pepper flakes.

 
2. Gremolata

Gremolata is a popular Italian condiment for meat, fish and other foods: the bitterness of parsley with the bright acidity of lemon and the zestiness of garlic. You can substite other bitter herbs…or carrot tops.

 
3. Harissa

Harissa is both a flavor enhancer and a condiment. In Tunisia, Morocco and across North Africa, harissa flavors almost all of the local cuisine.

It’s main ingredient is hot chiles, but in this recipe, carrot tops are added in to create a carrot soup garnish (it could be any thick purée or creamy soup).

 
4. Hummus

Add even more nutrition to the popular dip and spread, which people have been enjoying since the 12th century or earlier (the history of hummus).

[2] While the carrots roast, turn the tops into a sauce. Here’s the recipe from Jessica In The Kitchen.

[3] Add carrot tops to the hummus; then dip carrot sticks for a double-carrot snack. Here’s the recipe from The Almond Eater.

[4] You can snip the carrot greens onto the tops of stews, grains and vegetables. Here, they’re combined with spices to make “carrot top harissa.” Here’s the recipe from What’s Cooking Good Looking.

Substitute the carrot leaves for basil or other herb. The stems are tougher, but when ground into a pesto they work well.

Consider combining the carrot leaves with basil, spinach, arugula or other green.

 
6. Salad

You can snip raw carrot tops into any green salad, or use them to add flavor to a protein salad (chicken, egg, tuna, etc.) instead of dill or celery leaves.

Dress your green salad or bean salad with them: Add minced carrot tops to your vinaiagrette (we especially like them with a Dijon vinaigrette).

In these two recipes, a chickpea salad is an ideal host for carrot greens. You can do the same with a bean salad: three bean, green bean, etc.

 
7. Sautéed Greens

Broccoli rabe, collards, kale, mustard greens: Any greens can be sautéed with carrot tops and garlic in olive oil.

 
8. Sandwiches

Add the carrot greens along with lettuce, or instead of it. We frequently use arugula, spinach, basil or watercress instead of lettuce. The carrot tops fit right in.

They also have a place on a sandwich or burger without lettuce: with a sliced of tomato, pimento or sundried tomatoes in olive oil.

 
9. Soups & Stews

Add carrot tops for flavor. You can even make a carrot top soup!

 
10. Wild Card!

 
When you present your recipes to family and friends, let them know you used carrot tops. They’ll be impressed, and tipped off to the fact that something bound for the scrap heap is better on the plate!

________________

*Raw kidney beans, lima beans, rhubarb leaves; stone fruit pits; apple seeds; and others. Most will just make you ill, but can kill people with compromised systems. The worst is unprocessed cassava. “One pound of bitter, unproccessed cassava will kill a cow and has killed humans in the past,” says an article on the topic.

It may look innocent, but there’s 1/4 cup bourbon in it (photo courtesy Broma Bakery).

Thanks to Sarah Fennel at Broma Bakery for this seasonal snack.

Before you dig in, check out the history of milkshakes—originally alcoholic drinks!

Sarah restores the alcohol by adding bourbon to the shake.

Prep time is 10 minutes.

RECIPE: PUMPKIN MILKSHAKE

Ingredients For 2 Milkshakes

1. RIM the glasses. Place the graham cracker crumbs on a plate. Dip the rims of the glasses 1/4 inch into a saucer of water, then dip the wet rim into the crumbs and twist to coat.

2. DRIZZLE the warm caramel sauce up and down the insides of the glasses. Set aside.

3. COMBINE the remainder of the ingredients in a blender. Blend on high until fully combined. Pour into serving glasses and serve immediately.
  

October 24th is National Good & Plenty Day, celebrating the oldest branded candy in the U.S.

It’s an American version of the licorice pastilles that have been made in Europe for hundreds of years.

Good & Plenty candies are narrow capsule shapes of sweet black licorice, coated in both bright pink and white hard candy shells (both colors taste the same).
 
GOOD & PLENTY HISTORY

The licorice candies were first produced by the Quaker City Confectionery Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1893 (the brand is now owned by Hershey Foods, after changing ownership multiple times).

The box and its contents have a percussive quality. Since there’s a lot of air space in the box (it’s perhaps half full), shaking the box creates a cadence that’s fun. It’s fun, also led to the kids’ slogan disparaging the low fill:

Good & Plenty,
Hardly Any!

Evidently, Good & Plenty executives or their advertising agency also noticed the percussive quality, which sounded like the chug-a-chug produced by the pushrods that linked the wheels on older trains.

More than 50 years after the candy was introduced, the brand developed a cartoon character, Choo Choo Charlie, an engineer on a steam locomotive.

Charlie shook the box to make the sound, with this jingle (to the tune of a popular folk song, “The Ballad of Casey Jones”):

Once upon a time there was an engineer
Choo Choo Charlie was his name, we hear.
He had an engine and he sure had fun
He used Good & Plenty candy to make his train run.
Charlie says “Love my Good & Plenty!”
Charlie says “Really rings my bell!”
Charlie says “Love my Good & Plenty!”
Don’t know any other candy that I love so well!
The brand has extended to Good & Fruity, in blue raspberry, cherry, lemon, lime and orange, with colored candy shells to match.

Try either variety as a cupcake garnish, or on top of ice cream or sorbet.

[2] The pink and white capsules may look delicate, but they pack a licorice punch (photo courtesy Hershey’s).

[3] The licorice core (photo courtesy Hershey’s).

[2] For Halloween, Andrea replaces the red “eyeball pupil” with a black one (photo courtesy Recipeland).

Just add eyeball ice cubes to a Bloody Mary in a rocks glass (photo #1).

To make the optics more Halloween-y, Andrea replaces the red pimento centers in stuffed olives (photo #2) with black olives. But if you prefer the look of the red, you can save yourself the step.

You can also take pitted black olives and add red pimento pupils—perhaps even spookier!

NOTE: A traditional rocks/Old Fashioned glass holds 6–8 ounces total, whereas a highball/Collins glass can hold 12–14 ounces.
 
 
RECIPE: MUTANT MARY, A HALLOWEEN BLOODY MARY

Ingredients Per Drink/Rocks Glass

 
Plus

 
For The Bloody Mary Mix (Per Drink)

You can, of course, use a commercial Bloody Mary mix.

1. FREEZE ice cubes in a tray. While the ice freezes, remove the green olives from the jar and replace the red pimento pieces with black olive slices. When the cubes are slushy, insert the eyeball, with the pupil face up.

2. MAKE the Bloody Mary mix; add the vodka and chill.

3. ASSEMBLE: Place the ice cubes in the glass, top with Bloody Mary mix and serve.
  

“This Pumpkin Fudge is seriously super simple,” she says, “No candy thermometer, no special equipment.”

And, it’s done in 22 minutes: Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time is 12 minutes.

You can serve the fudge plain, but we have some suggestions for holiday-themed garnishes:

HALLOWEEN GARNISHES

 
If you’re wary of fudge because it has “too much sugar,” the solution is simple: Cut the squares to half the size. You don’t really need a two-inch square: a one-inch square is fine. We even cut them into half-inch squares and served one or two pieces on the saucer of an espresso or coffee cup.

You can also thread the fudge squares on fruit skewers.
 
THANKSGIVING GARNISHES

 
EITHER HOLIDAY

 
RECIPE: PUMPKIN FUDGE

Ingredients For 48 Pieces

[2] Seasonal-colored sprinkles work for either holiday (photo courtesy Wilton).

[3] Fall leaves edible confetti (photo courtesy Creative Converting).

1. LINE an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. COMBINE the sugar, evaporated milk, pumpkin, butter, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium to a boil; allow the mixture to boil for 12 minutes, stirring often.

3. REMOVE from the heat and stir in the white chocolate chips and marshmallows. Stir in the vanilla.

4. POUR into the baking pan and chill until set. Cut into squares.

5. TO STORE: Layer the pieces on wax paper, then place in an airtight container. A sealable plastic bag works as an airtight container, but to keep it horizontal and flat, place a piece of cardboard on the bottom.