Uses for carrot tops?

BOGOF_Queen

I made carrot top soup once - a few years back - tasted fine Just a chopped up onion browned, then added a cut up potato and the raw carrot tops and a bit of stock. Bit of black pepper. I don't add salt to food but that's not to everyone's taste. Simmered for a while till the spud was cooked and then once cool, liquidised it - then just heated up in the microwave when I fancied a bowl of soup.

Westywoodpecker

Well ours don't go to waste as my dog just loves them!

He will actually drool when I get the scrapper out! :rotfl: (sorry)

It's the same with broccoli stalks

Must be healthy though.

Emuchops

I use them like parsley-I think they have a similar flavour. Useful in salads, soups, hummous and chopped up and sprinkled over buttery new potatos.

ceridwen

Right - I've had my memory stirred up here and recall reading some years back about using the tops of carrots to grow carrot "greens" - so will have to have a go at that at some point just to check out for myself that it works okay.

I've copied out some recipes from the link Aril gave and got my "greens" chopped up in a container in the fridge ready to have a go at one or two - pesto could be one possibility - I'm working my way through trying a variety of greens as the basis of pesto (as well as the standard basil).

So - my "greenhouse windowsill" should be free soon from its current "occupants" ready for another experiment - got chard, stevia rebaudiana (for experimenting with making sugar equivalent) and mixed spicy salad leaves all coming on there at the moment to fill up the containers in the garden that are emptying of lettuce at the moment:D

I DO have rather a lot of these carrot greens - so I reckon I could open freeze a bit of them for using later on (as I believe it's possible to do this with parsley - so think this must be about equivalent in that respect??)

EDIT: I remembered that I've got "The Pip Book" by Keith Mossman (all about growing various things from food pips) and, sure enough, that must be where I came across the idea years ago of growing on carrot tops. He talks there about in the 17th century gentlewomen used to wait for the leaves to turn red or purple and then use them as "ornaments" in their hats or hair.

Anyways - he says to use large, healthy-looking carrots and cut off with about an inch of the root (ie - presumably the edible bit of carrot?) and that it has to be the maincrop carrots, bought in winter, as being suitable for this. He recommends growing 5 or 6 tops planted in compost in a 5" half-pot (whatever a half-pot is?).

He says one could probably grow on swede and turnip tops as well.

ceridwen

Just tried a suggestion I saw elsewhere - of sauteing up with onion and garlic and a bit of soy sauce.

Errrr....i won't be doing that again...the carrot tops are too tough methinks for that sorta "treatment"....