Monday, January 09, 2012, 0 Comments
New Year, New You: Colored Carrots as part of a Healthy Diet
by Isabella Woods
If you’ve tasked yourself with getting fitter and healthier in 2012, then you’re doing the right thing. However, we all know how boring and unappetizing the same old salad can look day in, day out. And that’s why we can’t help but sing the praises of colored carrots – not only are they packed full of vitamins and antioxidants if you’ve managed to grow your own they’re great free stuff, too! So if you’re looking to pep up your diet with super-healthy food, it’s not just salads that should be on the menu. Read on to discover some of our favorite ways of introducing colored carrots to your menu.
Soups
Carrots have long been a popular component of vegetable soups. Where would a café be without that staple (and delicious) carrot and coriander soup? But how about carrot and ginger for a warming wintery update?
Ingredients –
- Two tablespoons olive oil
- One small onion, chopped roughly
- Four cups of carrots – orange, yellow, red or purple – you decide! Sliced thinly
- Approx ¼ cup of freshly chopped and peeled ginger.
- About five cups of vegetable stock
- ½ cup of freshly-squeezed orange juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Drizzle of sour cream or paprika to garnish
As with all soups, it’s a nice and simple recipe with few ingredients. Simply fry your onion and ginger in the olive oil – taking care not to burn – until they’re nice and soft. Add the carrots, orange juice and vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and continue to simmer for approx 45 minutes. If you have a handheld blender, blitz the soup in the pan, alternatively let it cool and transfer to a food processer for a blast. If don’t have either of these simply mash – the end result will be a chunky soup. Finally, add the nutmeg, salt and pepper and serve with warm chunky bread wedges. Yummy!
Salads
Colored carrots can turn any regular looking salad into a thing of beauty in no time. All that’s required is a little imagination. To create a stunning and healthy colored carrot salad the best thing to do is to get imaginative with the way you chop your carrots up. For instance, try taking a vegetable peeler to a purple carrot – simply sweep from top to bottom to create super-thin carrot shards which will look gorgeous layered haphazardly on top of a salad and drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Different colored carrots could then be grated, chopped roughly, or (if you’re hoping to get your little ones interested and you’ve got the time) cut into fun shapes.
Roasted Carrots with a Difference
A Sunday roast is not complete without roasted veg. Sweet potato and parsnips are all well and good but you can create a truly fabulous plate with the help of a handful of different colored carrots. What’s more, instead of merely roasting them in oil, try adding a liberal sprinkling of cumin seeds to your baking try.
Simply heat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, place your chopped colored carrots on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and then scatter the cumin seeds over them. Finally, add salt and pepper and place in the oven for about 25 minutes or until they are tender and gently browning. Your roast dinners will never be the same!
Colored Carrot Couscous
Last up, why not try this healthy recipe as a weekday lunch – it makes a great and healthy alternative to sandwiches.
Ingredients –
- One tablespoon olive oil
- Four carrots grated – in colors of your choice
- Two tablespoons lemon juice
- One teaspoon curry powder
- One cup vegetable broth
- One can chickpeas
- Three tablespoons fresh parsley
- One cup of uncooked couscous
Then simply heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the carrots and the curry powder and cook for two minutes – stir regularly.
Add the lemon juice and broth and heat until it boils.
Take the pan off the heat and add the couscous, stir, then cover and stand for about five minutes or until the couscous has absorbed the broth.
Finally, add the chickpeas and parsley and stir. And you’re done! A super-easy, super-quick lunch to help kick off the new year. Enjoy!
Monday, November 07, 2011, 0 Comments
Colored carrots, a fun harvest.
Here are some more pictures of colored carrots that have been harvested from backyard gardens this fall. Robin took a picture with her foot so you can see the size of these veggies. Look at the size of the purple carrot that Christie’s, daughter Abby is holding! They are going to enjoy some delicious salads and stews with their colored carrots.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011, 0 Comments
Colored Carrots are becoming popular garden varieties.
A couple of our readers, Annie and Christie, sent in photos of colored carrots from their gardens. They were both very excited that the colored carrots produce so well and they cannot wait to try the colored carrots in some of the recipes we have posted on the site.
Friday, September 02, 2011, 0 Comments
Spiced and Roasted Multi-Colored Organic Carrots
Here is a great side-dish to go with grilled chicken.
Spiced and Roasted Multi-Colored Organic Carrots…from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 pounds organic multi-colored carrots, cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup white raisins
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Directions:
1) Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Combine oil, garlic, sugar, cumin, salt, cinnamon, cayenne and carrots in a shallow baking pan. Roast 20 minutes or until fork-tender.
3) Remove from oven and add raisins, lemon juice, and parsley. Toss well. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011, 0 Comments
Tri-colored Carrot Salad……….
Tri-colored Carrot Salad with Goat Cheese, Mint and Pea Tendrils
Check out Valery Rizzo’s creative salad using colored carrots.
6 carrots, two purple, two yellow, and two orange, 4 sprigs of mint, Goat cheese, Extra virgin olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, Pea tendrils, Cracked black pepper, Salt, A loaf of fresh baked bread
1. With a vegetable peeler, peel all carrots in long strips from bottom to top and from dark to light in color. Be forewarned if your purple carrots are as fresh and juicy as mine were, the purple juices will splatter, so its best to use a large bowl.
2. Break off leaves of mint from your sprigs and break into smaller pieces, then add on top of carrots. Dress the carrots and mint with your extra virgin olive oil and just a touch of balsamic vinegar. Using your pepper mill crack some black pepper on top and add salt to taste.Then toss all ingredients in bowl together.
3. Plate the carrot salad separately. On top of the salad break up pieces of goat cheese, mine was a goat cheese from Spain I found at the Food Coop. Then to finish it off add about 5 or 6 pea tendrils on top and eat with a piece of your favorite loaf of bread. Don’t forget to save a piece of bread at the end to soak up all those delicious flavors at the bottom of the plate. This recipe serves two.
Photo by Valery Rizzo
Thursday, July 14, 2011, 0 Comments
Colored carrots aren’t just for people.
Hermit crabs need brightly colored vegetables, so colored carrots make a great meal.
We are not exactly sure of hermit crabs’ exact nutritional requirements, but much progress is being made. For example, we now know that hermit crabs require calcium, carotene and antioxidants just like people do. A crab whose diet is carotene-deficient will fade in color after molting, from a nice reddish or orange color to a washed-out tan or gray. To make sure your crabs get adequate carotene, supplement their diet with brightly-colored vegetables, like corn and carrots. See Christa Wilkin’s page on feeding your hermit crab.
Friday, June 24, 2011, 0 Comments
#1 on Google!
Type in “colored carrots” on google.com and what do you get? Colored Carrot Chronicle. We come up #1 in the search! Colored Carrot Chronicle is your guide to fun, educational, and healthy ideas/recipes using colored carrots. And don’t forget our friends at the World Carrot Museum who is #2 and #3 on Google search.
Thursday, June 16, 2011, 0 Comments
Creative Mac N Cheese
Check out this version of macaroni and cheese by Chef Hosea, where he uses Bolthouse Farms carrots. Change it up a little (flavor and color) by using colored carrots!
Hosea believes that flavor is paramount. Quality ingredients, integrity, and focus are essential to him and his food. He loves to cook and spends most of his time in the kitchen in pursuit of perfection.
Monday, May 16, 2011, 0 Comments
Purple carrots and Crayola
Look at this great idea Jennifer Ambrose, from Behind the Burner, has to get kids to eat their veggies. Here’s a sneak peak at her idea.
After much thought about how to get him to eat nutritious foods, I came up with a game plan. It dawned on me, kids love to color. He could sit for hours with a coloring book and a box of crayons. So I broke out the Crayolas and sat down with him. I asked him to draw me vegetables that were crazy colors.
Sunday, January 30, 2011, 0 Comments
Blogosphere slowly discovering colored carrots
Will Boncher, a doctoral student at Georgetown, recently posted an entry on his blog, “Will and Beyond,” about colored carrots and how he’d recently discovered that carrots are available in more than just the traditional orange color. Here’s a highlight:
White carrots: creepy
Purple carrots: kinda cool
Now orange is boring
Not sure we fully endorse those statements, but the fact that differently-colored carrots are inspiring emotional responses is rather outstanding.
The really neat part of this story is that the future Dr. Boncher discovered this news about carrots by reading surviving theworld.net, a webcomic from freethinker Dante Shepherd — who somewhat sardonically suggests that by breeding carrots to be orange, the Dutch have encroached on the personal freedoms of the people. Below is an image of Mr. Shepherd’s lesson on carrots (which we only post because his FAQs say we can, provided we give him proper credit, which we do). His ramblings other scientific postulations are very, very clever, so we recommend giving “Surviving the World” a thorough read.
