Make a tasty pesto from carrot greens and reduce organic waste at the same time!!!

Keep your carrot greens – reduce your organic waste

If you buy your fresh produce from the local farmer’s market like we do, you probably end up with a nice bunch of carrot greens every week!. If you usually throw them out, please stop that right now!! Carrot greens are edible, taste great and are very versatile. On top of that, they’re loaded with vitamins and minerals.What a winner! So instead of adding to your waste pile, make something delicious with them!

Carrot greens are NOT toxic

Carrot greens are often overlooked because there is a common believe that they are toxic. But this is not true! It is true, however, that carrot greens contain alkaloids and nitrates which are common for nightshade plants. Some people might be sensitive to that but then they’re most likely also sensitive to other nightshade plants like potatoes, eggplants or peppers. Long story short, in order to poison yourself with carrot greens you would have to eat several kilos of them, which is highly unlikely. Right? Right!

Be creative

So instead of tossing them out, let’s be creative and incorporate carrot greens in our daily cooking. It’s easy. They are mild flavour and can most likely be compared to parsley.

There really are countless ways of using carrot greens in the kitchen. Chop them finely and add them to salads, curries, pasta sauces and hearty soups. Or use fresh leaves as a garnish to give your meals some colourful finishing touches.

If I don’t have time to deal with the greens straight away. I chop them finely, place them in an airtight container and store them in the freezer. That way they keep for weeks and I can use them whenever I want to. My favourite carrot greens recipe though is an easy and incredibly tasty pesto! 

What you need:

Food processor or stick mixer (plus tall container)

Chopping board

Knife

Ingredients: 

Approx. 2 cups  The greens from one bunch of carrots. 

1 cup  Grated parmesan

2 cloves of garlic 

½ cup  Chopped cashew nuts

1 cup Olive oil

Juice of half a lemon 

Salt and pepper

How to make it:

Cut off the carrot greens from your bunch of carrots. Put the carrots aside and wash the greens thoroughly. They can be quite sandy sometimes, so I usually rinse them two or three times to make sure that all sand is gone.

Chop the greens into smaller pieces and put them into a food processor or a tall container if you’re using a stick mixer.

Add the finely grated parmesan, garlic cloves, chopped cashew nuts, lemon juice and start mix everything. Slowly add olive oil and continue mixing until the pesto is smooth. Add more olive oil if needed (or less).

Once you’re satisfied with the texture, season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Enjoy over pasta or vegetables. Or spread on fresh bread. Sooo good!

Keep it flexible

To be honest with you, I’m not very precise with this recipe and you don’t have to be either. Add some basil, use as much Parmesan as you like. The more the better, right? Also, use less garlic if you’re not a fan. Most of the times I leave out the cashews and it still tastes great. You can be as creative and flexible as you want. That’s the beauty of this recipe. I love it!!