Vegetable Profile: Carrots

Description:
Carrots are a classic hit, ranking high on children's list of favorite veggies. It's wonderful as a stand-alone side dish or snack, as well as adding its distinctive sweet and invigorating flavor to dishes, either raw, cooked, or fermented in to sauerkraut! Heirloom carrots are available in orange, yellow, purple, white, and red colors.
 
Nutrition:
​​​Carrots' famous sweetness comes from their carbohydrate content. They are considered a tonic for the liver, lungs, and digestive system. They support skin health, stable blood sugar levels, and prevent gas and constipation. They are best known for their high content of antioxidant vitamin A precursor, beta-carotene. This nutrient has been linked with improved vision acuity. Plus, ancient Greeks considered carrot root and greens to be an aphrodisiac!  

​Storage:
Carrots are a storage crop, and prefer a cool, dark, and moist place. They will get soft if they start to loose moisture; store either in a covered container in the fridge with a wet cloth, or even in a container of moist clean sand in a pantry space. Depending on your storage method, they can last anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months. The more mature the carrots are, the longer they will last also. 

Use:
We have a few different ways we like to prepare carrots at Wellspring!
Cooked:

• Remove the rubber band and greens, if present. Set aside greens.
• Rinse any excess dirt off under cool water.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, or heat up a cast iron skillet. Prepare a roasting dish or skillet with a healthy saturated fat, such as lard, bacon grease, coconut oil, or olive oil. 
• Leaving the skins on, you can either roast them whole or chop them into 1/4" disks if sauteeing them in a skillet.
• Lightly sprinkle with  sea salt.
• Cook until tender, and serve as a side!

Raw: 

• Repeat the first two steps described above. 
• Chomp them whole with some Homemade Herbal Ranch dip!
• OR, slice them into thin disks and incorporate into vegetable or grain salads

Fermented:

• Grate the cleaned, raw carrot with a cheese grater
• Incorporate with thinly sliced cabbage 
• Mix in salt and taste as you go. It should be as salty as seawater.
• Massage or squeeze the mixture until moisture is released
• Pack tightly into a jar with a smaller jar inserted inside to weigh down the material under its own liquid. Cover with cheesecloth and allow to ferment on the counter 48-36 hrs, or until bubbly. Taste it each day to see how it changes! 

Sources:
​The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood
Asparagus to Zucchini by Fairshare Coalition
Produce: A fruit and vegetable lover's guide by Bruce Beck
The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Elix Katz
Our own experience!