If you have read my blog titled “Just a bunch of old wives’ tales”, I know you are going to think that I am totally obsessed with carrots. Although I did not care for carrots when I was a child, I do like them now - steamed, juiced, raw, in a stew, etc.
I no longer have to play all kinds of tricks on my grandmother who lived through and survived WWI, the Great Depression, and WWII, and who understandably could not accept to see a sip of water left in a glass or a crumb left in a plate… even less a whole carrot.
She cooked all the parts of the carrot, and that included the leaves. Very few people here in America eat the leaves because we are not a starving nation. We either throw them on the compost pile or in the garbage.
Why buy them with the leaves then if we do not eat the green part?
One good reason to buy carrots with the leaves is because the leaves reveal the freshness of the carrots. However, when you get home, it is a good idea to cut them off before storing the carrots in the refrigerator, otherwise the leaves with deplete the carrots of their moisture, thus their freshness, very quickly.
Lots of people in France make soups with the leaves. Carrot leaves are highly nutritive, as they are full of protein, minerals, vitamins, potassium, and calcium. They can be slightly bitter, so you may want to add a teaspoon of sugar to compensate the bitterness.
Careful though, it seems that some people are either allergic or intolerant to carrot leaves. What I must say is, because we eat the leaves in France, we do not overspray them with fertilizers or pesticides.
However, we cannot say the same here in the United States. Because it is not common to eat carrot leaves, we do not hesitate to spray them heavily with chemicals while the plant is growing.
And for those that think they might be allergic or intolerant to carrot leaves, that may be because they once had a reaction to the excess of chemicals more than to the actual leaves.
So, the bottom line is, if you want to eat the leaves, buy organic carrots or grow your own.
If you would like to try my easy recipe of Carrot Soup, please look in the “Cook” section of this web site, or just click on the following link:
https://www.voilabycoco.com/carrot-soup
Merci, et bon appetit!
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