Crazy Carrot Wednesday- 20 Carrot Recipes to Try!

In my quest of having the family get in the habit of trying new foods, I bought some purple, orange and golden yellow carrots.  If anything, it was worth seeing the expression on their faces that made it all worth it!

I happen to need to eat with my eyes first so the more color on our plates, the happier I am that we are serving a nutritional plate of goodness for each of us.  If you can’t find purple and yellow carrots at the store, keep an eye out for one day that they may have them in the future.  In the meantime, if you haven’t eaten many carrots lately, I’m sure you will be successful in finding a recipe or three that you and whoever you are cooking for, will love!

Fun carrot facts:

• Carrots were not originally orange.  Back in the day they were purple or red with thin roots
• What’s up, Doc?  Maybe Bugs Bunny was on to something since the first carrots were grown for medicine
• Research shows that colorful carrots may help prevent heart disease and cancer & reduce cholesterol
• Eat/drink too many orange carrots and you WILL take on an orange/yellow pigment in your skin (called Carotenemia) because of beta carotene, a form of Vitamin A in the carrots

Question:  Are carrots better for you eaten raw or cooked?

No one loves a glass of fresh carrot juice better than I (although, I will admit, I will stick with drinking orange carrots since the purple carrots have a slight peppery taste and the yellow are a bit sweet and mild).  I happen to eat half of my meals raw each day because there are many nutrients that are lost when cooked one way or another.  However, there are exceptions to the rule when it comes to eating and being able to process certain foods.  (So the answer is both!)

Picture bubble wrap for a moment:  when it comes to nutrition and eating certain foods, there are a ton of nutrients that are inside the item but you have to pop all the nutrients out.  This is one reason why it is SO important to chew your food well which most of us are very guilty of NOT doing.  50-100 chews per bite is what is recommended to ensure that you break down the food and make it accessible for your body to absorb the nutrients.  This is why juicing is a great thing from a nutritional perspective because it pops all the “bubbles” releasing the nutritional benefits (especially kale!)

• Research has shown that when you eat a raw carrot, only 3% of the entire beta-carotene (Vitamin A) is released.
• Falcarinol is a substance found in carrots that has been found to reduce the risk of cancer (cancer cells grow more slowly when exposed to it)
• When boiling or steaming whole carrots, you lose 30% of falcarinol
• When boiling or steaming pre-cut, small carrots the loss is higher at 60%.
• Boiled/steamed carrots are easier to digest and preserved antioxidants (carotenoids) rather than frying.

Ok, now that you know more than you thought that you would ever want to know about this common (or not so common) root veggie, go on out and try some of these awesome ways to enjoy this nutritious wonder!

(Common sense input:  if honey is called for, substitute with agave or other sweetener.  Butter, use earth balance.  Etc)

1. Fresh squeezed carrot juice  (can be as addicting as cigarettes?)
2. Roasted Carrot Soup
3. Carrot salad
4. Roasted carrots
5. Carrot muffins (using earth balance as opposed to butter/margarine)
6. Hummus and veggie wrap
7. Vegetable sushi
8. Potted carrots (great idea for the kids!!!  with a vegan ranch dip)
9. Simple carrot fries
10. Moroccan Carrot Dip
11. Marsala glazed carrots with hazelnuts
12. Carrot cake cupcakes
13. Marmalade Candied Carrots 
14. Roasted Vegetables with Pecan Gremolata
15. Carrot cake oatmeal
16. Carrot pancakes
17. Lunch Box carrot slaw with apples and vegan yoghurt
18. Carrot, Avocado and orange salad
19. Marinated dill carrots
20. Brown sugar sweet overload carrots

Enjoy 😉  TiV