Carrot Tops Make Me Smile

I did it. I said, “Yes.”

No, not that “yes”. I’m already happily married, thank you. After years of agonizing, I said “yes” to joining a CSA. Every week, we are the happy recipients of a harvest box from Conundrum Farms, and my inner chef is reveling in the bounty!

In our last two boxes, we received some GORGEOUS baby carrots with lots of lovely carrot tops. My younger child has snaffled up the carrots, leaving the tops for me to experiment with.

I’m one of those weirdos who loves parsley, and I realized that I could use carrot tops in place of parsley in any of the parsley sauces that I love so much. So here are three recipes that use those gorgeous carrot tops. And if you don’t have carrot tops, you can always substitute flat leaf parsley. Use them as sauces, as marinades (seriously, rub one of these on meat or seafood before you grill or roast, and you’ll be in heaven), as salad dressing, or really anything you like!

Gremolata

Gremolata is the standard accompaniment to Lombardy’s classic ossobuco. It’s ridiculously simple, and I use it on just about anything – chicken, seafood, pork, vegetables… you get the idea. It’s a bright, fresh pop of flavor that makes food sing.

Ingredients

1 packed cup carrot tops, big stems removed
1 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
zest of 2 large lemons
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Chop the carrot tops with a sharp chef’s knife. Once the pile of leaves is reduced by half, add the garlic cloves and lemon zest and continue chopping. You want the gremolata to be chopped very fine. Season with salt and pepper and use on almost anything in your refrigerator to make it taste that much better. This can be stored for a couple of days in an airtight container in your fridge.

Author’s Note: You can use your food processor for this, but I wouldn’t. The processor will turn it into a green sludge if you’re not careful, and it makes for more washing up after you’re done.

Chermoula

Chermoula is a Northern African sauce that’s similar to the more recognizable chimichurri. It’s traditionally used on fish and seafood, but it’s great on almost anything that you can grill – meats, seafood, or vegetables.

Ingredients

1 packed cup carrot tops, big stems removed
1 bunch cilantro, big stems removed
1 bunch mint, leaves only
3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 to 2 small red chile pepper, roughly chopped, or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more or less
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Juice and zest of a big lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Using a sharp chef’s knife, finely chop the carrot tops, cilantro, and mint. Put the chopped herbs into a mixing bowl.

Using a mortar and pestle, grind the garlic and red chile into a paste. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, simply add the garlic and chiles to the herbs as you chop them. If you’re using dried red chile flakes, add them into the bowl before you add the vinegar and olive oil.

Add the salt and pepper to the herbs, garlic, and chile and toss. Add the lemon zest and juice and olive oil and toss. You should have a loose, chunky sauce, not a smooth, green sludge. Again, don’t use a food processor for this. This will keep for 2 or 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

Lee’s Green Sauce

Every summer, I delight in fresh herbs. I love using them in everything – sauces, salads, risottos, soups, whatever I’m cooking. This is a sauce that I throw together and use on almost anything I make in the summer. (Try it on fresh tomatoes. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven!)

Ingredients

A couple of handfuls of carrot tops, big stems removed
A couple of handfuls of fresh herbs – basil, dills, tarragon, cilantro, chives, thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, sage, etc. Use what you have on hand!
2 or 3 green onions, roughly choppped
Several cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 to 3 tablespoons small capers, drained
1 teaspoon anchovy paste, optional (but HIGHLY recommended – you can’t taste it, but it makes the sauce that much yummier)
Juice of a lemon
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

Unlike the preceding recipes, I use a food processor for this. I want it to be a little smoother than the gremolata or chimichurri. I just bunge everything EXCEPT the olive oil into the food processor and pulse until combined. Then with the food processor running, I add in the olive oil. That’s it. Honestly, I use this on almost everything during the summer. It will keep for 2 to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.