A form of would you eat this 🥕 thread 😁: edible or not edible?

[Pen]

Carrot greens?

 I had thought they were *not* edible (as in dangerous to eat).  But internet sources say that that is a myth and that they are edible and also nutritious (but still says parsnip greens are toxic).

So, have you personally eaten carrot greens and lived to tell the tale?

(You meaning a human you, not a bunny rabbit.) 

ETA: if you have eaten them, how have you prepared them?

Edited May 6, 2020 by Pen

[J-rap]

We've added them to soups before, but that's it.  (And we're still here to talk about it!  :))

[Paige]

I put them in a soup once. We lived. It didn't have a distinct taste in the soup. 

[Selkie]

They are edible and delicious! You can make carrot top pesto:

https://yupitsvegan.com/carrot-top-pesto/

[skimomma]

I make pesto out of them.  We are still alive.

[marbel]

I've never cooked with carrot greens, but I don't think grocery stores would sell the tops if they were toxic. Maybe that's not true, but it seems logical.  Like, I've never seen rhubarb leaves attached to the stalks in the store.  I don't think I've ever seen parsnip leaves, though I don't buy many parsnips.

 

 

[Tanaqui]

3 minutes ago, marbel said:

I've never cooked with carrot greens, but I don't think grocery stores would sell the tops if they were toxic. Maybe that's not true, but it seems logical.  Like, I've never seen rhubarb leaves attached to the stalks in the store.  I don't think I've ever seen parsnip leaves, though I don't buy many parsnips.

 

My mother once was in a store where they were selling, get this, rhubarb stalks on a bed of their own leaves. She immediately turned, found a manager, and gave them quite a lecture until she saw them fix it.

[marbel]

12 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

 

My mother once was in a store where they were selling, get this, rhubarb stalks on a bed of their own leaves. She immediately turned, found a manager, and gave them quite a lecture until she saw them fix it.

Whoa! That blows my mind. Maybe I was just aware of it because when I was a kid my mother grew rhubarb, so I had early training in leaving the leaves alone. But I have also bought rhubarb and it is always perfectly green-free.  It seems unbelievable that grocery store personnel wouldn't know that?  (I don't mean unbelievable as in "I don't believe you" but more like "how can a grocery store produce manager not know that?!")

Edited May 6, 2020 by marbel

[Jean in Newcastle]

2 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

No, I am not bunny rabbit . I do not eat carrot greens. I put them in stock like a human who loves to cook.

I may even want to cook the rabbit that eats the carrot green in the stock and may do so if the meat supply goes awry, but I will not eat the carrot top ! 🤣

My bunnies are offended.  😉  LOL

[theelfqueen]

I've seen people cook them on cooking shows. So I think they're probably fine. 

[BeachGal]

I had never heard of eating them but apparently they are quite nutritious! From none other than the carrot experts at the Carrot Museum in the UK:

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/carrotops.html

Quote

The tops of the carrots are loaded with potassium which can make them bitter, so the use of them in food is limited, but there [are] some ideas and recipes later in this separate page here. 

The leaves of carrot (Daucus carota L.), are, more often than not, wasted. Carrot leaves are very rich in both nutrients such as vitamin C, β-carotene, fibers and several minerals such as Na, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, and Fe . They have a pleasant taste and characteristics suitable for processing. They may be used as a raw basis for the preparation of several foods. The use of the byproducts of the vegetable industry has presented technological viability, and they have been used for the formulation of cream soups made of dehydrated vegetable stalks.

 

Alas, no vitamin D. 😄

Edited May 6, 2020 by BeachGal
added an are

[Tanaqui]

3 hours ago, marbel said:

Whoa! That blows my mind. Maybe I was just aware of it because when I was a kid my mother grew rhubarb, so I had early training in leaving the leaves alone. But I have also bought rhubarb and it is always perfectly green-free.  It seems unbelievable that grocery store personnel wouldn't know that?  (I don't mean unbelievable as in "I don't believe you" but more like "how can a grocery store produce manager not know that?!")

 

That was pretty much my mother's reaction as well. She told us this story long, long, long before I ever encountered any rhubarb in any grocery store ever.

Back on the topic of carrot greens, I find them an adequate substitute for parsley - indeed, if the parsley is to be eaten raw I prefer it because raw parsley itches my mouth. (I'm, like, 95% certain this is oral allergy syndrome.) Potato greens are highly toxic, and the aforementioned rhubarb, but carrots, beets, turnips are all pretty safe.