Carrot cookery

CARROTS ARE PRETTY and full of flavor, sweetness, and nutrients. They are very forgiving when overcooked, rarely losing their color or flavor. They can be stored fresh for months, but they don't object to being canned, frozen, or dried. And they are equally at home in sweet or savory dishes.

With carrots, you can create stuffings for vegetables, quick breads, muffins, cookies, puddings, chips, salads, roasted, grilled or baked vegetable dishes, soups, and sauces. Of course, there is always the ever-popular carrot stick, good for dipping or eating on its own.

There is a carrot type for everyone. Horse carrots are big, irregularly shaped orange carrots, sometimes with splits in them. Horse carrots tend to be older and more fibrous, making them good for long cooking, as in soups or stews. Baby carrots are miniature carrots, bred to resemble whole adult carrots. They are sweet and tender, requiring hardly any cooking at all. Those perfectly formed finger-shaped baby carrots sold in bags are larger carrots that have been cut, by machine or hand. This type of baby carrot was the producers' answer to making horse carrots more popular with consumers. Real baby carrots have not been processed, except to be cut. Small, round carrots are found in the springtime and are good for glazing, as their shape makes it easy for sauce to adhere.

There are also white carrots and maroon carrots. Maroon carrots have more beta carotene, the building block of vitamin A. White carrots, on the other hand, have a little less beta carotene than conventional carrots. Make a gorgeous salad of orange, white, and maroon carrots, and serve raw, as the maroon carrots lose their rosy glow when cooked.

Vitamin A is not carrots' only claim to fame. There are trace amounts of vitamin C in carrots, as well as fiber and lots of minerals. Due to their sugar content, carrots may have a few more calories from carbohydrates than other vegetables, but they have no sodium or fat. Unless you eat a very large number of carrots every day, you should not have to worry about the sugar content. It is possible to "overdose" on the Vitamin A in carrots. In the seventies, people got heavily into juicing and were drinking the equivalent of twenty carrots per day over a long period of time.

To peel or not to peel has been a long-standing carrot debate. If you know you've gotten your carrots from a reliable source (free of pesticides and chemical residue), then merely scrubbing is fine. Carrot peel does have a bit of bitterness, so cooks making vegetable stocks and broths tend to peel their carrots to avoid any bitterness in their long-cooking dishes. Aesthetically, the color of cooked carrots may be brighter when peeled. It's up to you what you'd like to do.

Grated raw carrots can be added to green salads, cole slaw, or pasta or potato salad, as well as used as a garnish for soups. In India, you'll find sweet carrot pudding, made with grated carrots stewed with sweetener, cream, and fruit juices. Who can forget carrot and raisin salad, one of the sweet spots in the salad world?

Carrots are cook-friendly. They will retain their nutrients and their color if you treat them with just a bit of care. The smallest amount of cooking liquid is always the best way to preserve nutrients in vegetables, and they should be cooked as quickly as possible. Just cover carrots with boiling water or vegetable stock. Don't let carrots sit in cold water as it heats up, as this destroys some of the nutrients. Drain cooked carrots as soon as possible so they are not sitting and losing nutrients. A fast and simple lemon carrot recipe couldn't be easier: cut up carrots, and then steam or boil them until just tender and drain. Return the carrots to the pot. For every 2 cups of carrots, use 2 teaspoons of fresh, chopped parsley, 1 Tablespoon of vegan margarine, and 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice. Toss the carrots with the seasonings and reheat just until carrots are hot. Serve these lemon carrots as a side dish or puree and use as a base for a "creamy" vegetable soup.

Carrot juice can be used as a cooking liquid for vegetables, rice, soup, and pasta. In fact, if you've carefully cleaned your carrots, you can cook pasta, rice, or other vegetables in the carrot cooking water. This is a thrifty way to save water and to get as many nutrients as possible from your carrots.

If you would like a change from raw carrot sticks, prepare the Pickled Carrot Sticks recipe on page 25. Or make carrot chips by peeling, washing, and patting dry thinly sliced carrots. Bake on a baking sheet at 400 degrees until crispy. If you have a barbecue, grill carrot slices for a smoky snack. Eat them hot, or store in a dry place in an airtight container until ready to use.

Combine carrot juice, pureed cooked carrots, silken tofu, and orange juice concentrate to make carrot custard. Blend the ingredients together and allow them to firm up in the refrigerator for several hours. Or bake carrot custard for about 30 minutes in a 375-degree oven, until it is set. If you add thyme, white pepper, and onion powder, you'll have a savory side to greens and potatoes. Add cinnamon and raisins, and you'll have a sweet dessert.