Roasted Carrots with Carrot Top and Cilantro Pesto

We harvested our first carrots of the season this week and I like to use the whole carrot and the top in this easy recipe. Cilantro is full of vitamins, minerals and supports detoxification. Carrot leaves (tops)are highly nutritive, rich in protein, minerals and vitamins. They contain 6 times the vitamin C of the root and are a great source of potassium and calcium. Together, they are so tasty!

For the carrots:

You’ll need a dozen carrots with the tops removed.

Roast carrots in a glass roasting pan cut carrots into large pieces, maybe in half or thirds, toss with a little bit of coconut oil and salt and roast at 400, tossing once or twice until caramelized and fall off a fork by themselves.

Pesto:

2 bunches of carrot tops

1 bunch of cilantro

1/2 cup of pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or pistachios

Zest of 1/2 lemon

0-3 cloves of garlic

Olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Wash carrot tops and cilantro and dry well. Add all ingredients into a food processor, pulse while adding olive oil until you come to a consistency that you like. My friend Jaime adds 2 drops of Jade Lemon Essential Oil to her pesto, and it’s really yummy.

You can toss the carrots with pesto or serve it on the side. Enjoy! Let us know how you like it.