5 tasty ways with carrots

Carrots are one of the few vegetables that we all seem to love to eat so it makes sense to serve them up on a regular basis. Not only are carrots easy on the budget and available year-round, they are packed with Vitamin A as well as being are an excellent source of Vitamin B and C.

Whether you dish them up, raw, steamed, baked or juiced, carrots are incredibly versatile so try some new ways with carrots to get the most out of this tasty vegetable.

Raw

When you’re looking for a snack that’s quick and healthy for a traffic-jam snack or for after the gym, you can’t go past a plate of vegetable sticks – carrot, celery, cucumber all work well – served with a tasty dip such as hummus or guacamole. Or try packing an assortment of veggie sticks and a little tub of cream cheese to munch on at your desk.

Stir fried

Carrots are a wonderful stir-fry ingredient. Firm enough to hold up under high heat, thinly sliced carrots cook through quickly in a wok and don’t collapse so add a dash of colour to any dish they are served in.

Roasted

A terrific (and very easy!) way to bring out all the carrot-y flavour of your carrots is to toss them whole into a baking dish when you’re roasting meat. The long cooking will caramelise the sugars in the sweet carrots to make them even more delectable.

Dry roasting carrots and then blending them into a puree is a great way to serve them up to your baby.

Juiced

Freshly made juices can’t be beaten when you’re looking for a healthy way to start each day. Carrots are one of the core ingredients of the homemade juice brigade – and for good reason. While many vegetables become overwhelming when they are juiced, carrots offer a sweetness that most vegetables lack which makes them the perfect partner for apple or orange juice. The fact that they are full of vitamin A, Vitamin B, vitamin C and D doesn’t hurt either!

Grated

Carrot cake is one of the great classics of baking – and all because of the moist texture that comes from finely grated shavings of carrot. Handfuls of grated carrot can be added to many baking recipes – which is handy you are on a healthy kick but still want a sweet treat – and works particularly well in muffins.

Shredded

Almost every salad ever thought of could be improved upon with a little shredded carrot! And boring salads for your work lunch are improved out of sight with a sprinkling of sweet shredded carrot.