So…somebunny bought too many carrots — 5 pounds of carrots. A classic example of the Costco effect: “Yeah, my family of 3 who kinda a little sometimes like carrots can finish a 5 pound bag, right? Sure! Toss it in the oversized shopping cart!”…Sigh. What to do? Carrots in the morning, carrots in the evening, carrots at suppertime!
There are of course 101 wonderful things to do with carrots should you find yourself with an abundance of orange roots this spring. Here are ten culled from my recent inadvertent carrot challenge:
Crockpot Chicken Wild Rice Soup (This recipe calls for a few carrots as part of its mirepoix, I probably doubled the recommended amount. Pinch of Yum adds a butter sauce at the end to make this a creamy soup, I skipped that step.)
Spiced Carrot Muffins (This links to a recipe for Spiced Carrot Cake via Martha, but it can be made into cake or muffins! Just shorten the baking time for muffins.)
Carrot Cake (Ever a non-conformist, this recipe links to one for carrot cupcakes. Nonetheless, it is my hands down all-time favorite carrot cake recipe – the food processor makes this such a breeze)
Carrot salad dressing – stay tuned on this one, it is my latest rant & rave. I am still perfecting my own recipe, but for starters or if you’re curious here are 2 variations on the theme: Miso, Carrot, and Sesame Dressing and/or Carrot Miso Ginger Dressing.
Apricot & Carrot Oatmeal Cookies
Whole oven-roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
Carrots steamed, pureed, and flat-frozen for an easy snap-off add-in to boost nutrition in the kiddo’s mac-n-cheese sauce
Carrot Almond Cake recipe from Vegetable Literacy. This is a great book to check out or own – a good place to turn when your CSA drops something novel or under-experienced on your doorstep. Luckily I also bought way too many almonds at Costco, otherwise I might have skipped this one. BTW – Yes, you can blanch and peel your own almonds. I did. Is it fun? No. Time consuming? Yes. My review?: I’d say half a recipe would be enough for most people and most circumstances, the full recipe makes a whole lotta cake. It could use some spicing up – add some ginger?
Heck I even mixed some carrots into meatballs…I love this Alton Brown Baked Meatball recipe because it adds veg to your balls! I up the veg by doubling the recommended amount of spinach (he says 5oz, I do 10), and this time added at least 1 cup of blitzed carrot, and also about 1/2 a cup of mushroom puree. I do a blend of ground beef and pork – ground lamb is unfortunately hard to find and/or too expensive.
Bonus Idea! Carrot sticks with White Bean Dip…blitz this simple pantry-staple-based dip in the food processor for a very long time to get a really nice consistency. Also consider adding some cooked lentils just to add oomph and nutrition. Here’s another White Bean Dip recipe I frequently use as a dip jumping off point.
So how would you get through a 5 pound bag of carrots? Share your go-to carrot user-upper in the comments section below.
Here’s wishing you a happy spring, happy kitchen, and happy tummy!
Photo Credit: mujepa via Compfight cc
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