It has been an exciting year for us. Not only we embarked on making delicious unsalted low sodium salami, we thought exploring new low sodium recipe ideas with the vegetables we love and elevating them from their usual supporting role would make an exhilarating expedition.
Shopping List l Tool List l Tips & Tricks l Recipe l Print Recipe
There is a good range of vegetables we cook with regularly and carrots are in the repertoire. By taking a fresh approach with them will also prompt us to learn about the vegetables that we are not familiar with or don’t cook with often.
Ready to embark on a new adventure, we were determined to come up with mind blowing recipes that are low sodium, unsalted and no sugar added.
Naturally, few questions came to mind.
How do we come up with vegetable dishes that would storm through and take over our meat loving palate? Or even surpass our appetite for our mouthwatering home made salami, sausages and smoked goodies?
What do we need to do to transform vegetables so they become ridiculously good looking and taste scrumptious in order for us to serve our beloved meats and sausages as side dishes? Sounds like this is going to be lots of fun.
The Expedition
With no time wasted, we started to look at the vegetable we love with a different perspective.
Thanks to the farmers at our local farmers market, we were introduced to cook radish tops years ago. Since carrots are a basic cooking stable for us, why don’t we start with the carrot tops?
The first step was to find out how the carrot top tastes and how the texture transforms. We took a small bite of the fresh leaf. The leaf does not hold much moisture. It tasted bold, green and earthy. Because the texture was a more coarse, we decided to cook the tops and hope to make them more tender.
We took the simple approach and sautéed the carrot tops with shallots, olive oil and nothing else. While the pan was sizzling, an unfamiliar yet wonderful aroma filled our kitchen.
Once the carrot tops were cooked and appeared to be tender, we removed pan from the heat and it was time for tasting!
The Flavor
The first bite had a bold earthy flavor with a strong hint of orange carrot and occasion sweetness from the shallots. It also had a mellow note, almost vitamin B12-ish, similar to the distinct flavor of deep green color kale.
Vitamin B12 you might ask? Yes, your taste bud sharpens if you eat low sodium and unsalted food over time.
The Texture
The texture was dense. It still had a bit more bite than we liked so we chopped the sautéed carrot tops coarsely to smooth out the texture.
After the improvement, the carrot tops now have a pleasant bite, reminiscent of al dente. We continued the tasting and finished the test batch in no time.
The carrot tops had robust flavors and would definitely compliment well with many dishes we cook.
The Bonus
How about two-for-one deals for buying carrots going forward as an added bonus? We used to cut off the carrot tops and throw them into the compost. We didn’t realize they can be a such delicious addition to our vegetable palate and we just found another way to minimizes food waste.
Here is the list of the Tools and Ingredients we used to make this healthy and low sodium vegetable dish.
Follow with the steps how we made this dish.
Let us know how your turned out if you made it.
Click here for Recipe Card.
Shopping List
A bunch of carrot tops. We got baby carrots here so the tops tend to be more tender.
A shallot.
Olive oil, about 3 tablespoon (not in the photo, taking a nap…)
Tool List
A skillet
A spatula or wooden spoon.
Serving plates.
Recipe
Sautéed Carrot Tops with Shallots and Olive Oil
Ingredients
A bunch of carrot tops, removed from steam.
A shallot, diced.
Olive oil, about 3 tablespoon (not in photo)
Steps
Rinse & wash thoroughly. They can get a bit sandy.
Remove carrot top.
Remove the leaves from the stems.
Remove shallot skin.
To dice shallots, cut lengthwise and not all the way through one end.
Repeat and cut crosswise as shown in the photo.
Heat the pan with olive oil with medium heat.
When the pan is hot, add shallots.
When the shallot is translucent, add the carrot tops
Stir until the leaves appear soft but still have the green color.
You may need to add a bit more olive oil before it is soft. Carrot top sponges oil easily.
Remove from pan and serve.
Coarsely chop the leaves for more smooth bite. You can also do this after you remove the leafs before cooking.
Tips & Tricks
Recipe Card
Rinse & wash thoroughly. They can get a bit sandy. Remove carrot top. Remove the leaves from the stems. Remove shallot skin Dice the shallots Heat the pan with olive oil with medium heat When the pan is hot, add shallots When the shallot is translucent, add the carrot tops Stir until the leaves appear soft but still have the green color. You may need to add a bit more olive oil before it is soft. Carrot top sponges oil easily. Remove from pan and serve. Coarsely chop the leaves for more smooth bite texture. You can also do this after you remove the leafs before cooking.Sautéed Carrot Tops with Shallots & Olive Oil
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Ingredients
Instructions
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