I have a love / hatred with Daucus carota sativa tops .

The feathery honey oil — and I ’m verbalise the just stuff and nonsense from homegrown carrot or farmers ’ market place carrots , not the sad , wilty leafy vegetable you sometimes find attach to carrots in supermarket — are pack with potassium and other vitamins and mineral , more than what you ’ll find in the root themselves . ( The same goes for beets , turnips and radishes , whose greens are more nutritive than the roots . )

I come up the greens to be uniquely palatable ( and perhaps an assume taste ) — crude and just a bit acerb , like their crunchy counterparts . But harvesting just one or two carrots from my garden means I ’m often left with a cesspool full of cultivated carrot tops that I struggle to expend up before my next harvest — in soup , soup stock , salads , pesto , omelets .

Carrot tops in the garden

The herbal flavor and chewy texture of Daucus carota sativa tops means a petty expire a farseeing way , so what happens when I pull up this biggie along with its fabulous head of fuzz ?

I make carrot top salsa !

This sauce is a riff on mychimichurrirecipe , and it ’s every bit as amazing as the Argentinian version . I apply the carrot top salsa on anything I would typically slather chimichurri on , from chicken and steak to white potato vine and gelt . A mini ramekin of carrot top salsa served with a crusty baguette makes an excellent starter or side . With summer here , it ’s also screwball good when smeared on grilled corn ( if not a bit mussy , but who deal ! ) . On the mean solar day that I made this , after I went to bottom , my husband in reality sneaked a shock for a midnight snack and had the salsa with chips !

Freshly harvested carrot with greens

Carrot top salsa is the perfect way to use up an surplus of cultivated carrot tops , as you ’ll need the putting surface from a couple of carrots just to make two cups ’ worth of sauce . Since they tend to be a shade chewy as far as green go , I prefer to hack them up by mitt to get a very fine and uniform grain .

I also used a mix of Greek oregano andwild zaatarhere , but you may use all oregano or seek your own variation of complementary herbs .

Carrot Top Salsa

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

2 loving cup minced carrot tops3 tablespoons mince garlic3 tablespoon soften oregano2 tablespoon minced jalapeño pepper1 to 1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil1/4 cup red wine vinegarJuice and zest from 1 lemon

Making Your Carrot Top Salsa

get everything all minced and zested and quick to go ?

Good — dump it all into a bowl with the olive crude , crimson wine vinegar , and lemon juice , and stir to combine .

permit the salsa sit at room temperature overnight while the flavors meld together . Like chimichurri , the sauce gets better with age , and you ’ll know it ’s good when the cultivated carrot tops have twist a deep , softened shade of army green .

Fresh carrot greens

pour out into jar and refrigerate . The sauce should last at least two weeks chilled but is well served at room temperature .

This sauce is a riff on mychimichurrirecipe , and it ’s every spot as amazing as the Argentine rendering . I habituate the carrot top salsa on anything I would typically slather chimichurri on , from chicken and steak to potatoes and bread .

Instructions

Notes

Like chimichurri , the sauce gets better with age , and you ’ll bonk it ’s good when the carrot tops have turned a deep , muted nuance of army green .

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Did you make this recipe?

All minced and zested and ready to go

Combine all ingredients in a bowl

Carrot top chimichurri

Carrot top chimichurri

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