+ KEY FACTS ABOUT CARROTS

• Carrots are a root vegetable with most having orange flesh and green leaves.

• Carrots come in many colours: white, yellow, orange, red and purple.

• Carrots are related to parsnip, celery, parsley, fennel, cumin, caraway, and dill.

+ COOKING TIPS

• To get the most out of your carrots nutritionally: steam 2-3cm wide x 4cm long pieces for 7 minutes. You don’t need to, but you can peel them first if you prefer.

• Over-cooking and boiling reduces the nutritional power, but makes them taste sweeter (which may help kids eat more of them).

• Sous-vide cooking (at temperatures 10-15°C lower than boiling/steaming) is really good at maintaining nutritional composition of carrots.

• Blending cooked carrots (with some oil) increases the beta-carotene your body will absorb, enormously. Enjoy blended carrots in a burger or dip, or as a sauce for meals.

• Frozen carrots are also excellent, nutritionally.

• If your refrigerated carrots have gone bendy: add them to a soup or stew – the fibre, and sweetness will still be there. If they’ve gone mouldy: don’t eat them.

• Enjoy purple carrots raw for best effect.

+ FLAVOUR AND USAGE SUGGESTIONS

• Carrots vary in sweetness and in pine/parsley notes, which can also taste bitter/woody.

• Bitter compounds are found in the peel, so if they taste too strong for you: peel and cook for slightly longer to reduce this.

• The 'white blush' which sometimes appears on the surface of refrigerated carrots is a harmless discolouration resulting from moisture loss or abrasion during storage. It has nothing to do with chlorine and does not affect the taste or nutritional value of the carrots.

• Use carrot leaves in a salad, or blend up with some basil, oil, parmesan and pine nuts to make pesto.

• Great carrot flavour pairings:

  • Star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, caraway

  • Apples and Oranges

  • Celery, Cabbage, Onions and Swedes

  • Walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts and coconut

  • Olives and beef.

• To make your carrot cake even more awesome: Add cinnamon, hazelnut oil and some coconut; top with an orange zest-infused creamy (nut) cheese topping and sprinkle on some walnuts! Yum!

• Make a scrumptious simple coleslaw with grated carrot, finely sliced purple cabbage, Granny Smith apple and celery, sprinkle on a few caraway seeds and some walnuts, and dress with a blue cheese dressing.

+ PURCHASING & STORING TIPS

• If you buy your carrots just as roots (no tops), store them in the vegetable drawer in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks (longer should also still be fine to eat).

• If you buy them with tops: remove and use the tops (makes a great salad or pesto), and store roots as above. Leaving the tops on dries the carrots out.

+ HEALTH BENEFIT STATEMENTS

One serve of carrots is 75g, which is about 1 medium or ½ a large carrot. This much carrot provides:

• A good** source of Vitamin A (retinol), from beta-carotene.

• A source* of Fibre

• A source* of Potassium

• A source* of Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)

• A source* of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)

• A source* of Vitamin K

*A source means one serve provides at least 10% of the Recommended Daily Intake, or at least 2g in the case of fibre.

**A good source means one serve provides at least 25% of the Recommended Daily Intake, or at least 4g in the case of fibre.

As a source of Fibre, Potassium, Vitamins B6, C and K, and a good source of Vitamin A, one serve (75g) of carrots contributes to:

• A healthy brain and nervous system.

• Energy and normal metabolism.

• Healthy bones and joints.

• A Healthy heart and circulation.

• Healthy immune system.

• Healthy skin.

• Healthy digestion.

• Good hydration.

+ KEY PHYTONUTRIENTS PRESENT

• Carrots are one of the few vegetables that contain a good source level - well over 25% of the RDI per serve - of a vitamin, in this case Vitamin A. Actually, they contain very high levels of orange coloured beta-carotene, which is converted by our bodies into Vitamin A.

• The darker/brighter orange the carrot, the more beta-carotene it contains.

• Beta-carotene is fat-soluble, so your body absorbs more if you eat carrots with oil/butter.

• Beta-carotene also has potent antioxidant capacity, a wide array of proven health benefits including reducing the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, and enhances the immune system, as well as conferring protection from age-related macular degeneration.

• Ingesting beta-carotene from food is far more effective than taking a supplement.

• Red carrots contain lycopene – which is related to beta-carotene and also found in tomatoes and watermelon.

• Purple carrots contain water-soluble anthocyanins, as do blueberries. Some carrots are purple outside and orange inside.

• Carrots also contain polyacetylenes like falcarinol. These have a bitter taste, and there is more in raw carrots. Recent research shows these may be the cause of the anti-cancer effects from eating carrots, potentially by modifying gut bacteria.

• Carrots also contain water-soluble phenolics – chlorogenic acid – at levels about half those found in blueberries.

• In conclusion: We don’t know exactly why, but carrots truly are SuperFoods! Eat at least 1 big one, every day.

• However:
  • Carrots are a medium-risk plant in terms of potentially causing allergic reactions in people with latex allergies.
  • Excessive consumption of carrots (>10 per day for 2 weeks) can cause the skin of your palms, the soles of your feet and the skin behind your ears to turn yellowish; this is called carotenodermia, and is reversible (eat less carrots!).