Edible Radish, Beet & Carrot Top Greens Salad : No Waste
Carrot Radish Beet Tops Salad
There’s a misfortune and almost tragic waste of food occurring in the vegetative world. Greens that that we tend to overlook or don’t normally deem as edible are being tossed to the side as trash or compost material. Beautiful green tops from beets are normally valued as edible, but great tops from radishes and carrots are often poorly mistaken as un-edible.
Sadly, some beet and mostly carrot and radish top greens rarely ever make it to the plate. They’re not poisonous (so long as you have no allergies) and are simply, delicious.
Edible Beet and Radish Greens
Granted, when these tops are bought when the tops are older and tough, the texture and bitter taste can be un-pleasing to the palate. In addition to pesticide concerns that may lay remnant on the greens (buy pesticide-free greens!), these can be valid considerations to tossing them away. But when gardeners who are able to harvest the greens when they’re fresh and tender and who don’t use chemical sprays on their vegetable plots, there’s no reason to waste these marvelous greens! High quality, and superbly tender green tops can be found at farmers markets as well.
Fresh from the garden, carrot, radish and beet greens are so tender and flavorful in their raw state. When the roots are still young, the leaf colors and textures bring a whole new dimension to salads. Their nuances really make a compelling addition to almost any dish.
Radish Green Tops: The wonders of radish greens tops are endless. Completely edible and wonderfully peppery in taste, these can be add great bite to so many dishes. Even when they’ve reached their bitter stage, a few leaves tossed in a lettuce leaf salad will add a nice “bite”. If you can’t harvest baby radish leaves, then look for bunches with the most tender and new leaves when at the farmers market.
Carrot Tops: These delicate, lacy and gorgeous leaves are a wonderful finish to salads. Also high in nutrients, they’re great in brothy, healing soups. When buying your carrots, don’t let anyone remove their tops! Keep them on the carrots and enjoy!
Beet Tops- These greens get lots of salad love and their brilliant red colors are deserving of all their salad alcolades. But even beyond the salad, beet greens are wonderful when prepared in other types of dishes. Treat all these tops like any other nutritious green and feel good about it too. No waste. Let’s all forage ahead and start eating leaf to root, top to tip, or what ever it takes to take the whole vegetable to your plate. Here’s a great article about cooking beet greens.
enjoy all your greens! Here’s more recipes for you: Baked beet leaves recipe, Roasted radish with greens.
-diane and todd
Salad of Radish, Carrot and/or Beet tops with Vermouth Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 pound greens- any combinations of radish, carrot, beet or lettuce Remove any tough stems or central veins. Washed and dried.
- 1/4 cup sliced carrots or radishes
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar , or vinegar of choice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce , gives great flvaor
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder , optional
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup grape seed oil , olive or salad oil
- optional accompaniments- tomatoes , toasted almonds, walnuts, croutons
Instructions
- In a medium bowl or mason jar, combine all ingredients together except for greens, vegetables and accompaniments (white wine vinegar, dry vermouth, dijon mustard, soy sauce, curry powder, sugar, salt, black pepper, and grape seed oil).
- In bowl, whisk ingredients together well. In mason jar, close lid tightly and shake well until all ingredients are combined
- Toss into greens, then top with accompaniments.
I adore tops–particularly radish. Good with dal, good with eggs, and great source of iron. But the carrot is a little of a hard sell for me. Your suggestions sound tempting but I am just not sure.
What a great post! I’ve been getting tons of beet, radish, carrot and turnip greens in our CSA and mostly use them in smoothies. There’s something so fulfilling about using every part of the vegetable.
I’ve been trying all kinds of greens that I’ve never had before through our CSA. Our first week we got 4 shopping bags full of 8 different greens and I was a little overwhelmed. I began playing with dressings and came up with a tasty buttermilk dressing and some beautiful lacy parmesan bowls.
http://dianasaurdishes.com/06/fresh-greens-with-buttermilk-salad-dressing-in-parmesan-lace-bowls/
But my absolute favorite new recipe for greens is swiss chard and goat cheese soup. I’ve been making it by the gallon and freezing it for winter!
http://dianasaurdishes.com/06/vegetarian-night-creamy-swiss-chard-soup-with-goat-cheese/
Your salad looks fantastic!
Back in February, when I found myself drowning in the San Francisco Fog, I made a Fava Bean Stew with Arugula and Meyer Lemon (Beans and Greens!). It was simple, hearty, warming, and utterly satisfying – just what I needed. You can view the recipe and photo here:
http://www.porktopurslane.com/search/label/Dried%20Fava%20Bean%20Stew%20with%20Arugula%20and%20Meyer%20Lemon
Now I may eat these lovelies without the guilt of “the tops toss.” Thank you for the bounty of recipe tips.
I am thrilled to see a recipe calling for carrot tops. I always buy them at the Farmers’ Market and never know what to do with the greens! Here is my recipe for this week, Green Beans tossed with toasted walnuts, olive oil and sea salt. Simple and delicious! http://www.thenaptimechef.com/2009/04/napping-on-easter-sunday-dinner-series.html
You’ve opened up my eyes. I’ve never eaten the green tops of any veggies!!!
My Mom has a great garden, so I will be doing this the next time I am at her house.
I just found your site today, and I LOVE your pictures!!
Beautiful greens and a huge variety of dishes to choose from. Awesome 🙂
What an incredibly useful post! Waste not, want not. Thanks for all the extras, too, like other ideas to incorporate these pretty little tops.
I did an Asian-inspired Sesame Soy Glazed Green Bean recipe:
http://penandfork.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/sesame-soy-glazed-green-beans/
How interesting! I never thought about whether those tops were edible or not, and just assumed they weren’t!
My post is also about using things up, though in more of a whatever’s-in-the-fridge way: http://bit.ly/bZvRk
i love the economy of using ALL the parts–great job and great photos, as usual. i went a different direction, while still keeping with the theme:
http://thecosmiccowgirl.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/smoked-paprika-roasted-chickpeas-and-why-my-head-is-different/
Wow, I guess you learn something every day! We eat beet greens all the time but I never knew one could eat carrot or radish tops! Your photos as always make everything look delicious.
I recently made a rustic tart using bietola (swiss chard) you can find here at http://tinyurl.com/l84ro9
As for beans, I am not sure if we are talking the same kind of beans, but here is a delicious borlotti bean soup I made recently at http://tinyurl.com/lb6r6m
Deb
http://www.umbrian-farmhouse.com
I read this about carrot tops in the NYT: http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/the-toxic-salad/ Do you know if there are exceptions to which are edible?
I’ve grown beets just for the greens because I love them so much. That’s a gorgeous salad!
Here’s my entry for this week – my East Tennessee came out:
http://tnlocavore.typepad.com/tennessee_locavore/2009/08/greens-peas-cornbread-oh-my.html
I just found your blog through the Summer Fest. I love it. I guess I knew radish greens would be edible, but I never thought of carrot greens. The chickens got them. And I am fascinated by the carrot top and quinoa soup recipe. I’ve just discovered quinoa, too and I plan to make it a staple. Thank you.
I had no idea you could eat the tops of carrots! I’m definitely going to pick up some baby carrots, tops attached, at the Farmers’ Market this weekend. Posts like this make me want to grow vegetables and not just flowers.
I never thought about using radish leaves and stems in my kimchi. Great idea!