carrots to good home

January 20, 2006 9:43 AM

What in G-d's name am I going to do with ten pounds of carrots?

I bought a ten-pound bag of carrots because it was two dollars. Baking carrot cakes scarcely made a dent in the orange empire. I've been eating them raw as snacks, but I'd appreciate any carrot-intensive recipes that you've enjoyed.

posted by ITheCosmos to food & drink (41 comments total)

Glazed carrots, yum. There are usually variations on this in most general cookbooks.
posted by JanetLand at 9:46 AM on January 20, 2006

Do you own a juicer?
posted by GriffX at 9:47 AM on January 20, 2006

You could use some of them in a stock.

Soup is also good.

Stirfry keeps well for an entire week, and thin-cut diagonal slices of carrots are some of the best things to put in there.

Other than that, what can I say? Maybe you could buy the 2 dollar bag next time and give away a few pounds ot neighbors or soup kitchens if you're feeling guilty about it.
posted by jon_kill at 9:48 AM on January 20, 2006

Alton Brown did an episode on carrots, with several recipes ... check it out on the FoodTV site.
posted by frogan at 9:50 AM on January 20, 2006

You can freeze them and use them later if you plan to put it in the oven. That way you can at least eat them over 3 months instead of 3 weeks. 10 lbs of carrots over 3 weeks...stop eating when your skin turns orange.

I'm not kidding. I've seen babies who's ate too much carrot baby food. They're ORANGE.

Instead of using roasting racks, I usually just lay a criss crossing pattern of carrots on the bottom of the pan. Frozen carrots do well in carrot cakes too.
posted by Sallysings at 9:50 AM on January 20, 2006

A former roommate, faced with the same problem, made about 2 gallons of carrot salsa. Which also never got completely eaten. I couldn't tell ya what was in his recipe, either.
posted by sohcahtoa at 9:51 AM on January 20, 2006

Find a horse to feed 'em to? That's what I always figured people did with ten pounds of carrots.
posted by clh at 9:51 AM on January 20, 2006

Yeah, carrot juice is surprisingly good. Like a carrot milkshake.

You can also make soup -- try sauteeing some onions in olive oil, adding small chunks of carrots + enough chicken broth to cover them, and then simmering until they're soft. Puree the whole thing (in batches) in a Cuisinart or blender, and then add a touch of cream. Lots of spices go well in this kind of soup: nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme, brown sugar, cayenne, ginger, etc.

Or donate your extras to a soup kitchen. Maybe your neighborhood shelter has some needy bunnies around too.
posted by equipoise at 9:52 AM on January 20, 2006

Vegetable stock
one onion
a clove or two of garlic
6-8 carrots (medium-sized)
posted by Felicity Rilke at 9:53 AM on January 20, 2006

Sorry, got away on me. Simmer those ingredients together in a pot (use about 4-6 cups of stock) until the carrots and onion are soft. Add some fresh minced garlic during the last five minutes or so of cooking. Blend the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor, and return it to the pot. Add a tablespoon or two of frozen orange juice concentrate. Season according to taste.

I always make this by memory, it's the easiest soup in the world, and completely delicious. Add more garlic or ginger or orange concentrate according to your taste. It takes about half an hour total to cook.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 9:57 AM on January 20, 2006

Carrot cake.
posted by rxrfrx at 10:03 AM on January 20, 2006

Make friends with some bunnies.

Seriously, steamed carrots rock.
posted by konolia at 10:08 AM on January 20, 2006

Here's a longish stock recpipe that involves carrots. You should always have stock around anyway.

2 or 3 lbs of beef bones, cut into pieces by the butcher.
3 carrots, peeled, chunked and guartered
2 onions, peeled and quartered
2 stalks of celery, chunked and quartered
5 heads of garlic, peeled and crushed under the flat of a knife
salt
pepper cloves
parsley and thyme to taste

Roast the beef bones on a cookie sheet at 450 for about an hour. Drain the liquid, add the vegetables, and return to the oven for about 45 minutes.

Add all ingredients to a big stock pot full of water. Bring to the simmer (or even the shimmer, but never a boil) and allow to simmer for at least eight hours, skimming scum off it at appropriate intervals.

Strain. Cool. Freeze or use.

There that takes care of three carrots.
posted by jon_kill at 10:08 AM on January 20, 2006

Carrot juice is the most underappreciated juice - although it seems to be a US thing. Get a juicer.

(and to people who have never tried it - I am not a big fan of carrots and usually avoid them, but I love carrot juice)
posted by vacapinta at 10:10 AM on January 20, 2006

Carrot Facial Mask. Not a recipe but good for the skin, and way to use up some of those carrots.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:11 AM on January 20, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Carrot Soup is awesome.

My carrot soup is simple too...
2 lbs carrots - coarsely chopped (have fun)
2 large potatoes - coarsely chopped
2 large sweet onions - coarsely chopped
6 cans of vegetable broth (I prefer College Inn)
the juice of one orange
scallions (green onions) sliced for garnish
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, sautee the potatoes and onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the carrots, veg broth, and orange juice and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Once this is done you will want to add salt & pepper and then blend the soup into a pureed texture. I prefer using an immersion blender for this. Make sure you garnish with green onions! Lots!

You can also make carrot muffins and freeze them.
posted by catfood at 10:13 AM on January 20, 2006

Raise a pound of rabbit meat. (10:1 is about right, right?)
posted by kindall at 10:16 AM on January 20, 2006

Eat two pounds of carrots a day!

Seriously, that is what I would do.
posted by aubilenon at 10:18 AM on January 20, 2006

An Indian sweet - Gajar Ka Halwa
posted by madman at 10:20 AM on January 20, 2006

Carrot juice is definitely underrated, so sweet and tasty!
posted by mic stand at 10:28 AM on January 20, 2006

carrot wine or, for a more healthy idea, you could cut into thin slices and use them to help give up smoking (presuming, of course, you smoke in the first place).
posted by tnai at 10:36 AM on January 20, 2006

They do keep quite awhile in the fridge. Use a couple a week and they'll be gone before they spoil.
posted by orange swan at 10:44 AM on January 20, 2006

Shredded carrot and apple salad is really quite delightful. Use a grater and make it about a one to one ratio. I add a little dressing made from white wine vinegar, ginger, some salad oil and maybe some honey. I've found that kids actually like this, too.
posted by ohio at 10:47 AM on January 20, 2006

Shred them and put it on a salad, or maybe on top of a taco?

Find someone with a keg of onion dip who has no carrots?

Hang them outside and watch for wildlife?
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:49 AM on January 20, 2006

Remember that carrots are root veggies, if you store them in a cool, dry, dark place they'll keep much longer than you imagine. My grandparents used to keep carrots from September through March or April in our root cellar. Your fridge is probably too damp for them to keep as well as they would in a cool, very dry storage.

If you make stock from them, you can then freeze the stock, which will keep for a good long while.

Here's a great page of ideas (geocities, click gently).

Would you believe there is even a site called carrotrecipes.net?

I would pickle some, make some stock, make a cake, save some and eat a 1/2 lb a week until they're gone.

Or, you could by this cookbook for just $2.98!

even more ideas here
posted by anastasiav at 10:52 AM on January 20, 2006

I got a rough outline for some carrot-garlic-potato soup from a caterer back in December. I've tried it a few times with some variations, but the rough idea is:

8 or so carrots (about a pound)
about half as much potatoes
three bulbs of garlic
A bit of cream
chicken or vegetable stock + water enough to top this up to a gallon pot.


You shred most of the carrots and potatos, chunk up a few of them for variety, chop up the garlic, slow-cook the whole mess
for a few hours, put about half through the food processor, and add salt to taste. I really like it.
posted by weston at 11:01 AM on January 20, 2006

Feed them to your dogs. Ours eat raw meat and vegetables every meal. They get a whole carrot or a whole apple for a snack/treat. We buy 10 lbs of carrots every two weeks.
posted by iurodivii at 11:14 AM on January 20, 2006

I would get drunk, get out the video camera, give a speech, and then throw them one-by-one off of my third-floor porch. If I had a yard, I would throw them into a campfire.
posted by TurkishGolds at 11:16 AM on January 20, 2006

Roast carrots are excellent. They shrink quite a bit when roasted, so you won't have to make an enormous mound to get through them all.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:31 AM on January 20, 2006

Provincial Chicken Soup

1 onion, chopped
2 T oil
4 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 zucchini, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 T herbs de Provence
1 pound red potatoes, diced
1 big can diced tomatoes
1 quart chicken broth
1 pound diced chicken breast
Salt and pepper

Heat up the oil and saute the onions until a little soft. Add the carrots,
saute. Add the zucchini, pepper and garlic; saute. Add the herbs and
saute a few seconds. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a
simmer. Add the chicken and cook until done (about 15 minutes). Add salt
and pepper to taste.

Sorry, can't give an attribution, don't remember where I found it.
posted by leafwoman at 11:36 AM on January 20, 2006

I love tnai's idea for carrot wine.
I was going to suggest a spiced carrot beer.
Grind them and add them to the wort on an unhopped ale with lotsa ginger and some cinammon and cloves.
Strain out the carrot mass and your wort will be orange, sweet and carrotty.
That was the best Halloween ever, drunk on veggies.
posted by Seamus at 12:52 PM on January 20, 2006

That quantity would do me for about a week -- every afternoon, first thing when I get home, I grind up over a pound, strain out what's left of the pulp and have a big cool tumbler of carrot juice.
posted by Rash at 1:15 PM on January 20, 2006

Simplest carrot recepie ever:

Carrots
Butter
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Peel & chop carrots into 1" discs. Place a pat of butter in a stock pot, heat on low heat until just melted. Place carrots in, toss to coat and LEAVE COOKING AT LOW HEAT FOR 25 mins minimum - preferable 45-60 mins. Stir once ever 15 mins. Take out, season with salt & pepper to tast.

The carrots will not dry out if on low heat, and they become beutifully sweet.
posted by lalochezia at 2:42 PM on January 20, 2006

Carrot Juice is delicious
posted by Raybun at 2:52 PM on January 20, 2006

To second what MrMoonPie said, roast carrots are about my favourite food in the whole world. Peel and roughly chop a bunch of carrots and potatoes and drop them in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season liberally with kosher salt. Drop a pork or lamb shoulder right down on top of it all.

Bake in a 350 F oven for about an hour. Chop a couple of onions and a fennel root or two, toss in oil and salt and add to the pan. Place it all back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so. Chop a zucchini and add to the pan.

Continue cooking until your roast is cooked to your liking (a probe thermometer is most useful for this).

The carrots will be unctuous and sweet and roasty, and they'll also be the best part of the sandwich you bring to work the next day.

In any case, one person can easily eat two pounds of carrots a week eiwthout turning orange, and ten pounds will easily last five weeks in a cool, dry place or in your fridge.
posted by solid-one-love at 3:24 PM on January 20, 2006

If you eat two pounds of carrots a day you will turn orange.

Carrot and Coriander Stew/ Soup
2lbs carrots chopped
1 large potato
1/2 large onion
1 bunch cilantro
3 garlic cloves
3-4 cups veggis stock (1 cube)
1 heaping teaspoon cumin
1/3 teaspoon chipotle pepper powdered

Put the crushed garlic cloves, potato, carrot and onion in a large pot and add the stock. Grind fresh black pepper to taste (I use a lot- probably 5 or 6 twists). Bring to a boil and let simmer till potato is mush and carrots are soft. Add cumin and pepper (you can substitute cayenne but chipotle is better). Simmer a couple minutes, take off heat and add roughly chopped cilantro. Mix well, let sit 5 minutes then blend. Makes a think soup- add water to desired consistency. If you want stew put the carrots on to boil about 5 minutes before adding the rest of the veggies chop cilantro very finely before adding. And use less water- 2 cups, max.
posted by fshgrl at 6:35 PM on January 20, 2006

Carrot Raisin Salad, like slaw, only carroty!
posted by headspace at 7:13 PM on January 20, 2006

I had this problem a while ago, but with envelopes.
posted by grateful at 7:25 PM on January 20, 2006

For a nice variation on lalochezia's procedure, add some poppy seeds, ginger, and a little lemon juice.
posted by tangerine at 8:46 PM on January 20, 2006

I'm down with the juice/beverage suggestion. You don't need a juicer. If you have a good blender, chop some up, throw them in and add some apple juice and a few ice cubes. Absolutely delicious, I promise you.
posted by katyggls at 11:25 PM on January 20, 2006

I've made pickled carrots. If you're into pickled vegetables, you can easily google a pickled carrots recipe. As an added bonus, they keep forever, once pickled.
posted by digitalis at 12:28 PM on January 21, 2006