Carrot Top Pesto

You know when you buy beautiful carrots from the store and you're left with their green tops? What on earth are you supposed to do with them? Well, that's what I am here to talk about today, my friends. No more tossing those babies in the compost. While you could always stick them in your freezer bag full of odds and ends for that chicken stock you'll be making soon, there are good reasons to eat them fresh. Not only do they taste like super-concentrated carrots (aka delicious), but they contain 6 times the vitamin C of the root and are a great source of potassium and calcium! They have chlorophyll (as does everything green), which is an excellent source of magnesium. They can be a tad bitter, so using them in something that has other strong flavors (like garlic) is a great idea! Which brings us to today's recipe.

This pesto is incredibly easy to make and versatile to use. It is practically impossible to mess up, because it's just a bunch of tasty things blended together. It freezes well, and can be used to dress cauliflower rice, put on your eggs in the morning, as a topping to your tacos, as a sauce for your spaghetti squash "noodles", or anything else you can think of that needs some green pizzaz.

You'll need a food processor or a blender.

Ingredients:

Greens from approximately 8 carrots, cut just so they're not whole
3 (or so) cloves garlic
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup of almonds, leftover almond grounds from making almond milk, or any other kind of nut you like (pecans and hazelnuts also work well)
1 cup olive oil

1. Blend together everything except the olive oil in your food processor until it is ground up and consistent in texture.
2. Place this mixture in a bowl.
3. Whisk in olive oil by hand (this will ensure the oil doesn't get bitter, as it can when blended in a machine).
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

That's it! You have only 5 carrot tops? 1/3 cup of nuts? No big deal! Just add a little more or less olive oil. This pesto is totally customizable to what you have, and is so tasty. Give it a try!