Shall I take the tops off?
If you buy your vegetables at the market, at a farmer's stand, once you have chosen a bunch of carrots or beets for example, you must have already heard this proposal from the salesman: "Shall I pull the tops?
This sentence is his proposal to remove for you all the tops, which he puts aside, to give you only the vegetables with the idea to not overload your basket.
It's a good idea, but it would be a pity to accept it.
This sentence is his proposal to remove for you all the tops, which he puts aside, to give you only the vegetables with the idea to not overload your basket.
It's a good idea, but it would be a pity to accept it.
10 K 4.9/5 (15 reviews)
Keywords for this post:VegetablesWasteRecoveryAnti-gaspiSustainable developmentLeftoversLast modified on: May 7th 2022
Shall I take the tops off?
So yes, it's quite cumbersome, but in practice it can be eaten, it's good, even very good, and as I said it would be a shame to throw them away, even in the compost.
These leaves, that is to say the leaves that are on top of the vegetables, and therefore often what is out of the ground for the root vegetables (carrots, radishes, turnips, beets, etc.) are not always very appetizing, but their use is really anti-gaspi (sustainable development should be said) and allows to complete the use of the vegetables, or to make a separate dish.
For the use it is quite simple, you take your vegetables, you treat the tops as a salad: soaking in vinegar and water, washing, spinning, drying if necessary, and then you can use them in a lot of recipes.
Use the beets in your initial recipe, and keep the tops for another recipe such as fresh spinach soup where they will replace spinach very well.
You will notice that as much as vegetables can be preserved for a long time, easily several weeks for carrots, several days for beets, their tops are not at all: they wilt (no pun intended) in a few hours sometimes, and they must be fresh to be used. When you come back from the market, it is in your interest to prepare them (soaking etc.) as soon as possible, and within the day at the latest.
To sum up: If someone offers to take the tops off your vegetables at the market, it is better to decline politely, so that you can use them in very original recipes.
These leaves, that is to say the leaves that are on top of the vegetables, and therefore often what is out of the ground for the root vegetables (carrots, radishes, turnips, beets, etc.) are not always very appetizing, but their use is really anti-gaspi (sustainable development should be said) and allows to complete the use of the vegetables, or to make a separate dish.
For the use it is quite simple, you take your vegetables, you treat the tops as a salad: soaking in vinegar and water, washing, spinning, drying if necessary, and then you can use them in a lot of recipes.
Use the beets in your initial recipe, and keep the tops for another recipe such as fresh spinach soup where they will replace spinach very well.
You will notice that as much as vegetables can be preserved for a long time, easily several weeks for carrots, several days for beets, their tops are not at all: they wilt (no pun intended) in a few hours sometimes, and they must be fresh to be used. When you come back from the market, it is in your interest to prepare them (soaking etc.) as soon as possible, and within the day at the latest.
To sum up: If someone offers to take the tops off your vegetables at the market, it is better to decline politely, so that you can use them in very original recipes.
Lasts posts
Cherry clafoutis, with or without pits?
When it comes to cherry clafoutis recipes, there's often a camp of those who argue that you absolutely have to leave the stones in because it tastes better, and the other camp (myself included) who prefer cherries without stones, which makes a much more pleasant clafoutis to eat. But is it true...June 29th 20254585
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...May 19th 20252,156 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".April 25th 20251,9705
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...April 10th 20252,3095
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.January 27th 20253,777
Other pages you may also like
The power of sayings and beliefs in the kitchen
One day, in the comments on the recipe for beaten egg whites, a young woman asked if you could beat egg whites stiff while having a period, as a friend had told her it wasn't possible. Sometime later another person commented that for mayonnaise it had been (get this!) scientifically proven that a...February 6th 201149 K4.4
In praise of slow cooking
You will no doubt have noticed that in cookery, it's often the actual cooking process that gets neglected. This is understandable; it comes at the end of the recipe and getting the dish in the oven is something of a relief (ah, that's done!), which frees us to cope with what's left: tidying the...February 9th 201139 K4.2
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...March 6th 201374 K4.0
The different cooking modes
In cooking, cooking means bringing food into contact with a source of heat, to transform it: improving its taste, and sometimes its texture. This contact with the heat source can be achieved in a number of ways: these are the cooking methods, and let's take a look at the main ones.July 24th 20246,0974.7
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021141 K4.5
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.