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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.

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Last modified on: May 7^th 2022

Keywords for this post:Vegetables Waste Recovery Anti-gaspi Sustainable development Leftovers

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.

carottes avec fanes

Carrots: With the tops, you can make a pesto out of the beaten track where they will replace the basil out of season, think to put about 2 times more than basil.

navets avec fanes

Turnips: Try a"total turnip" where you will see that everything in the turnip is good.

betteraves avec fanes

Beets: In my opinion, the best beet tops ever, with a distinctive taste.
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.

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