Carrots

The favourite food of Bugs Bunny hardly needs a description for they are well known and loved by even the youngest children in many countries. The benefits of carrots are legendary.  Your mother probably told you that eating carrots would keep your eyes bright. That’s because the carrot provides the highest source of beta carotene, a form of vitamin A, of the commonly consumed vegetables, and vitamin A is essential for healthy vision.  Carrots are delicious eaten raw or cooked. Cooking does not destroy beta-carotene. In fact cooking helps to break down the fibres, making this nutrient and the natural sugar in carrots more available. This of course means they are sweeter tasting. Take care not to overcook carrots, however, to ensure that they retain their maximum flavour and nutritional content.Wash carrot roots and gently scrub them with a vegetable brush right before eating.  Unless the carrots are old, thick or not grown organically, it is not necessary to peel them. If the stem end is green, it should be cut away as it will be bitter. Depending upon the recipe or your personal preference carrots can be left whole or julienned, grated, shredded or sliced into sticks or rounds. The choices are endless. My practical nutrition suggestion – Carrots take longer to stir fry than other softer vegetables, especially if you cut them in rounds or sticks. Take your potato peeler and simply grate a few carrots directly into your stirfry to boost your beta carotene without slowing your cooking time. Just eat the remains you can’t grate while you wait for dinner!