Healthy, Versatile Carrot Recipes

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Carrots grow in North Carolina almost year round, often ready before the first day of spring and available through the end of May, with a second season from mid-August through November.

This nutrient-rich root vegetable can be eaten raw atop salads or dipped into hummus. They can be cooked in a bit of water with butter, sugar and salt. Chopped, shredded, mashed and julienned, they are quite cooperative. They are not fragile or temperamental. They don’t mind being left out on a kitchen counter or in the produce drawer. They will wait until you’re ready for them. They are like the best kind of good, old friend – patient, open to change and easy to love.

I once sautéed carrots with some chopped onion when a friend joined us for dinner. He blurted out, “I don’t like carrots!” My usually polite and reserved guest had a knee-jerk reaction to a long life of poorly prepared carrots. It was the only vegetable planned for our dinner that night, and he decided to take a bite. Then another. “Well, I never used to like carrots. These are delicious!” Like so many things, we don’t think we like them until we experience them in a new way.