These rainbow carrots could have been pulled straight out of Mr McGregor’s garden… Naturally beautiful, rainbow carrots only require a delicate peel or scrub with a vegetable brush. Spring into colour with these tasty little bites. We’ve given them extra crunch with caraway seeds, which are incredible for aiding digestion.
Do you have to peel baby carrots and rainbow carrots?
No, it is better to give baby carrots a gentle scrub to remove any earth or pesticides. You can peel them if you have a particularly delicate touch but bear in mind they will shrink in the oven and end up even smaller than when they went in.
Is it true that carrots help you to see in the dark?
Carrots contain vitamin A and this is required for your body to synthesise rhodopsin, the pigment in your eyes that operates in low-light conditions. If you have a vitamin A deficiency, you can develop nyctalopia, also known as night blindness. So while eating carrots as part of a diet rich in vitamin-rich foods will certainly help to maintain eye health, it cannot specifically improve sight.
Is it true that all carrots used to be purple?
Yes. The earliest documented carrots came from Persia and Central Asia and they were purple or even white with a thin root. One mutant strain occurred which removed the purple pigmentation resulting in a new race of yellow carrots, from which orange carrots were subsequently developed. Today we have come full circle and the purple carrot is back in fashion with amazing food brands like Natoora cultivating old heritage varieties once more.
Ingredients
- 500g, topped, cleaned baby rainbow carrots
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 1tsp lemon juice, fresh is best
- ½tsp honey
- 1tsp caraway seeds
- pinch of ground coriander
- fresh microherbs or coriander to dress
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C, Gas 6.
Toss the carrots into a mixing bowl with the oil seeds and dry coriander and mix well. Roast on a baking tray for 30 minutes, or until going golden.
Season, then drizzle over the honey and lemon juice, give it all a shake and pop back in for 5mins. Scatter over the herbs and serve.
Top Tip for making Rainbow carrots with roasted caraway seeds
Also delicious with toasted pistachios
