Jazz up your dishes with colourful carrots

Lots of vegetables are recognizable by shape, but often it is their colour that grabs attention when food shopping. Coloured carrots are available year-round and are one of the most eye-catching vegetables.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) website advises that coloured carrots are grown for ethnic markets, but actually they are readily found in chain grocers and at farmers’ markets. (1)

Look for colourful carrots at the farmers market.

Coloured carrots are within the carrot family of foods, which includes not only other vegetables such as fennel, celery, parsnip, Chinese celery (also known as leaf celery), but also edible and poisonous herbs.

Edible herbs within the carrot family of foods include dill, anise, caraway, cumin, lovage, chervil and coriander.

Coloured carrots have a mild flavour and can be eaten raw or cooked.  As with more common varieties of carrots, coloured carrots are well paired with the foods and edible herbs within the carrot family of foods. How many recipes for savoury soups, stews and sauces begin with the cook sautéing carrots and celery?

Different herbs from the carrot family of foods demonstrate the versatility of coloured carrots. For example, coriander combines well with carrots for a satisfying hot dish on a cold winter’s day, while the mild, sweet taste of dill gives summertime carrot dishes a light flavour profile.

Don’t eat these poisonous herbs in the carrot family!

Not for consumption are the poisonous herbs in the carrot family of foods including poison ivy, poison hemlock, water hemlock, wild parsnip and giant hogweed.

Wild carrot, better known as Queen Anne’s Lace, is considered to be a non-poisonous weed according to OMAFRA. (2)

Queen Anne’s Lace is in the carrot family

Coloured carrots can be grown throughout Ontario’s growing regions and include a multi-coloured variety, as well as individual white, yellow, deep orange, red and purple varieties.

The carrots take 120 to 180 days from seed planting to harvest and can be grown in-ground or in raised beds.

Whether eaten on their own as a quick, healthy snack, or as an ingredient in hot or cold dishes, coloured carrots are a welcome addition to the home kitchen.