I have thrown away the leaves of carrot for a long time thinking that there must be something wrong with those leaves when everyone else is throwing them away. It’s not clear how that disinformation, but it surely is the time to make that right.
Not a single vegetable used for soups contains carrot leaves. Maybe carrot leaves don’t give a special taste to soup, but you certainly don’t have to throw them away. Carrot leaves are not poisonous and are completely edible! One argument against is the ingredient called furocoumarin to which some people can react with mild allergic dermatitis and only if they’re exposed to sunlight. The same ingredient can be also found in parsnip leaves.
Young carrot leaves are an extremely rich source of vitamins and minerals. In spring, you should maximally use that ingredient. For some healing properties carrot leaves are even more quality than the root itself.
They contain more vitamin C than the root and more vitamin K than any other vegetable. They have a non-toxic effect on liver and the whole body. They are rich in other minerals too which have a positive effect on the whole metabolism, as well as on the prevention of tumor growth. They have an antiseptic effect against bad breath, painful gingiva and toothache.
The abundance of potassium gives that ingredient a slightly bitter taste, but that’s not a reason to avoid this vegetable. Bitterness can be alleviated by cooking. You can use carrot leaves in salads, omelettes. You can prepare a soup out of carrot leaves in the same way that you prepare soups form leaf vegetables. The tea made of carrot leaves is excellent for cleansing of your organism.
According to the property of cleansing and moving the metabolism, I most often use carrot leaves in my spring juices. Young leaves are excellent with apples or similar fruit.
The ingredients that you put in a blender are:
several young stems of carrot leaves
2 pieces of fruit (apple, pear…)
2 glasses of water
You can sometimes find young beetroot leaves, kefir and other things between those ingredients.
All of them are ingredients which can find a way to feed your body in the morning.
