Fresh Carrots, like cherries, are also delicious just the way they are. When young, I recall sitting with a friend on swings, on a swingset feet away from the foot of my parent’s vegetable garden, with a bowl of tiny fresh carrots just pulled from the garden. It is that time of the year now here. These carrots are from a wonderful local farm.
NOTE: (Although these were photographed where there was sun – careful to leave the dish in the sun, or the carrots might begin to cook a bit (well, maybe leaving in the sun a minute or so will release some of the mint oil onto the carrots, which could be a positive? – The mint should lightly impart some flavor to the carrots simply on contact though, and if eaten together).
INGREDIENTS: tiny carrots and some mint leaves or mint leaves with a bit of stem (sprigs), for more than one leaf together.
SERVING SUGGESTION: Place fresh baby carrots with the greens cut down to maybe a quarter inch (or as you prefer), and add some sprigs of mint, place all in a small bowl, or a candy dish.
The carrot tops might be used in a recipe, or fed to goats perhaps, or used to add greens to a compost pile.
For Dogs? Absolutely. Most dogs love raw carrots sometimes, if not often. A little mint? Yes also – although not sure your dog will eat that up, without something more. The top of the carrot, and even the carrot tops likely are fine finely chopped or steamed – (I will be trying this later today).
Note of Caution: Your dogs size will affect the quantity of any food they eat, including carrot tops. Careful also of dietary restrictions. Carrot tops need to be seen with the carrot, to know they are carrot tops, by the casual observer. There are look-a-likes – so if you find what looks like a carrot top at the edge of a field, it might be a poison hemlock, put beyond an animal’s reach. Wash the carrot tops before serving.
References: Whole Dog Journal has a picture of a dog that has been given an entire carrot – root, and top both. whole-dog-journal.com/food/what-vegetables-can-dogs-eat/ .