If you’ve bought our beets, you’ve probably heard me ask “And you eat the tops, right?” So many people toss the best parts of so many crops. Partly because we’re just not used to seeing some of these items in the grocery store, but that’s often due to how poorly some of these items ship. All of the beautiful outer leaves are discarded from romaine lettuce in the field because they will look awful by the time the lettuce heads arrive on the store shelf. Carrots are the same the tops get beat up in shipping and leaving the greens attached for more than a day or two will actually cause the roots to soften. That’s why we recommend separating tops from roots once you are back in your kitchen. You get the opportunity to use whole plant and leverage what each part excels at.

Beets, those tops are one of our favorite greens, related to spinach and Swiss chard these dark leafy greens define what it means to eat the rainbow. Great sautéed, in smoothies or even raw.

Carrots, yes the tops are edible despite some internet hysteria stemming from one inaccurate article published long ago and then referenced many times since.

Turnips, rutabagas, radishes, daikons the rule works here too. Use those tops. Salads, soups, pestos…