On Red Carrots

My mom picked these up at the farmer's market because they looked so beautiful.



But they tasted so plain, so not good. They got better when roasted, but never achieved the sugary sweetness of their orange cousins.

An article on the USDA website explained that the whole spectrum of colored carrots were bred to address different health concerns, and (apparently) ignored the question of taste. From the Agricultural Research Service: "Red carrots derive their color mainly from lycopene, a type of carotene believed to guard against heart disease and some cancers. Yellow carrots accumulate xanthophylls, pigments similar to beta-carotene that support good eye health. Purple carrots possess an entirely different class of pigments—anthocyanins—which act as powerful antioxidants."


With that in mind, you should treat them the way you would any other carrot. Roast them with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. I roasted mine with purple onion, yams and beets. When played against the super-sweet yams and beets and the ever-present threat of cancer and heart disease, I found the mild carrots were much less disagreeable.