Rainbow Crunch Carrots

These colorful carrots that come in pale yellow, yellow, red, and purple are usually referred to as Rainbow Crunch Carrots. While many of these colors may seem unusual for us, the very first carrots that were grown in Afghanistan nearly 1,000 years ago were purple and yellow, not orange. They did not become orange until sometime in the 1500’s when Dutch carrot growers cross-bred pale yellow carrots with red carrots in honor of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family.¹  While they all have the basic carrot taste and texture, each color has its own slightly unique taste.  In comparison to your run-of-the mill orange carrot the pale yellow and yellow have a milder flavor, while in contrast the purple has an earthier flavor and the red has a very sweet, almost sweet potato-“ish” flavor and a slightly softer texture as well.  A quick way to bring out these simple, yet interesting flavors is as easy as oven-roasting the carrots with some olive oil, salt and pepper for about 25 minutes at 400°. When cooked together the flavors of each of the brightly colored beauties plays off of each other to create a tasty, unique, and fun dish. Enjoy.

Fun Food Facts: Carrots!

● Did you know that there is a Carrot Museum in the United Kingdom? Ok it’s a virtual museum, but still…

● Red carrots have extra lycopene, which is also found in tomatoes and is believed to lower blood pressure and help to reduce the risk of some cancers.²

● China is the world’s top carrot producer. ²

● The World’s Heaviest Carrot recorded in 1998 was 18.985 lbs!³ See World Record page here

Links:

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/index.html

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/record.html

Sources

1 – http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/25-facts-about-carrots.html

2- http://www.slashfood.com/2006/10/05/brighten-up-with-rainbow-carrots/

3- http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/index.html