Last weekend, I looked out over my deck to the space where my daughters and I had a small vegetable garden in the back yard last summer. Much to my surprise, I saw carrot greens sticking up!
In case I doubted that carrots were still growing locally in December, my own neglected garden showed me that a beautiful bunch of carrots could indeed be harvested in Maryland the week before Christmas.
Look how excited I am about my carrots!!
I brought them in the house and intended to wash them later. Later turned into a few days, and the carrots were still in the fridge -- unwashed, with greens still attached -- when my husband came home from a business trip.
When he got home, he took one look at them and threw them directly in the trash.
When I found out about this, I freaked out. "Why would you throw out perfectly good carrots?!"
His response: "They were dirty."
I almost fainted. "THEY ARE DIRTY BECAUSE THEY CAME FROM THE GROUND!"
The bleach-dunked, machine-lathed, pre-bagged "baby" carrots at the grocery store have clearly made an impression on my otherwise very smart and wonderful husband.
We clearly have a long way to go on our local food journey.
This recipe for carrot-raisin salad is what I would have done with my hyper-local carrots. Instead, I did it with the other carrots in the 'fridge. At least I can take solace in knowing that they are "clean."
Carrots, shredded (as much as you want)
Raisins (until the carrots-raisin ratio looks right to you)
Plain, fat-free Greek yogurt (enough to coat carrots and raisins lightly)
Put everything in a bowl and mix it together.
Sprinkle ground nutmeg over the top.
Easy and delicious. If not hyper-local.
I handed a small bowl of this salad to my toddler while she was completely engrossed in an episode of "Fraggle Rock." She broke her concentration long enough to say, "Mama, I love this snack!"
I guess it doesn't matter (that much) where our food comes from, as long as we enjoy it. Right?
That. Was. Hilarious. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy husband also said, "I can't believe we're having a fight about CARROTS!" :-)
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