There’s no need to peel your carrots, but if you do, go through the extra step of scrubbing well first with a
clean mushroom or even a nail brush before peeling. Reserve the peels with onion skins, garlic skins or other
root peelings. Place the entire batch of scraps on a baking sheet in the oven with just the light on to dehydrate.
Depending on your oven and the hydration state of your carrots, this can take as little as 8 hours or as much as 48; leave them there to do their thing. When completely dry, place into a blender and grind. This makes a perfect powder to use as a bouillon or soup base because all the fibre, minerals and nutrients — like the anti-inflammatory compound quercetin found in high amounts in onion skins — are retained.
Nutri Note:
To peel or not to peel? The healthiest carrot is the one that you will eat. Carrots contain nutrients in every inch of them. The peels contain more Vitamins A and C, but the core contains more minerals, and they contain antioxidants, which may help protect your cells from damage.
If you do peel, conserve every nutrient molecule you can. And carrot tops? They are chlorophyll and vitamin K-containing powerhouses that can be used wherever parsley may have gone before you and I met.
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