by Isabell Low, photo by Angela Saunders
This summer, I grew just for fun a row of Cosmic Purple carrots at the Edible Campus garden at St Gregory’s. The raised bed at St Greg’s is particularly good for growing carrots as it is too high for pests to reach. I had a great crop: all completely clean though a couple had forked due to lack of depth.
Cosmic Purple carrots taste just like ordinary carrots BUT they are dark purple and hold this colour when cooked. How to use them? I decided on making a version of my favourite Beetroot Hummus but with the carrots instead. It came out a weird and quite wonderful dark neon purple: just right for Halloween!
Ingredients:
- cleaned and sliced carrots, roasted for about 30 minutes with a tad of oil
- a tin of chickpeas, drained (but reserve the liquid)
- chopped garlic according to taste
- (optional) chopped chilli
- a tablespoon of tahini
- a generous squidge of lemon juice
Method:
Blend all the chickpeas with all the other flavourings except the carrots until smooth. Now add the carrots and blend again. Add some or all of the reserved liquid if it seems too thick. Best if left overnight for the flavours to blend together.
As I mentioned, if you have no Cosmic Purple carrots, you can make a (not so neon) version with beetroot; or an orange version with ordinary carrots.
Serve with a load of raw veg for dipping.
