This Salad Makes the Most of the Mighty Carrot

Carrots are truly the ultimate #WasteNot vegetable, offering delicious opportunities from tip to top. Inspired by their endless versatility, chef Elizabeth Falkner set to work crafting a salad that utilizes every last bit of this dependable root. She starts by cutting the vegetables into coins (you don’t need to peel them as long as they get a good scrub) and reserving the herbaceous tops. Half of the rounds remain raw, while the rest roast in the oven until deeply caramelized. Then, Falkner blanches and blends the carrot tops with a few cloves of garlic and a handful of toasted nuts and seeds to create a vibrant pesto. To finish the dish, she tosses the carrots and some cooked lentils with a tart, slightly sweet vinaigrette. It’s the perfect way to celebrate all that this mighty vegetable has to offer. Get the recipe and make it tonight.

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The James Beard Foundation's new cookbook, Waste Not: How to Get the Most from Your Food, offers up a host of delicious solutions to the pressing problem of food waste. Featuring 100 recipes from alumni of our Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change, Waste Not will teach you how to turn every root, bone, rind, and stem into an irresistible dish.

Waste Not: How to Get the Most from Your Food, published by Rizzoli,​ is on sale now.​ Order your copy today!

Frank Guerriero is the media assistant at the Beard Foundation. Find him on Instagram.