Use Carrots!

I put all those beautiful carrots from the farmers’ market to use.  I grew up having carrots as a snack.  Little bags of baby carrots are still a great option for getting root vegetables into your diet.  The bad choice comes when you dip those carrots into hummus or ranch dressing.  Hummus is a paleo no-no because the garbanzo bean is a legume (read about Lectins on the Favorite Links page).  Ranch dressing is usually a mix of dairy, salt, and sugar, and processed, so we know that’s off your list already.  Carrots are readily available and inexpensive, so use them.  Most of the time, we see them as a side dish, either steamed, roasted, or pureed.  Looking for more ways to integrate root vegetables into your meals is essential to a successful paleo transition.  Finding new methods to prepare them should be embraced.  Try new recipes and design your dishes around the carrot rather than the protein.  Today, I tried a simple stir fry of purple and yellow carrots with turkey and garlic.  I sliced the carrots very thin so they would cook quickly under the high heat.  The whole mixture went over a bed of arugula and fresh lemon.  Each bite was packed with so many different flavors: both types of carrots, garlic, peppery arugula, lemon, and finally, savory turkey.  This was a great Sunday brunch breakfast!