I boiled up some organic carrots tonights' for supper and left the water sitting in the pan to cool because I thought I might like to do something with it- but what? I'm assuming it is nutritious and worth using. Can I freeze it to use later? One more thing, as the water has cooled down for a couple hours, it has turned really green. I am guessing that is normal but thought I might see what experience others here have had.
Boiled Carrot Water
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David3
Forum Legend
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It just sounds like a dilute carrot soup. Does it look tasty to eat? You could just eat an extra carrot instead.
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As David suggested, soup is a good option. It's basically a veggie stock. A traditional French mirepoixis is usually made with carrots, celery and onions. What I often do is save the ends off stock friendly veggies and freeze them. When I need veggie stock I pull everything out of the freezer and put it in my stock pot.
You can definitely freeze your stock or carrot broth. It works well in sauces, soups, stews, gravies and whatever else you might put veggie stock in. It lasts a long time frozen and is much cheaper than buying a tetra carton of veggie stock.
So carrots can turn green, and even your stock can turn green, evidently. You can eat green carrots or green carrot stock, it's safe! Green potatoes on the other hand., that's a whole different story. They are not safe, despite them turning green for the same reason. The reason carrots are safe, from my understanding, is that the green tops are naturally edible, where potato tops are not. The green in both carrots and potatoes occurs because of the chlorophyll and direct contact with sunlight. Potatoes, however, also produce solanine, which is toxic.
There's a lot of ways to make veggie stock. It is nice to make your own based on the purpose you intend. I like this guys video. He's vegan and has a lot of great recipes on his channel. This is a ramen broth he makes here, so not a traditional mirepoix. It's all made similarly, except the stock ingredients vary. Hope this helps.
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You can definitely freeze your stock or carrot broth. It works well in sauces, soups, stews, gravies and whatever else you might put veggie stock in. It lasts a long time frozen and is much cheaper than buying a tetra carton of veggie stock.
So carrots can turn green, and even your stock can turn green, evidently. You can eat green carrots or green carrot stock, it's safe! Green potatoes on the other hand., that's a whole different story. They are not safe, despite them turning green for the same reason. The reason carrots are safe, from my understanding, is that the green tops are naturally edible, where potato tops are not. The green in both carrots and potatoes occurs because of the chlorophyll and direct contact with sunlight. Potatoes, however, also produce solanine, which is toxic.
There's a lot of ways to make veggie stock. It is nice to make your own based on the purpose you intend. I like this guys video. He's vegan and has a lot of great recipes on his channel. This is a ramen broth he makes here, so not a traditional mirepoix. It's all made similarly, except the stock ingredients vary. Hope this helps.
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The carrots were fresh, with no foliage on them, and organic but the water is really very green. The pot is stainless steel. I am guessing it is some sort of chemical reaction.
That is weird that it came out green, I've never heard of that before.
I have found a couple questions about it on the internet but no definitive answers. It seems it may be something to do with the PH of the water and the pigments in the carrots. Assuming it is fine to use but would like to know more before
David3
Forum Legend
.No, it doesn't look tasty as it is- it just looks like green water
Just throw it away! I personally wouldn't exert any effort to eat some green carrot water.
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majorbloodnok
Forum Senior
Personally, I tend to steam veg rather than boil them since that keeps more nutrients in the veg and not the water.
That said, the water has only changed colour as a result of some of what's in the carrot being dissolved during the cooking process. If the carrot was good to eat beforehand, the water will be good to consume afterwards. You'll have lost most of the vitamin C as a result of the heat, but most of the other vitamins and micronutrients the carrot lost will still be retained in the water.
As has already been said, basically it's a simple and rather dilute veggie stock.
N.B. If you added salt to the water as part of the cooking process, that'll outweigh any benefit you might get from the nutrients the water has gained, so throw it away and make up some proper stock instead.
As an aside, were you aware that carrots aren't supposed to be orange? They were originally purple. That's me finished with useless trivia now.....
That said, the water has only changed colour as a result of some of what's in the carrot being dissolved during the cooking process. If the carrot was good to eat beforehand, the water will be good to consume afterwards. You'll have lost most of the vitamin C as a result of the heat, but most of the other vitamins and micronutrients the carrot lost will still be retained in the water.
As has already been said, basically it's a simple and rather dilute veggie stock.
N.B. If you added salt to the water as part of the cooking process, that'll outweigh any benefit you might get from the nutrients the water has gained, so throw it away and make up some proper stock instead.
As an aside, were you aware that carrots aren't supposed to be orange? They were originally purple. That's me finished with useless trivia now.....
I never add salt to the water.
I have actually grown the old variety of purple carrots- no such trivia is ever useless! ♥
I once had a veg stew at work for lunch with coins of purple carrots. I was asked to prove they were carrots and not sausage slices
!Really looked like sausage--I never wanted purple carrots again
I once had a veg stew at work for lunch with coins of purple carrots. I was asked to prove they were carrots and not sausage slices
Really looked like sausage--I never wanted purple carrots again
I prefer to bake them- they look a little more like carrots that way too!
