In the interest of using whole vegetables, I’ve been exploring using the greens of different veggies, including carrots, radishes, and beets. Rather than wasting these nutrition-packed leaves, you could simply saute them with olive oil and garlic for a nice side dish. Carrot tops are a great source of vitamin C, potassium, and calcium. Today, I opted to make pesto with them and some beautiful basil from the coop. Pesto is incredibly versatile and can be added to just about anything  for a flavor boost like quinoa, pasta, rice, potatoes, eggs, pizza.

Ingredients:
1 bunch carrot tops, de-stemmed
1 ounce basil (clamshell), de-stemmed
1 clove black garlic or regular garlic
2 tablespoons pine nuts
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
pinch sea salt

2 cups cooked quinoa

Procedure:
1. Combine carrot tops, basil, salt, garlic, pine nuts, and oil in food processor or blender.
2. Process and stop to scrape down the sides of the container.
3. Add more oil for a thinner consistency.
4. Mix 2 tablespoons of pesto into the cooked quinoa.