According to a study which was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, carrots do not lose their nutritional value when cooked. In fact, cooked carrots had higher antioxidant values when cooked than raw.


I prefer carrots cooked because they can taste sweeter. A couple of nights ago, I bought a 2 lb bag of baby carrots. I tossed them with 4 teaspoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of finely minced fresh thyme and sage, and spread them in my roasting pan. I then drizzled them with juice from a wedge of orange (about 2 tablespoons). I baked them at 400 for about 30 minutes until they just started to shrivel and caramelize, and were fork tender. They were so good! It brought out the natural sugars so they tasted as if they were cooked in honey, but I hadn't added any sugar. I had a large batch, so I froze them in individual portions so I could just reach in the freezer and find a serving of vegetables that I loved.

If divided into 6 servings, each serving contained 87 calories, 4 grams fat, 3 grams fiber, 13 carbs, 1/3 of your daily Vit C, and 2 or 3 times your daily requirement of Vitamin A.

How do you like your carrots?

No matter how I try to fancy up carrots, they still have to be accompanied by another piece of food to go into my mouth. But I do agree that they taste sweeter when cooked. If I eat them raw, they have to be covered in dip.

cheers, cj

I'll toss a few carrots in if I'm roasting other vegetables, but I really prefer them raw

Oh that sounds wonderful, Suzanne! I put that into my file folder of recipes. I often bake baby carrots too but I never thought of the orange juice, etc. YUM!!!

I also like baby carrots done on a George Foreman grill, seasoned and sprayed with butter flavor cooking spray. I often toss on a few sweet red pepper strips too.

I just can't eat cooked carrots... can eat any other veg but carrots... yet I love them raw!

I am the opposite... just don't much like them raw, and they hurt my teeth, even the baby one!

I think it really matters where and how our vegetables are grown. I find it frequently affects the flavor. I've made the roasted carrots twice now, since I had two bags of carrots, and was able to freeze them after I roasted them. The first batch was made with a bag of BoltHouse brand carrots. They aren't organic, but they claim Our carrots are grown in the optimal California soil and sunshine from seed specially selected for taste, sweetness, and "tender-crunchiness." Yet no matter how advanced our carrot processing technology, we believe there is no substitute for freshness. That's why our products are shipped within 24 hours of harvest!
These are the ones that tasted like honey after they were roasted.

My second batch was made with Kroger's own brand of carrots and they were nowhere near as sweet as the Bolthouse carrots. The package just says they are distributed from Ohio and are a product of the USA.

You'd think a carrot is a carrot is a carrot, but it doesn't look that way.

suzanne....THANK YOU!! Everyone I lived with in college used to tell me it was better to eat them raw...and I HATE raw carrots. Now I have proof that cooked is ok! (of course, I tend to like all my veggies fork tender rather than crunchy.....)

Personally I like mine steamed with a little butter, or roasted like yours....tho your recipe sounds healthier than the one I had....and better tasting actually!

Awesome!

Same here! Everyone has always tried to tell me not to cook them... but I canNOT eat them raw!!! Good to have the reinforcement!!

Oh, darn. I really like carrots raw! I wonder if broccoli is the same...