Those bunches of carrots you see in the grocery store with the fluffy bright greens are the freshest carrots in the store. (In fact, the perkiness and freshness of the greens are a good indication of how fresh the carrots themselves are.) But that's not the only reason to buy intact, green-topped carrots. The greens themselves are pleasantly bitter and tart—flavors that can perfectly balance out carrots' earthy sweetness in a dish. (And if the taste alone isn't enough to convince you, think about how many #wasteless points you'll get by using those tops rather than tossing them.)
Case in point: The pesto in this simple, perfect three-ingredient dish. Mixed with basil, pistachios, and olive oil, carrot tops turn into a peppery, fragrant sauce to drizzle over roasted carrots for dinner. (It's also great over toast and your morning egg.)
Or consider these honeyed carrots, which would be a single high note of sweetness without the carrot-top gremolata to bring them back to earth.
And then there's this carrot-sauce pizza, which is topped with the carrot fronds the way classic red sauce–and–cheese pizza is topped with basil. It'll turn you into a carrot-top believer.
