Carrots Braised with Onions

Melt butter in a saucepan and add 3 medium-sized chopped onions. Let them soften and turn golden. Add sliced carrots (you don't have to peel organic carrots, but do wash well) and a tsp sugar or mild honey and stir over the heat. Pour in a little water, add a sprig of fresh thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Put the lid on and simmer until soft. Take off the lid and continue to cook for about 10 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. If you like, you can stir in a little crème fraiche at the end. Remove the thyme stalk (the leaves will have distributed themselves around the pan). Dust with chopped parsley or chervil if you have it.

Roasted Roots

Scrape and trim carrots, and cut into sticks. Put the carrots or other roots into a roasting tin all cut into the same size pieces. Sprinkle with olive oil, and toss to cover. Sprinkle with salt. Sprinkle over also a little vegetable or other stock and a good squeeze of lemon (orange is good with carrots too). Roast at 200C/Gas 6 until the veg has begun to colour, stirring them around from time to time. The liquid should cook off.

Carrot and Potato Puree

This can be a way to get children to eat carrots (it seems to be the texture that they don't like) - otherwise it is a simply delicious vegetable dish suitable for all. Try not to peel organic carrots, they should only need a scrub or scrape at most unless they are getting a bit old. Cut them in four lengthways. Peel approx. the same amount of potatoes (making mash with potatoes cooked in their skins leads to glue). Boil carrots and potatoes together until soft in salted water (about 20 mins). Never use a food processor for potatoes (see above for result). Push through a potato ricer or a mouli legume, or simply mash. Stir in a little cream or milk to loosen, and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Sprinkle chopped parsley liberally over the top.

Moroccan Hot Carrot Salad

Scrape carrots, cut up and steam until very soft. Mash with a fork in a bowl with _ to 1 tsp harissa (North African chilli paste - very hot) or chilli powder with paprika to taste; 1 tsp ground cumin (toast gently in a frying pan and grind in a pestle and mortar or use fresh ready ground); a splash of red wine vinegar, another of good olive oil; crushed garlic to taste, salt, pepper and a pinch of ground ginger if you have it. Serve with hot pitta bread or toast. What looks very nice for a dinner party first course is to serve a dollop of the carrot beside a dollop of greek yoghurt dusted with parsley, on a bright green (or other startling) plate.

Turkish Carrot Soup

Peel potatoes and cut into a dice. Scrape carrots and chop up. Peel and chop an onion, and some garlic cloves. Melt a little olive oil in a heavy lidded pan. Add vegetables and stir round to coat with oil. All to soften over a low flame for 10 minutes. Meanwhile in frying pan heat a tsp or two of cumin seeds until they just begin to smell toasted. Tip into a pestle and mortar and grind up roughly. Add to the vegetables in the pan. Pour over stock. Bring to boil and cook until soft. Liquidise. Taste and season with salt pepper and lemon juice. Serve with yoghurt.

Carrots Stewed with Rice

Scrape carrots, and cut each in half lengthways. Heat a little olive oil in a heavy frying pan. Put in the carrots and coat with the oil. Add 2 tblspns Basmati rice, and stir it around with the carrots. Now add water just to cover and a pinch of salt. Simmer, uncovered for about 25 minutes until both carrots and rice are tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in a tblspn dried mint (typical seasoning of Turkey) or fresh mint or parsley, plus a good squeeze of lemon juice. This dish only works with flavourful organic carrots, otherwise it is too bland to be worth bothering with.

Carrot, Cauliflower and Ginger Soup

Chop a cauliflower, and scrape and chop 5 carrots. Sweat in a little butter in a heavy pan until softened but not coloured. Add a tsp of fresh, grated ginger. Then cover with vegetables stock, and simmer until the vegetables are softened. Season and puree in a blender or food processor. Serve with a swirl of cream or Greek yoghurt, and a sprinkling of whatever green herb you have by you.

Omi Houriya or Carrot Puree for Dipping

Eat this carrot salad with hot bread. Steam scraped and trimmed carrots until soft. Whizz them up in a food processor or mash with a fork. Stir in olive oil, red wine vinegar, 2 crushed garlic cloves, big pinch paprika and another of chilli, 2 tsps ground cumin, salt and pepper. Leave to mellow for an hour or two. Serve with a little more olive oil on top, and scattered with black olives.