Saved in the Nick of Time!

Look what I saved from the bulldozers!! Wild carrots in my front yard. We're getting a new septic system and the gentlemen operating the heavy equipment had no idea what treasures they were about to decimate until I ran out with my Cape Cod weeder and pulled these up. Notice the color--wild carrots do not contain beta-carotene which gives domestic carrots their orange hue. Many of you probably know this plant as Queen Anne's lace which sends up its delicate white lace crowns in a few weeks. Now, before the flowers bloom, is the time to eat the roots. They can be eaten after that, but they are rather tough. This batch was in fact, rather tough, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. In the past I have roasted them, but these were tossed into a pot with a few domestic carrots, some ginger, onion, turmeric, and water to become a soup. After the soup was cooked I pureed it with a handful of soaked raw almonds so it was nice and creamy. I served it with a dash of toasted sesame oil and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. It was simple and delicious. Of course, nibbling them raw is fun, too, sitting right on the lawn while the bulldozers roar away.