10 Ways to Cook with Root Vegetable Greens

Visiting the farmers market in the wintertime is a wise choice for many reasons: There’s still plenty to stock up on (dry goods, meats and cheeses, interesting greens …and yes, root vegetables); local farmers need your support year-round; and as a bonus, you’re less likely to get elbowed as you make your way through the aisles.

But even if you try to do as much of your shopping at the market as possible, sometimes it’s still necessary to head to your local grocery store. There, not only will you find your produce getting pampered with a tropical misting, you’ll find that root vegetables—a storage crop this time of year—still have their green tops.

So you might have missed out on the opportunity to interact with your favorite purveyor of beets this time around, but don’t miss out on putting an unexpected gift of greens to waste. Just pretend it’s September and cook your way through these 10 recipes for root vegetable leaves:

Beet Greens

Turnip Greens

Radish Greens

Carrot Greens

Know of a great recipe in the Food52 archives that uses scraps (anything from commonly discarded produce parts to stale bread to bones and more)? Tell me about it in the comments!