Carrot

The carrot is a root vegetable, typically orange or white in color with a woody texture. The edible part of a carrot is a taproot.

Carrots are often eaten raw, whole or shaved into salads for color, and are often cooked in soups and stews. One can also make carrot cake and carrot pudding. The greens are edible as a leaf vegetable, but are rarely eaten. Together with onion and celery, carrots are one of the primary vegetables used in a mirepoix to make various broths.

Since the late 1980s, baby carrots or mini carrots, carrots that have been chopped and peeled into uniform 2-inch (5 cm) cylinders, have been a popular ready-to-eat snack food in U.S. supermarkets.

Beta carotene, a dimer of Vitamin A, is abundant in the carrot and gives this vegetable its characteristic orange color. Furthermore, carrots are rich in dietary fiber, antioxidants, and minerals and are an alkaline food.

Carrots are also traditionally used as noses when building snowmen.