A Carrot of Any Color

I planted carrots in February, in a bed containing a few rocks. Rocks matter in carrot cultivation, because if the root hits one as it's growing downward, it'll break into two or three parts rather than remain one solid carrot whole. So when I started pulling them up this weekend, I expected to find such shattered roots, some of them twisting around each other like carrot yoga.

What I didn't expect to find was one yellow carrot. The seeds I had planted (using seed tape, the only way to go with carrots), were standard orange, not a fancy multi-colored variety. Had a stray yellow seed found its way into the tape, or was this a genetic mutation, evolution in action in my planting bed?

The yellow carrot tasted a little milder than its orange brethren. But adding it to a shredded-carrot salad, I realized, would make a fine-looking dish. Marcella Hazan features such a salad in her book The Classic Italian Cookbook. It's so easy, I never bother to open the book and follow the recipe.

Peel and shred a couple of carrots. Add enough salt to bring out the flavor, some lemon juice, and more olive oil than lemon juice. Toss, taste, adjust, and serve.