Carrots are purple or white root vegetables which come from Afghanistan. What?! Well, they were! Then a few hundred years ago, clever farmers in the Netherlands bred orange ones to honour the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family. During the Second World War, British gunners were shooting down German planes at night, and to cover up the use of their secret radar technology the RAF circulated a story about their pilots eating loads of carrots. Peel and chop the ends off and slice into disks or cut into 1cm thick wands. They are awesome raw with dips, or for a quick simple side, boil or steam until soft and serve with butter or olive oil. If you want to get fancy then glaze them first with a mix of two parts honey to one part olive oil, add some salt and pepper, then toss in a baking tin in a preheated oven at 200C/180C fan/Gas 6 for 30 mins - proper lush. Carrots provide a range of nutrients including beta-carotene and other vitamins and minerals that support eye health. To store bagged whole carrots, keep in the bag in the fridge for over a week. For bunched carrots, make sure you remove the green tops before storing in the fridge, it helps them keep longer (and don't chuck those green tops, use them like parsley as a herb or make a pesto with them by blitzing with oil, salt or parmesan, and optional garlic and pine nuts or almonds). To store cut carrots, place in a jar or sealable bag, cover with water and seal tightly to keep them from drying out for a few days.