carrot cooking

Put down your kitchen knife: researchers have found that carrots cooked whole contain 25% more of a potential cancer-fighting compound than those cooked after being sliced or diced. Chopping carrots increases the amount of the veggie’s surface area, which apparently causes more of its nutrients to leach out into the cooking water. (The same goes for packaged, already-cut carrots.)

Not only do you save time by not cutting your carrots, but many people actually prefer the taste of whole carrots, which tend to be sweeter since they retain their natural sugars when cooked.