Maple Roasted Carrots with Goat Cheese and Herbs

Maple Roasted Carrots with Goat Cheese and Herbs is a recipe that helps ease the transition from the winter farmers market into spring. Every year, there are more farmers markets open year-round. As we wait patiently (and not so patiently) for the new season, Maple Roasted Carrots with Goat Cheese and Herbs features ingredients that are fresh at the market today.

We finally started to open the windows in our house as the sun makes a brighter appearance and the air slowly begins to warm. Local farms are busily planting for spring and planning to harvest the earliest spring crops but still have a supply of winter vegetables. Unfortunately, many farmers markets wait until May to open for the season.

Year-Round Farmers Markets

Almost all of the ingredients for Maple Roasted Carrots with Goat Cheese and Herbs can be found at a farmers market during the winter and early spring months. Now is a great time to seek out winter and year-round farmers markets to enjoy the early spring harvest.

If you are in the DC-area, check out FamilyandForks’ Winter Farmers Market list of area markets open year-round throughout winter.  Did we miss one?  Please let us know!  New year-round markets are popping up all over the place.

The farmers markets in Leesburg, VA on Saturday morning and at Dupont Circle in DC on Sunday mornings are open throughout the year.

Both markets feature cheese vendor(s). It is usually only during the coldest winter months that goat’s milk is in short supply. Visit your local market cheesemonger to find your favorite cheese with the creamy astringent taste of goat cheese.

Carrots are available almost all year, and, just like many vegetables available during winter, carrots taste their very best during the cold season with a robust crunch and sweeter flavor. Fresh herbs are also usually available year-round as they can be grown in large greenhouse tents during the winter months.  

April is a great time to look for spring onions, ramps and asparagus, as well as year-round favorites, such as bitter greens, arugula and the ever-reliable root vegetables.  

Supermarket or Farmers Market

Having an arsenal of easy recipes to make use of fresh vegetables means you spend almost no time in the supermarket produce section.  For the most part, if it isn’t available at the farmers market, I find I don’t need it.

Buying local means the vitamins and minerals in the vegetables are still at their height and the flavors are bright, not diminished by time spent in a truck.  There is also something to be said for getting out of the house and mingling with your community to support your local farmers on even the chilliest days.

How to Select Farmers Market Carrots

• Look for carrots with their green fronds still attached.  Later in the winter and before the spring crop, this may be difficult. If not available, just make sure carrots are firm with minimal nicks and bruising.
• Different colored carrots add beautiful color and have the familiar carrot taste.  Just beware that red carrots will release some of their color so they are best roasted. If used in a white chowder, you will be in the pink.
• Most market carrots just need a good scrub and do not need to be peeled.  A quick scrub with a vegetable brush will suffice. Use a peeler for any sections that are deeply creased with dirt, or if you intend to eat the carrots raw.

Carrot Recipes

Roasting is an easy way, and possibly the most flavorful, to quickly transform handfuls of root vegetables into a special dish.  

My favorite carrot recipes are Cabbage and Carrots with Rice Noodles, Carrot and Ginger Orange Soup, or sometimes Chile-Roasted Carrots with Carrot Green Salsa.

Here are some more carrot recipes from Bon Appétit.

Maple Roasted Carrots with Goat Cheese and Herbs is a market favorite and helps bridge the seasons.  It is simple to make and honors the true flavors of the reliable carrot with a burst of color just in time for Spring.

Sadly, this winter our days were shadowed as we mourned the loss of our community farmers market’s staunchest supporter, Kathleen Murphy. Every Saturday, Kathleen ensured that her Great Falls community had access to local produce and products.  The Great Falls farmers market was one of the first in the area to open year-round. She always, and often single handedly, worked to ensure the market was not only a source for vegetables, but just as importantly, a gathering place for friendship and community.  Her untimely passing is a huge loss for the community and its farmers market but her legacy will continue as the Great Falls Farmers Market re-opens in April on Saturdays at 9 am, in the Great Falls Village Center, across from the Safeway.  She will be missed but always remembered in the community and at the market.