This week, I’m going to share with you a few recipes I’ve enjoyed this winter using local, in-season vegetables that I’ve picked up at the Ballard Farmer’s Market – specifically, carrots and butternut squash.

For those of you not from Seattle, the Ballard Farmer’s Market takes place each Sunday all year long from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Ballard Ave., a street which also happens to have cute shops and myriad foodie restaurants and bars. So let’s be real: it’s not JUST about the veggies :). It would not be odd for me to emerge from a shopping trip with a bag of brussels sprouts from a stand, a bag of macarons from Fresh Flours Bakery, a new nail polish from Hoa and a fashionable treasure from Buffalo Exchange.

Here are some shots of the market, courtesy of Wikimedia and Beth Evans Ramos.

Technically, carrots are a year round vegetable, but during the winter months, one must take what one can get! Here’s my bunch:

One of the reasons I love making fancy side dishes is because A) it tricks me into eating vegetables and B) it can make a relatively plain main course (i.e. chicken breast) seem like an official meal. I was very eager to try a recipe I’d seen on Pinterest – Honey Balsamic Roasted Carrots from A Cedar Spoon.

Honey Balsamic Roasted Carrots

This yielded two modest sized servings for us, though the originally recipe says it serves four.

Ingredients

1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
3 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1Tbsp. honey
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. sea salt
Dash of fresh ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Wash carrots and peel skin. Produce from the farmer’s market is usually extra dirty, so even though I won’t be eating the skin, I still give it a good wash. The peeling took me about 20 minutes, but I found I really enjoyed how easy the carrots were to peel.
Cut off the top of each carrot (the part with the with leaves!) and slice in half width wise.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, honey, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a dash of pepper.
Add the sliced carrots and mix well until carrots are coated with the glaze. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spread carrots over the baking sheet and sprinkle a bit more salt over the carrots.
Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are tender stirring occasionally.

And here’s the final result! I think these lasted about five minutes. They were deLISH!