While I love, love, love trying new recipes, there are so
many seasonal favorites that I love to revisit just as much. This time of year,
I go for all the new and tender spring produce I can get at the local farmer’s
market, or sometimes even in my own garden: lettuce and other tender greens,
asparagus, radishes, peas (English or snap or snow), fresh herbs, and rhubarb.
With a grocery list like this, I get a lot out of a few characteristic methods
and dishes, such as all kinds of salads, often with homemade dressings; pasta
with vegetables, herbs, or pesto sauces; and desserts with rhubarb, often
including other fruits.
The easiest salads are simple
lettuce salads with a few other favorite vegetables tossed upon them. I’m a
salad dressing junkie, but I feel best about the ones I’ve made myself, such as
Buttermilk Herb Salad Dressing,
and Feta and Lemon Vinaigrette all of which are versatile as well as delicious.
I also like to keep some
other vegetable salads in the refrigerator for quick sides at simple meals. I
look forward to making this Sesame-Soy Asparagus with Garlic and Ginger every
year, and this Sugar Snap Pea and Radish Salad with Feta and Dill is full of
some of my favorite things.
If I’m lucky enough to get a whole bowl of
freshly-shelled green peas, rather than eating each one straight from the pod,
I like to make this simple salad of Fresh Peas and Mint.
Seasonal vegetables also contribute
well to more substantial salads made with grains. I like using asparagus raw in
this Spring Vegetable Tabbouleh. Asparagus also goes well with the peas in
Brown and Wild Rice Salad with Asparagus and Peas.
Wheat berry salads are also
nice to have around, like this Wheat Berry Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Lemon Vinaigrette.
As the weather gets nice,
quick and easy dishes based on pasta tossed with lovely vegetables are always
welcome at mealtime. My absolute favorite right now is Asparagus and Pasta with Balsamic-Tarragon Sauce and Bacon. Love it!
Even more convenient and also
delicious is Pasta with Asparagus, Snap Peas and Lemon, which can be varied
endlessly as I discussed in this post.
It’s also great to toss hot
pasta with lush, green pesto-type sauces. Pea and Almond Pesto with Pasta and Peas is a unique variation on this theme.
Other pestos that I love to make with
currently seasonal ingredients range from particularly zesty, like Arugula Pesto with Kalamata Olives or Radish Leaf and Peanut Pesto
to somewhat mild, but
still deliciously flavorful, like Spinach-Chive Pesto.
Lots of early-season herbs
are ready to go this time of year, too, as well as those unusual green stems
from garlic plants, known as scapes. I like to treat those scapes like a cross
between an herb and a clove of garlic when I cook with them, and they’re great
in this Pasta Carbonara with Garlic Scapes and Garlic Chives.
Any leftover
garlic scapes or garlic chives can go along with whatever other herbs I might
have into this White Bean Soup with Fresh Herbs, especially on a cool, rainy
day, with some bread on the side.
But let’s not get so excited
about herbs and vegetables that we miss dessert! There’s lots of rhubarb right
now, and I’m still loving this cake that I posted recently. I have to give some love
to my old favorites, however, and make some Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Graham Cracker Topping.
I also love to have a bowl of either Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce or Blueberry Rhubarb Sauce in the refrigerator. They’re both great when
served with this cake or ice cream, and they’re great stirred into plain or vanilla yogurt
for breakfast.
I’m still hoping to try some
new recipes soon, like another rhubarb cake, asparagus pizza, and spring vegetable
risotto, and maybe they will be new recruits for my list of seasonal favorites.
I doubt I’ll ever abandon these 21 gems, however, which make me happy every
year.
Coming soon: Orange and White
Chocolate Cookies
Another post like this one:
Featured Ingredient: Rhubarb
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