Sunshine is starting to win the fight to be seen through gray clouds and glistening raindrops. Flowers are opening in the softest of pinks and in the most brilliant whites on the trees around town. In the markets bitter greens, mushrooms and flavorful asparagus are making this years debut. Chickens, in their natural cycle, are starting to lay more eggs as they sense the days lengthing and warming.
Our local farmers markets are going to open just around the proverbial corner. I look forward to visiting them with keen anticipation of their bounties. This time of year, like every season, needs it’s own celebration of recipes to fully experience the beauty of spring. New recipes are forming in my head, but old ones are already in full use.
With spring comes wild nettles, full of green nutrition, just ready to be harvested and made into a simple & traditional nettle soup, which is delicious as well as frugal. It’s time to start watching nearby nettle patches!
And what would spring be without asparagus? Ours are most often roasted for a more intense flavor and lovely texture. But soup treats it well, whether as an addition to Spring is here Asparagus Egg Drop Soup (full of plenty of Spring ingredients) or creamed in Asparagus Creamed Soup topped with zesty gremolata.
Speaking of tang, this time of year speaks lemons to me. Whether in the gremolata of the above soup or made into tangy lemon curd, lemon bars, or Lemon Sponge Custard. Something of the light flavor goes with this fresh season of renewal.
It even brightens my ultra rich Lemon Bacon Deviled Eggs.
Mostly however, cold winters called for rich foods full of warmth and stick to your bones goodness. Spring is starting to naturally lighten up my dishes as I seek the bright flavors of spring in celebration of the sunshine.
Spring is a beautiful picture of renewal. One which I am glad to experience every year. Thank goodness for Spring!
Winter, I loved, Spring I adore.
What foods do you celebrate Spring with?
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before the first strawberries come into the market i’ve realized i have to finish up all the ones left in my freezer from last yr. made yummy strawberry ice cream yesterday with some raw milk i got from a rancher friend.
I love blueberries, and any kind of fresh fruit. Anything light and refreshing is what I am all about during spring.
I still love soups, but save the hearty ones for fall and winter. Thankfully, winter is on its way out!
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
RHUBARB! Love the stuff.. I can even eat it raw dipped in honey!
Rhubarb crisp is our all time favorite spring time dessert. This year we will try rhubarb curd. When the asparagus comes up we eat it with hollandaise sauce until it is done. Can’t get enough of it!
Strawberries, but here in New Jersey they won’t come till June. I don’t know if I can wait that long!
Ditto on the asparagus. We roast it and drizzle with a brown butter/balsamic/soy sauce mixture.
I’M READY!
Wow…we’re pretty spoiled down here in Arizona to have year round gardens and farmer’s markets available almost every day of the week. There’s always something growing outside! Last week my daughter had to harvest all the cilantro which was bolting in the 90 degree heat. She made lots of pesto for the freezer–we love it on fresh sourdough bread, rice pasta, or on tortillas. Our wonderful basil “bushes” died in a frost before we could chop them to pieces to store up basil pesto so cilantro pesto will have to do. It’s more intense and flavorful and so fresh tasting when it’s got garlic and parsley fresh out of the backyard.
Most definitely chickweed, baby dandelion greens, violets, and redbud blossoms! We add them all to our salads – OH! fresh salads!!! The nutty flavor of the redbuds go great in cooked foods too. We’ve prepared them in crepes with creme fraiche and it’s AMAZING!
Hi,
Does anyone know of any good ideas or recipes for using ramps? I have abunch coming soon.
Baked asparagus and sorrel pesto. We have sorrel coming up everywhere now! The original recipe for this tasty pesto I reworked from David Lebovitz’s blog post on dandelion pesto. Both versions are great! Recipe here:
http://thedelightblog.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/sorrel-pesto/
Now I am looking forward to the rhubarb… I totally agree with Jani and Jamie!
Yesterday was the first really warm day here in Michigan so I went out and worked on my rhubarb patch. My family loves rhubarb cake, pie and ice cream, so I need to be ready. The bulbs have started to come out and it won’t be long now.
Penny
Yay for Spring foods! I love all things spring, especially berries and lemonaid. Spring salads are another fav.
I just made this Spring Minestrone with Brown Rice and it was so good:
http://www.morethanmundane.com/2011/04/09/cooking-together-spring-minestrone-with-brown-rice/
Ode to spring is right!! I’d love to see more seafood recipes!
My “hunger gap” classic is weed salad. It’s the salad you make as you weed the garden: violet leaves, chickweed, wild sorrel, french sorrel, purslane, thinnings from turnips, chard, spinach, broccoli rabe… etc. Toss in some nuts, pickles, and a bit of oil and , voila!, Weed Salad.
Berries, berries and more berries! Asparagus too!