Spring Vegetables Are Busting Out All Over

In my yard, the apple trees are about to bloom, and the asparagus and spring onions in the garden are peeking up with their bright green shoots – almost ready to use in the kitchen. The thyme and oregano are coming back up in the herb garden, and I just planted French tarragon. It’s time for a springtime menu switch. Spring vegetables are now available in our local farm markets. Not just asparagus, radishes, and kale, but also rhubarb, chard, collard greens, broccolini, and even ramps and fiddleheads.

We’ve had months of stews and roasted dinners. With these fresh new ingredients, we can get creative with something different for the main meal of the day. How about rhubarb salmon? This fast, easy, and flavor-packed dinner comes together by sautéing sliced shallots and rhubarb in oil, then adding the salmon and drizzling everything with salt and pepper, maple syrup, and sherry. Sprinkle on chopped fresh herbs and bake in a 325-degree oven for about 15 minutes. If you wish, sauté some garlic and chard in another skillet while the fish is baking and serve on the side or mixed in with cooked brown rice. That’s a fine quick dinner.

With the wealth of fresh spring veggies available, it’s almost impossible not to find something that appeals to you for a variety of meals throughout the week. One night, a spring minestrone soup and another, pasta salad with mushrooms, your choice of spring vegetables, and a lemony dressing.

Ideas from France, Italy, and the UK

If you’re expecting company, how about a French ragout printanier, a stew of spring vegetables? In the French method, some of the vegetables are cooked separately. Carrots and turnips, for example, are glazed, and the peas and string beans are cooked, as the French say, “à l’anglaise” (in boiling salted water). The mushrooms are steamed, and the liquid they release is a base for a sauce to coat the vegetables. You could leave it at that, but French chefs strew the vegetables over a meat stew, or for a more formal meal, toss the vegetables together and serve in a side dish.

If you prefer Italian flavors, how about a polenta or pasta carbonara featuring your favorite spring vegetables. When the vegetables and pasta are al dente, toss them together and top with parmesan cheese for a fine and easy dinner. For something from the UK tradition, try this low-calorie spring-vegetable soup with bacon dumplings. The soup features chicken stock and an aromatic combination of onion, leeks, carrots, celery, and parsnips. While the soup cooks for 10 minutes or so, make the dumplings, then add them to the soup and simmer until the dumplings are done. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and you have spring on the table. How about a vegan pot pie with spring vegetables? Fewer calories? How about a leek galette?

Fresh flavors, simple prep

Want something even less complicated? Here’s a spring vegetable jumble with lemon-tarragon butter. Just bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add potatoes, radishes, carrots, and asparagus. Then you’ll sauté a sliced leek, add the drained vegetables and lemon-tarragon butter, and dinner is served.

You can substitute ingredients in many of these recipes depending on what you can find. It’s a great time of year to experiment and find new recipes to please the family.

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