Celebrate Spring!

The weather might still be iffy, the air chilly, and your nose sniffly, but today it is officially SPRING!  So the vernal equinox gives you as good an excuse as any to plan a nice meal that celebrates the season, as spring brings to mind all manner of new shoots, budding growth and delicious green things to create a fresh and delicious feast.

We are still waiting for the first asparagus to appear in the Pacific Northwest, the peas have just sprouted, fall-planted favas are just beginning to flower, and strawberries are a looooooooooong way off.  There are, however, other springy seasonal foods that abound in garden and market right now.  Roots and greens that overwintered might include: parsnips, turnips, kohlrabi, sunchokes, carrot, kale, leeks, broccoli raab, mustards, and green garlic.  Tender plants that you or the farmer transplanted early and nurtured through the calamity of February might include radish, lettuce, arugula, bok choi and beet tops. Not to mention the weedy and wild delights like dandelion leaves and buds, chickweed, and nettles.  Even some hardy herbs might be raising their leaves in defiance of the hail and gale - I have lovage, salad burnett, parsley, chives, oregano and marjoram ready with verdant delights.  You might also have rosemary, thyme, tarragon, and/or chervil in your midst (these are on my planting list this year).  So see?!  Many seasonal delights abound for a springly feast.

But you need not restrict yourself to what is purely available RIGHT NOW outside your front door.  Lovage for one reminds me of celery, so that would be a nice, fresh and crispy accompaniment.  Harvesting a few small leaves from my garden doesn't prevent me from buying a full head at the store, or from a farmer that more foresight than I and has one available for market this early.  The first, frost-kissed artichokes are arriving from California, tender and scrumptious wrapped in rows of blistered leaves.

With that being said, dreams are not of sugar plums in my head,
but a crispy crunchy salad with a bracing vinaigrette!
What should accompany such a verdant spring delight?
Eggs are a great choice this time of year, symbolizing new life.
So should it be a frittata? Ricotta tartlets? Deviled eggs work too.
What says spring to you?

So to celebrate, here is my idea for a weeknite spring-time feast.  Always subject to change of course - how will you celebrate spring?

Black Sheep Creamery Fresh Milk Cheese with Honey and Vanilla

drizzled with vanilla fig balsamic vinegar 

served on New Cascadia multigrain boule

Spring Salad of Radish, Watermelon Daikon, Dandelion Buds, Celery and Celeriac on Butterleaf Lettuce

served with lovage-caper-mustard vinaigrette 

Spinach, Roasted Oyster Mushroom, Leek and Feta Frittata

served with some nice white wine

Happy Spring Eating!

For some happy spring delights in the garden, check out Gardening in the Round