May & Early Spring Vegetables
Cooking apart, together.
image from Chicken Soup With Rice, Maurice Sendak, Copyright 1962
Quick post this week to say Happy May! Hope you’re enjoying the warmer and brighter sun, playing in the dirt, or opening the windows to spring. This is our first spring in Maine. The harbingers of spring are budding: rhubarb and mint and dandelions in the yard, pea tendrils and early spinach at the farm markets, orange bellied robins, and salty, coastal winds that now invite a fashion of bare feet with spring sweaters.
This week we planted some green seedlings in the garden and smelled a worm. I taught my son a game that I used to play with my brother every spring in our Wisconsin childhood: rub one yellow dandelion flower under your chin, and if it turns yellow, it means you like butter (!). Very revealing.
Quick Tour of What’s Spring-y and Growing, Inspiration For Your Next Farm Market or Grocery Shop
The outdoor Spring/Summer Farm Market opened recently in Portland and it’s typically my favorite way to shop, but especially in Covid times.
It seems for the most part, markets are open across most states, and it’s definitely a great way to find the best, freshest seasonal produce (also meats, cheese, yogurt, bread, grains, fermented foods, etc..), and support local farmers during this uncertain time. Find those farmers in your area, many are also selling directly (and safely) to customers too, with CSA offerings or weekly pick-ups. Also, some restaurants are creating supply chains and provision options direct from farmers they buy from, to continue to support both restaurant staff and farmers.
Early Spring Vegetables
Ramps: Ramp pesto for pizza or sandwiches, charred ramps on the grill or roasted in the oven, spring salsa verde
Pea Greens: Sandwich garnish, rolled into flatbread with hummus and feta, chopped into scrambled eggs or alongside frittata, a spring-y side salad
Rhubarb: Crisp, jams, bars, pies, breads! Something tart for your quarantine baking. Also, I made rhubarb applesauce for afternoon snack and this morning’s oatmeal.
Spring Spinach: Spring green sauce, wilted with pasta or baked into lasagna, stirred into beans, green eggs, endless possibilities.
Early Lettuces with zingy vinaigrette and other spring veg
Green Garlic: Pesto, sauces, dips, vinaigrettes, verde
Spring Onions, Scallions: Grilled, sauces, sliced thin as garnish. Also great in curries and with roasted/grilled sausages and meats.
Asparagus: Raw, crunchy asparagus sticks or shaved into salads, grilled or roasted with lemon and flaky salt (my favorite), with capers or parmesan, paired with roasted fish, grilled meats, or breakfast eggs.
Radishes: Watermelon radish slices or daikon radish sticks, sandwich and taco garnishes, served with dip, julienned and crunchy with grain bowls, sautéed/roasted/grilled. Also, I’ve been making a Lemon Curry Chicken with daikon radish (recipe coming soon!).
Spring Herbs: Mint, Parsley, Cilantro: Spring Green sauce and Spring salsa verdes, Mint tea
Dandelion Greens: Raw or wilted with various dishes, my favorite bitter green. Also a great Green Sauce addition.
Kohlrabi (almost!): Lots more on this beloved vegetable and how to enjoy (endless ways!)
Daydreaming of First of the Season Berries in Maine: Remembering being in LA last May and buying an entire tray of strawberries at the Santa Monica market (heaven!). We drove to Malibu. Zach surfed, while Lou and I sat on the beach and devoured 3 containers of berries. The last one dramatically dropped in the sand and I painstakingly huffed/polished each one gently in my shirt and forced us to eat each sandy strawberry until I remembered the giant water bottle in my beach bag that would have saved me both the trouble and the grit, indigestion. Sharing first of the season berries with my son has been a real highlight of motherhood for me (like here, ‘I’m about to give you one of life’s greatest gifts’ moments) and continues to be a moment I look forward to in May/June.
Also, daydreaming of travel and buds, near & far. XO
