Late Spring Meal Ideas
If you’re heading to the farmer’s market this weekend you are in for a treat! The dark leafy greens have made room for other Spring favorites like turnips, beets, and asparagus. I wanted to give you all some ideas of what to make this week with some of my personal favorites.
Here’s a brief look at what’s in season now:
Leafy greens like kale, collard greens and chard
Asparagus
Beets
Ramps
Turnips
Herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, etc.
Radishes
Carrots
With consistently colder temps here in Mountain Maryland our seasons are a little behind the rest of the state. Vegetable farmers rely a lot on high tunnels and greenhouses to get their plants ready to be in the ground either right before, or after, the last frost. In Garrett County that could happen any time from Memorial Day to mid June (or, like, yesterday).
Here are a few ideas of how to enjoy what's in season right now:
Raw turnips dipped in hummus, sliced radishes on a salt block, sugar snap peas as a quick on-the-go snack, fresh bread with olive oil and chopped herbs, and strawberries and cream as a tasty dessert!
Below are some of my go-to recipes for a few tasty spring vegetables.
Spring Frittata from Love and Lemons
Eggs are a Spring favorite for us since they’re so easily available and a great protein option. Just add cheese, almond milk, some sauteed greens and a local protein (bacon for me, obviously) and voila, a simple breakfast bake you can enjoy all weekend long.
Simple Beets from Dishing up the Dirt
I LOVE boiling my beets. Apparently this is controversial, but its simple, and you don’t have to turn on your oven. Also, once the heat is off, you can forget about them for a bit in case your infant just woke up from a nap or your neighbor stopped by for a “quick” chat.
Ramp Leaf Burgers from the Forager Chef
For the lucky ones that found ramps this season…I enjoyed this perspective because it encourages using just the leaves and not harvesting the whole bulb, which encourages a more sustainable practice of harvesting ramps. We’re having my parents over for Father’s Day tonight and we will definitely be trying some ramps on our burgers!
Asparagus Risotto from The Full Helping
One of my favorite Tapas restaurants in Chicago is Quartino Ristorante in the Gold Coast. While I lived there we always went whenever family and friends came into town, to celebrate a friend's birthday, or the end of a rough semester of grad school. It was my first taste of the concept of shared small plates in the U.S. One of my favorite dishes was the risotto, and they often served it with a seasonal vegetable. This recipe from Gena at The Full Helping is made with barley and the spring asparagus shines. For over a year I have subscribed to Gena’s newsletter and I look forward to it each weekend. If you enjoy reading about vegan food I highly recommend subscribing.
Turnip Green Soup from Bryant Terry
I recently picked up Bryant Terry’s cookbook Afro-Vegan right before we moved into our new house. I haven’t had a chance to dig into that cookbook yet, BUT this turnip soup recipe I found on Food 52 looks like a fantastic way to use up some turnips that may be past their snacking prime.
Larb Bowls w/ Kale & Fresh Herbs from Whats Gaby Cooking
These larb bowls are perfect for spring. The combination of a spring onion, kale, and fresh herbs like mint, cilantro and basil are a fantastic way to celebrate flavors of spring.
Ground chicken can sometimes be hard to find around Garrett County, so I like to make mine with ground pork, which you can get from a local farm like Wildom Farm. Most local butchers will also have this available in their shop. Working H Meats in Friendsville usually has a ground chorizo which would be delicious with these as well.
Strawberry Basil Sorbet from DMR Fine Foods
I have not tried this recipe yet but it looks like a refreshing dessert for a hot June night. I may make some over the weekend for a Father’s Day treat!
Happy weekend friends! If you make any of these recipes let me know how you enjoyed them!
