Spring is here! This changing of the season marks a time for all things to come alive and experience renewal – that includes food.
When you eat foods that are in season, they're not only more affordable, but they're also fresher, and packed with the highest amount of flavour and nutritional value.
So, say goodbye to stews and slow cookers, and start blasting away those extra winter kilograms with these spring foods. To help you incorporate them into your diet, we have also included our favourite recipes.
Spring onions
No, they're not the same things as scallions or green onions. Unlike scallions, spring onions have more of a bulb at the bottom, as they're regular onions that have been plucked out of the ground, before they are fully mature.
Because of their sweetness and sturdiness, spring onions are prime candidates for roasting and grilling. But they're also incredibly versatile, whether you want to put them into a quiche or salad.
Avocado and stuffed egg and spring onions
Serves: 1
Ingredients
1 ripe avocado
Juice of ½ lemon
1 hard-boiled egg
1 spring onion, sliced
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Lettuce leaves, optional
Method
Slice the avocado in half and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent discolouring. Sprinkle the cavities with salt and pepper.
Separate the hard-boiled yolks and whites of the eggs, and chop finely.
Mix the chopped egg whites with the spring onion. Fill the avocado cavities with the chopped egg white, and sprinkle the chopped yolk on top. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves, optional.
Radishes
If you need a pop of colour and something crisp and refreshing, radishes have you covered. Whether mild or peppery, radishes shine when raw and cooked. Radishes are naturally sliced over a salad and tucked into sandwiches and tacos. Or roast them simply with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, topped with fresh herbs.
Radish, blue cheese, and juniper salad
Serves: 8 as a side
Ingredients
300g breakfast or mixed radishes
3 little gem lettuce hearts
50g walnut pieces
12 juniper berries
1 tbs white wine vinegar
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tub essential Waitrose salad cress
50g Danish blue cheese, crumbled
Method
Wash and trim the radishes. Cut the little gem lettuce hearts into thin wedges, discarding the root. Cut the radishes into thin slices. Scatter the little gem wedges and the sliced radishes over a platter.
Warm a frying pan over medium heat. Add the walnuts and dry fry for two to three minutes, or until fragrant and starting to colour. Finely chop the juniper berries and mix with the vinegar, oil, and some salt, and pepper, then whisk together.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad, then cut the cress from its roots and scatter over the top, together with the walnuts and cheese. Serve immediately.
Asparagus
Nothing else says spring as much as a bunch of asparagus. Asparagus will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Asparagus and trout loaf
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
250ml flour
5ml baking powder
5 small courgettes, grated
1 bunch of spring onions, chopped
250ml grated mature cheddar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
60ml chopped dill
100g smoked trout, chopped
250g thin asparagus spears, blanched
5 eggs, beaten
Extra smoked trout to serve
Cream cheese to serve
Method
Put the flour into a mixing bowl.
Add the baking powder.
Mix in the courgettes, spring onions, cheese, lemon rind, dill, smoked trout, and most of the asparagus spears, chopped.
Reserve about 5 whole spears for the top.
Add in the beaten eggs.
Spoon the mixture into an 18cm x 10cm loaf pan, that has been greased and is base-lined.
Arrange the spears on top.
Bake at 180°C, for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean.
Remove and cool for 10 minutes, before turning out onto a cooling rack.
Serve with cream cheese and slices of extra trout.