Simply Recipes: Seasonal Favorites: Spring Recipes

Seasonal Favorites: Spring Recipes

Artichoke Soup: The foggy coastline of Northern California is artichoke country. Like finding small hole-in-the-walls that serve clam chowder in New England, here one can sometimes find local diners that sell delicous artichoke soup. I first developed a taste for artichoke soup...
Asparagus: Selland's market-cafe in Sacramento is an uncommonly good café and often a source of inspiration for foods to prepare. Recently I had some of their asparagus and loved the texture - slightly crunchy (definitely not mushy!) - and the hint...
Asparagus Frittata: My father got bit by the frittata bug this week and made these for us for lunch a few days ago. This is a quick and easy, no-nonsense recipe that makes a terrific frittata in hardly any time at all.
Asparagus Pesto with Pasta: I recently got together with Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks to try out one of the recipes from her new cookbook, Super Natural Cooking. The recipe we selected is perfect for spring, a pesto made with blanched asparagus, baby spinach...
Crab Mango and Avocado Salad: I first encountered a crab mango salad at Fringale, the exquisite French-Basque restaurant on 4th St. in San Francisco. Recently at a restaurant in LA I had another delicious crab mango salad, this time with avocado and surrounded by peeled...
Creamy Asparagus Soup: Spring here means strawberries and rhubarb, sweet peas and asparagus, and dreams of the summer bounty to come. Asparagus are everywhere, big, fat, and fresh. And yes, although we can get them all year round, I'm especially happy to eat...
Deviled Eggs: Deviled eggs. Easter egg hunts and summer picnic potlucks. I have been known to devour a dozen of these in one sitting. These were quick and easy. If you want them to be a little prettier, put the egg filling...
Ham and Asparagus Quiche: For the Easter holiday, I thought I would adapt my mushroom quiche recipe into a Spring brunch dish, with asparagus and ham. It turned out great, my one note is to not add any salt as the ham brings enough...
Irish Lamb Stew with a Twist: Around St. Patrick's Day I notice many people coming to this site looking for an Irish lamb stew recipe. After some experimentation and a lot of research into Irish stews, I've settled on a stew that has its roots in...
Lamb Curry: What a blessing it is to have friends, and parents of friends, who cook. I had this dish at my friend Elizabeth Abbott's parent's house and begged her mother Maria for the recipe, which, thankfully, she gave me. I changed...
Lamb Shanks: Preparation time: 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The trick to delicious lamb shanks is to sear the shanks first to seal in the flavor.
Mom's Pasta Primavera: The word primavera refers to being served with fresh vegetables; it is from the Italian (alla) primavera, or (in the) spring (style). Pasta primavera is almost always a simple-to-prepare dish using the fresh vegetables of the season. In spring you...
Roast Leg of Lamb: The most important thing to remember about cooking a lamb roast is to not over-cook it. Lamb has such wonderful flavor on its own, and is so naturally tender, that it is bound to turn out well, as long as...
Roasted Asparagus: Have you ever had roasted asparagus turn out tough and stringy? Here's a tip from my friend Alanna: use the fat spears, not the skinny ones, for roasting. This is a quick and easy recipe for beautifully roasted, tender asparagus.
Sauteed Baby Artichokes: For years I've walked by those packages of baby artichokes at Trader Joe's not willing to try them because they just didn't seem worth the effort. I'm glad to report that I was completely wrong. They actually take less time...
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler: Several weeks ago, strawberries and rhubarb both began to show up in quantity at the store. Strawberry rhubarb pie is one of my favorite desserts on the planet. But it's a pie. And being a pie, it takes some work...
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie: Rhubarb is one of those strange vegetables that acts more like a fruit - the bright pink rhubarb stems that is; the leaves are poisonous. Strawberry rhubarb pie is one of my favorite pies in the world; in fact everyone...
Strawberry Shortcake: What better way to conjure up memories of the joys of youth than strawberry shortcake? Strawberry shortcake consists of sliced strawberries that have been macerated with whipped cream served over a white cake or biscuit. I'm from the camp that...