Spring Vegetables - Recipes to Inspire

Spring has arrived and with it so have Farmer’s Markets! This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love fresh farm vegetables and fruits. Here in the Seattle area we have a large market right in Downtown Seattle at Pike Place Market. I always make a point of visiting Pike Place throughout the spring to get fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables. If you are interested in local markets near you, check out Local Harvest to locate one.

Spring Vegetables and Recipes 

1. Asparagus is a delicious and hearty spring vegetable. It is delicious in this Grilled Asparagus & Feta Salad. or as part of this Mozzarella, Chicken & Asparagus Pasta. Pro-tip: Keep your asparagus like you would flowers in water. Eat them close to the time you bought them for the best flavor.
2. Spring Lettuce such as mache or lambs are sweet and flavorful. This Spring Lettuce Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette makes a nice side or lunch. A great spring salad is well balanced. It doesn't need a heavy dressing. Casina Rossa Extra Virgin Olive Oil Pressed with Lemon is excellent on a salad. Pro-tip: Keep your lettuce fresh for longer by washing it all in cold water and drying it the day you buy it either in a salad spinner or towels, and roll the leaves up in paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
3. Sweet Peas make delicious and fresh snacks raw, and are wonderful in this Pearl Couscous and Peas side dish.

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas 

Cinco de Mayo is coming up, use this Roasted Vegetable Enchilada recipe to celebrate the day with fresh vegetables.

What spring vegetables inspire your cooking this spring?

Garlic Dill or Bread and Butter? BOTH!

Cucumbers are in season at the farmers markets here in the Seattle area, which makes me crave PICKLES!!!

Do you prefer dill or bread and butter?

I like them both! In fact, I love pickles - go ahead and call me Snooki. (Never mind, please don't!)

I just recently started making my own pickles. The first batch a couple of years ago weren't crunchy enough for me, so when I made pickled green beans, I started experimenting and didn't blanch the beans first. They came out perfect. So I used that same recipe with cucumbers and the pickles turned out crunchy, garlicky and super dilly - just the way I like them.

Last year I headed over to my mother-in-law's house and we tried a new recipe for refrigerator pickles - talk about easy. You just throw all the spices and vinegar together, slice up the cukes, put it all in a jar and voila, Instant crunchy pickles. I think my mother-in-law had yummy pickles all summer long since her cucumber crop last summer was so abundant.

But I've never made my own bread and butter pickles. Anyone have a great recipe? I really want to try to make those and pickled asparagus this year. With all of my cute vintage Ball jars and canning tools, I'm ready to go. Looks like a trip to the farmers market and a sunny weekend of canning is in my future ...

Do you can your own pickles, green beans or asparagus? Post your recipes here and we can start our own Canning Recipe Swap! Happy Canning!