When I heard ramps were available at the farmer’s market, I made plans to rush over there, baby and all, and buy some right away! But then I realized that I was going away for Pesach and not cooking for more than a week, so that wouldn’t have been a good idea. Then, I found out Fresh Direct has ramps! So I made sure to place an order to be delivered the second I got home from Florida. I would need to restock my kitchen, anyway, but I did it mostly for the ramps. Continue reading
Tag Archives: spring
Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb is often paired with strawberries, since they come into season together. Not that I have anything against strawberries, but sometimes you just want the rhubarb to shine. I mean, strawberries are much more widely available, you can always get that flavor, but rhubarb, even here in NYC, isn’t that easy to come by, and it only makes a short appearance at farmer’s markets and specialty stores each spring.
We’ve experimented with just rhubarb desserts before: Tarts and Coffee Cake. Now to add a third rhubarb dessert to our repertoire, here’s a rhubarb pie! Maybe next time will experiment with some rhubarb combinations.
I made mine pareve, but with a nice buttery pie crust, it’s a special Shavuot dessert!
Ramp Risotto
I wanted to share this recipe with you as soon as I took my first bite, but that would have been rude and my dinner would have gotten cold, so I decided to wait until right after I finished eating. Which was when I discovered that my internet was broken! Continue reading
Soy Dijon Asparagus
Do you get excited when asparagus starts showing up at the farmer’s market? I do, and I usually just roast it with some salt and pepper, and maybe some paprika or garlic powder. But, obviously, I’m always looking for new ways to prepare my favorite foods, and this easy recipe caught my eye right away.
The asparagus is just blanched and dressed in a simple vinaigrette, so it’s totally different from my usual preparation, but shows off the fresh springtime flavors nicely. I bet the dressing would be delicious on a green salad, or even Brussels sprouts!
Asparagus Salad with Soy-Mustard Dressing from The New York Times
serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 pound thick asparagus, trimmed and peeled
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 egg yolks, preferably organic
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Extra virgin olive oil as necessary.
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook asparagus just until bright green but tender, up to 4 or 5 minutes for thicker spears. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water (or, better still, plunge into ice water). Drain again and set aside. (You can wrap asparagus and refrigerate for up to a day at this point. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
2. Whisk together mustard, egg yolks, soy sauce, lemon juice and just enough olive oil (start with a tablespoon) to make a smooth dressing. Toss with asparagus and serve.
Ginger Fried Rice
It’s really amazing how so few ingredients that all already have a permanent space in my kitchen can come together in such different and delicious ways! This fried rice is different than what you’d get at a Chinese restaurant, because rather than the egg being mixed in, it tops off the rice. It’s better this way (because you know how I feel about runny egg yolks)!
Pizza with Baby Artichokes and Lemon Ricotta
Springtime means artichokes, a vegetable I’ve gotten familiar with these past few years, but this spring marks the first time I’ve ever made baby artichokes.
Baby artichokes are a smaller, fully mature variety of the globe artichoke. The fun part about them is that there’s no choke to be found in these little guys, so with a little bit of trimming, the whole thing is edible. I guess they should really be called artis?
Roasted Artichokes
It finally feels like spring and artichokes are here! I admit, artichokes used to scare me. Until a couple of years ago I’d had the frozen kind and the kind that came in a jar, but never the real thing. Then one day Jessica and I decided to buy some and learned how to boil them online. We were instantly converted to fresh artichoke people (while wondering who first figured out that there was a delicious heart hiding among the spiky leaves?!), but I’ve moved on to baking and roasting rather than steaming them these days.
