From Asparagus to Artichokes:Celebrating Spring Produce Around the World
Spring is just around the corner. After a long winter of all that cozy, comfy food, it’s time to embrace all the lightness and freshness that come with Spring food.
The days are already longer and everyone seems to be in a better mood. This is a time for experience renewal and for all things to come alive.
Spring is abundant in the growth of all forms of plants, flowers, and especially delicious colorful Spring foods. This is certainly the best time of the year to get creative in the kitchen with our suggestion for using seasonal ingredients in your kitchen. This is the time to impress your dinner guest with fresh textures and flavors, key nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants.
Spring Vegetables Delights: From Peas to Fava Beans and More
It can be difficult to choose the spring vegetables you want to use in this season. But since it’s just starting, you have a lot of time to experiment. Here are some ideas of the most vegetable delights in this season:
#1: Beets:
Even though beets are both spring and fall food, they are great for your blood and circulation. You have a wide range of options to eat them. You can either use them to make a delicious juice or add them to a smoothie, you may shave them into salads, or roast them as a side dish. No matter which you choose to try first, it’ll be a success.
#2: Artichokes:
Artichokes are also available in both spring and fall and they’re rich in vitamin C, folic acid, and B complex vitamins. From helping you lower cholesterol, they can also reduce free radicals. If you have never tried artichokes before, you can boil them for around 20 minutes and then peel them off. Then, dip it in garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil and eat the leaves.
#3: Spring Peas:
You can find Spring peas only for a couple of weeks each year and this makes them so very special. Filled with many vitamins and minerals, they’re a great source of phosphorus, protein, and manganese. You can add these peas to your salads, noodle dishes, stir-fries, or anything else you want. You can even eat them as a snack.
#4: Arugula:
Leafy greens are rich in folate, fibre, and vitamins A and K. One of the best ways to eat arugula is to toss some raw greens in a bowl with other veggies, seeds, and nuts. You can then mix it with citrus juice or extra virgin olive oil.
#5: Asparagus:
Abundant in vitamin K and B vitamins, asparagus is great for your overall health. I love to eat them simply sautéed with garlic and sea salt in some coconut oil. A quick tip to prepare asparagus is that you shouldn’t overcook them. You want to make sure they remain vibrant green and that they retain their shape. Usually 7 minutes is enough.
Just like with veggies, you have a lot of different fruits that grow during this season. Let’s take a quick look at the delicious spring fruits you can use in your dishes and get the most fresh flavours.
#1: Strawberries:
When you think about fresh, fragrant fruit, strawberries usually pop into your mind. They’re not only sexy as they
are incredibly delicious too. If you don’t want to eat them raw again, you can freeze them and then add them to smoothies, for example. You can also put strawberries in your oatmeal.
#2: Meyer Lemons:
Lemons are not sweet at all. However, Meyer lemons are the sweeter ones and they’re more delicate than the rest. You can add them to fruit salads, for example.
And if you want to preserve them to use during the entire year, you can use salt and sugar.
#3: Kiwis:
Filled with powerful antioxidants and vitamins, kiwis are a delicious fruit. You can eat them raw alone, mix with other fruits, or use them to decorate a cake, for example.
#4: Honeydew Melons:
Honeydew melons are another great spring fruit. It’s incredibly refreshing to eat as a snack. You can also use it to make a fruit salad.
Light Refreshing Dishes From All Around The World
Each region or country features specific spring food. And even though you may not like an ingredient so much, you should really try it during its season. Sometimes, when you cook an ingredient differently, you can end up enjoying it. So, why not give it a try?
Spring Food in North America
#1: Morel Mushrooms (Western North Carolina):
Also known as molly moochers, hickory chickens, or dry land fish, morel mushrooms can be found in and around the mountain city of Asheville.
These spongy mushrooms with a taste like truffles can be eaten with a generous pat of butter and served in pasta.
#2: Mayhaw Berries (South Louisiana/East Texas):
These tiny berries are a cult for chefs and foreigners throughout the Gulf South. You can find Mayhaw berries in Lafayette, Louisiana and they are usually candied or put in jelly form. You have to try it out on a slice of bread too. It’s absolutely delicious.
Spring Food in Europe
#1: Loboda (Romania):
Loboda is seen as a cousin of spinach and it can be either burgundy or emerald-coloured. You can find this delicious vegetable in markets across Romania and it’s perfect to add to salads or make a sour soup.
#2: Broad Beans (Malta):
Broad beans are incredibly popular in Malta, especially in the Birgu area. In fact, during Spring, you can find them added to any dish. However, there are two main ways to prepare these beans: you can use them to make “bigilla”, a dip made of mashed beans with garlic and other herbs, and “kusksu”, a soup that puts together broad beans, Maltese cheese, couscous, peas, and an egg.
Elevate your spring menu with global cuisine from Asia, South America, and beyond.
Spring Food in Asia
#1: Loquats (Japan):
This delicious local fruit can be found in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. With a similar flavour to an apricot-plum hybrid, you can eat loquats raw or you can use them to make butter, marmalades, and chutneys.
#2: Shepherd’s Purse (China):
Shepherd’s Purse is a delicious green vegetable that features a slightly peppery, radish like taste. This veggie can be found in the suburbs and countryside around Shanghai and it’s usually fashioned into a wonton. It can also be used to make buns, soups, dumplings, and the very popular stir-fried Shanghai rice cake (or nian gao).
Spring Food in South America
#1: Empanadas:
Extremely popular in many Latin American countries such as Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and others, empanadas have different versions. While the dough is usually prepared with wheat flour or corn flour, the fillings vary. Some of the options include chorizo, cheese, potato, beef, chicken, or a mix of them.
#2: Ceviche:
Ceviche is not only a colourful dish as it’s fresh and nutritious, making it perfect for this season. This dish is usually prepared with shellfish or raw fish mixed with greens and vegetables. Just allow the shellfish or fish marinate in fresh citrus juices and then add some spices and flavours. In some countries, people add chilli peppers, ají, cilantro, onions, among many others. The best thing about this dish is that depending on what you like, you can get many different flavours.