Spring veggies and exciting recipes

Spring has really arrived at least here in Switzerland. Although. Nights are still very cool, day time temperatures are up and comfy and the. Sun is shinning. In short perfect gardening conditions.

Many cold weather plants are ready to harvest within the next week or so, so I decided to talk with you about spring vegetables and share some exciting and delicious recipes on how to eat your spring veggies with you.

I don’t know if you know, but I am the 6th generation female chefs in my family. My great-great-great-grandmother already had her own catering business in the mid 19th century, serving the high society of Prussia Germany, including the emperor.

And I inherited this over 150 years of knowledge about flavour combinations, ingredients, cooking and wining&dining.

So I am not only passionate about gardening and teaching everybody how to do it even when living in town, I am above all passionate about fresh ingredients! About the amazing taste, the high nutritional value and the freshness you experience when cooking with home-grown vegetables straight from your garden onto your plate.

Now you know why I so often not only talk about gardening, but also about what to do with your vegetables. And today I am going to share some amazing recipes with you.

Which vegetables are in season for April and May.

Quite many actually: asparagus, artichoke, beetroot, broad beans, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, endive, fennel, Jerusalem artichoke (topinambur), kohlrabi, lamb’s lettuce, leek, all sorts of lettuce, pak choi, peas, potatoes, purslane, radish, rhubarb, rucola, spinach, spring onion, turnip.

But that these vegetables are considered in season when you go shopping, does of course not mean that you can already harvest these from your own garden. Why not? Because you might just have started, you might not have a cold frame to grow over winter, or you don’t have the space for certain vegetables.

So what could you harvest from your own Easy Urban Garden during the months April and May:  carrots, garlic greens, lamb’s lettuce, leaf lettuce, lettuce heads, pak choi, peas, purslane, radish, rucola, snow peas, spinach, Swiss chard.

Yes that much. At the moment of writing this article for you, Earth Day 2021, I am harvesting different kinds of lettuce, garlic greens, radishes, Swiss chard, spinach, pea shoots, purslane and rucola. And I expect to harvest the first pak choi, carrots,  peas and snow peas within the next two-three weeks.

What I do with my home grown vegetables?

First we eat a lot of salad. Actually we eat salad as a side to our main course with warm vegetables every night. I love to combine different greens including spinach, pea shoots and chard as mixed salads. Of course combined with different vinaigrettes.

How to make basic vinaigrette?

Vinaigrette is very easy to make at home and you get rid of a lot of hidden sugars that are present in store bought salad sauces. I’d advise you to get 2 bottles of 500ml and make two basic vinaigrettes in a larger quantity, so you can quick and easy dress your salad during week days. 

Poor 375 ml oil, extra vergine olive oil is my favourite, but you can choose what ever you like and 125 ml either dark or light vinegar in a bottle and shake. Put it on your counter top and you are ready to go. 

To make your salad, you shake the bottle again, poor the necessary amount of vinaigrette in your salad bowl, add freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt and mix. From there you can start experimenting.

My favourite dark vinegars are balsamic, aged apple balsamic, raspberry balsamic, rose petals balsamic and merlot wine vinegar.

My favourite light vinegars are white balsamic, apple vinegar, tangerine vinegar, chardonnay wine vinegar and sherry vinegar

To vary you salad dressing you can add to your basic vinaigrette a tablespoon of creme fraîche, sour cream, mayonnaise or blue cream cheese, chopped herbs, pickled onions, gherkins etc. 

And to make a delicious potato salad you make a dressing of half light vinegar, half herbs bouillon mixed white 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and lots of freshly chopped chives.

So far your fresh salads from home-grown lettuce. Let’s look at the other veggies you can harvest right now. I want to highlight and share some recipes for two vegetables that aren’t often eaten in many different ways: radishes and rucola.

First up, radishes.

Did you know you can make a delicious pesto of the radish leaves? Just blend the washed and dries leaves with olive oil, 1 small garlic clove, a pinch of salt, some freshly ground pepper & nuts of your choice. Pine nuts, hazelnuts or macadamia nuts are good. Walnuts strengthen the slightly bitter taste of the radish greens, so that’s a choice whether you like it or not. Finally add a pinch or two of grated Parmesan cheese and your pesto is ready. 

If you make bigger badges of pesto and plan on preserving it for a longer time, you have to blanche the leaves before using them.

Another different way, than thinly sliced or quartered on a sandwich or in a salad, to eat radishes is roasted. Coat them with oil, melted butter or ghee and salt & pepper. Spread them out on a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes in the oven on 220˚C / 425F. Toss the radishes every 10 minutes. Add finely chopped garlic and roast for 3-5 more minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley, dill and chives. Lovely side dish with fish or enrichment of your mixed salad.

Radishes are also delicious when stewed in a bit of stock with a dash of white wine, your favourite herb mixture and some spices like cardamom, lemon grass and ginger. Replace your potatoes in a boeuf bourguignon by radishes, or serve them with pulled pork.

And radishes are ideal to pickle, for instance sweet and sour in vinegar with sugar spiced with juniper berries, Sechuan pepper, sumak and rosemary.

Second up, rucola. 

Also rucola is a great base for pesto. Again in this case I would advise you to use so called sweet nuts like pine nuts, hazelnuts or macadamia nuts to balance the bitterness of the rucola.

Instead of adding rucola to your mixed salad, try to add rucola to your stir fry with Swiss chard, pack choi and spinach. Add the leaves absolutely last minute and just toss them around 2-3 times and serve. Goes very well with roasted shrimps.

Rucola is also very nice to make a savoury panna cotta or rucola mousse. I happily share with you our detailed recipe for the rucola mousse. To download you can click here.

Finally I want to mention that you shouldn’t forget to harvest pea shoots without flowers way before your peas are ready to pimp your sandwich

Are you looking for more gardening and cooking inspiration, you can follow me on social media or join my Easy Urban Gardening Facebook group.