Seasonal recipes: What can you make with what’s in season in SJ?
Over on the eco-friendly food blog I write for Mother Nature Network, I’ve been doing seasonal recipes – recipes that use what is local and season right now. Asparagus (though not for much longer), strawberries, herbs, lettuces, and just recently peas can be found at our fabulous farmers markets and even in some grocery stores that see that value in buying from our local farmers.
Here are the links to the recipes I’ve posted about so far:
Asparagus guacamole – I believe I wrote about this several weeks ago here, too. It’s not a dead ringer for traditional guacamole, but it’s really good. And avocados will never be in season in our region, but once a year for a handful of weeks, asparagus is everywhere.
Strawberry rhubarb bars – These bars end up being something like a cereal bar but much more natural and nutritious. They have an oatmeal top and bottom crust with the cooked fruit in the middle. Really delicious.
Small batch strawberry jam – Canning and preserving is becoming mainstream, but not everyone is ready to devote the time to do it or the kitchen space to store the equipment. This video shows how you can take one batch of strawberries and with the equipment you already have in your kitchen (minus the preserving jars, of course), you can make a small batch for later. I haven’t tried this recipe myself, but I might if it ever stops raining and I can get to the fields to pick strawberries.
Green peas braised with lettuce and scallion – I bought a very useful cookbook last year called Seasonal Cooking. It’s divided by the four seasons and has recipes for the foods that are generally abundant in each of those seasons. I chose this recipe because all of the produce in it – green peas, Bibb lettuce, scallions and mint – is available right now. The mint makes this an unusual side dish, but one of the great things about cooking seasonally is that you end up seeking out new ways to use the seasonal produce. I would have never made this if I wasn’t doing that.
What have you been making with the seasonal foods recently? Care to share your recipes?
