A light drizzle of rain overnight seemed to have awakened the budding green shoots all around. Spring has finally arrived. I want to make a dish that sings to the glory of the season. There are so many lovely green vegetables in the market calling to be enlisted: artichokes, asparagus, peas and cabbage of all kinds.
When you put all green vegetables in one salad bowl, as Ottolenghi suggests, you get the most glorious celebration of spring. Four of my favorite green vegetables are asparagus, haricots verts, green peas and baby spinach; I like them year round. Even my latest favorites, black sesame seeds and nigella seeds, are making a spectacular showing amid this spring madness salad mix. The emerald tone of the salad and the earthy flavor of the seeds heighten the call to the soil and the awaiting vegetable and herb patch to be planted. There is clearly excitement in the air.
This is a very simple salad; you don't even need a recipe to make one. The key is getting the best and freshest ingredients that the season offers. Any number of green vegetables would do the trick.
First, blanch the vegetables in a big pot of boiling water until they are tender, but with a bite. Three minutes for the asparagus, five minutes for the green beans and two minutes for the peas, according to Ottolenghi's recipe. Then shock the vegetables in a bowl of cold water. I couldn't find fresh or frozen fava beans. I used green peas instead. Haricot verts would have been great, but I couldn't resist picking out some loose green beans from the farmer's market. So green beans went into the salad instead.
Toss all the vegetables in a dressing made with olive oil, sesame oil and lemon juice. A mad sprinkle of white sesame seeds and nigella seeds adds a finishing touch, bringing a feverish pitch to an already exciting mix. I should have sprinkled more seeds all over with abandon and exuberance. Spring is here!
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| Green vegetables: asparagus, green beans, peas and spinach |
That's a salad I can enjoy, love how fresh it is and the color just pops! You could link up with Deb in Hawaii for her Souper Sunday, she has salads and sammies too.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a lovely ode to spring.
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful, and so inviting, especially with hits of red pepper to bring out the greenness even more.
ReplyDeleteSo gorgeously green! It definitely looks like spring on a plate. Salads like these always tempt me to dig in. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love how fresh and green the dish looks! This is one veggie dish that I would not hesitate to dig in!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! I've been so excited about the new season asparagus - this is definitely a dish to try with it!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so springlike green, still waiting for the asparagus season in Northern Germany
ReplyDeleteThis is indeed as celebration of spring and what's to come. So many lovely green veggies adorning your plate. A tasty dish to eat with abandon:)
ReplyDeleteMy gosh - that looks beautiful. It seriously is a real celebration of spring, and I'm very jealous - heading into winter in my part of the world there won't be much green to be seen around here for the next four months.
ReplyDeleteThe change of season is a wonderful thing. Fresh greens for spring and pickle them in the fall so they'll last a few more months longer.
DeleteI love the pop of colors from the red chili bits against the greens. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a delicious salad, I will have to make this.
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