spring eating: a week of meals
focused on spring vegetables, bright flavors and all the herbs.
Earlier this year, I shared a seasonal winter menu which I loved putting together. Eating with the seasons is one of my very favorite things. You’ll find me cooking up stews and lots of root vegetables all winter long. Now that it is May, we have fully turned the page into spring and I have been eating lots of leafy greens and fresh herbs in every meal. Food is such a powerful marker of where you are in the year. Adding in meals that celebrate seasonal produce (asparagus! peas! rhubarb!) can ground you in the season and bring you so much joy.
In the winter menu post, I shared a little more background on my approach to seasonal meal planning, heavily influenced by the genius cookbook Huckle & Goose. (You can read the full post here if you’re curious!) I always pick meals that use the same perishable ingredients like herbs across multiple meals to be sure to use them up, focus on meals that rely on pantry items and generally stick with ingredients I know, love and use often. By avoiding an overflowing spice cabinet or fridge full of jarred ingredients that I used once and then sat in my fridge untouched for 3 years, I can keep my limited kitchen space filled with my favorite foods that I eat regularly.
I do still definitely try new-to-me ingredients, just sparingly and intentionally. When I’m interested in a new ingredient, I try my best to find at least a few recipes to use it in before purchasing. On that topic, I’m actually very much in need of recipes to use up Calabrian chiles, so if you have any recommendations please send them my way!
The menu I’m sharing this week truly celebrates spring produce. It uses dill and chives across multiple recipes, with the option to use up any other herbs you have on hand, like tarragon in the pasta and salad if you so choose. All the meals are vegetarian, with the tagliatelle, salad and green beans and tofu all vegan friendly as well. While these meals require a bit of a chopping, they are all reasonably quick weeknight meals.
Week of Spring Meals
Day 1: Tagliatelle with asparagus and peas
Day 2: Roasted beets with jalapeno feta sauce from Huckle & Goose
Day 3: Lemony tortellini soup with spinach and dill
Day 4: Herb-y green salad with your favorite vinaigrette and crusty bread
Day 5: Spicy, tangy green beans and tofu from That Sounds So Good
As always, all recipes and the linked cookbooks are my tried and true favorites. These are satisfying, deeply spring-y meals. Roasting beets and the lemony tortellini soup are best for the slightly cooler evenings of spring, so get cooking these before it starts getting too warm to turn on the oven.
A little more on this week’s recipes
Tagliatelle with asparagus and peas
The tagliatelle with asparagus and peas is a classic spring pasta. Keep in mind you can swap out the tagliatelle for any long grain pasta that you have on hand (linguine or spaghetti would both work great). In this recipe, you make a simple cashew cream for a creamy vegan sauce. Cashew cream is a workhorse of vegan recipes, so I would highly recommend giving it a go if you have never tried it before. Just keep your blender going until you have a nice creamy consistency. The recipe includes on option for topping with microgreens; I would recommend sprinkling on a few arugula leaves instead, already on hand for the following meal.
Roasted beets and jalapeno feta sauce
The recipe for roasted beets and jalapeno feta sauce is a peak example of why I love the cookbook Huckle & Goose so much. Purchase it for the full recipe! (You can find it secondhand easily online.) For this recipe, they instruct you to chop your beets in tiny cubes, drizzle them in oil and generously season them with spices like dried garlic, oregano and marjoram (I generally use whatever I have on hand). Roasted, the tiny beet cubes become so deeply jammy and flavorful. Tossed with arugula and a creamy sauce made from feta and pickled jalapeno brine, this totally overhauled my perception of what a salad could be. Incredibly tasty!
Lemony tortellini soup with spinach and dill
The first time I tried Avgolemono (Greek lemon chicken soup), I was in love. Lemon and dill are two of my very favorite flavors and this tangy, satisfying, bright soup has everything I want to eat in one bowl. As the Brits say: incredibly moreish. I’ve tried a few recipes at home to varying success, but this lemony tortellini soup with spinach and dill has all these delightful flavors in a simple, semi-homemade recipe. Dropping in store bought tortellini makes it quick and extra filling without chicken.
Herb-y green salad with your favorite vinaigrette and crusty bread
I haven’t shared a specific recipe for the day 4 meal: an herb-y green salad, your favorite vinaigrette and crusty bread. (If you need one, Huckle & Goose has a great spring salad with a fresh tarragon dressing.) Salad and bread is such a classic meal, light and perfect for spring. Start with a big bowl of greens. In spring, there are an abundance of choices - baby spinach, arugula, salad mix. Add any crunchy vegetables you have on hand, thinly slice carrots or radishes, cut snap peas into bite-sized pieces, or toss in kohlrabi or cabbage. Top with any herbs you have! Dill, chives, tarragon, basil, mint: all would be delicious here! Toss with your favorite store bought salad dressing or mix up a simple red wine vinaigrette. It’s not required, but cheese (cubes of cheddar, crumbles of feta, or grated parmesan) would never be a bad addition. Serve with a loaf of crusty bread and soft butter.
Spicy, tangy green beans and tofu
Carla Lalli Music writes excellent recipes and spicy, tangy green beans and tofu is no exception. I love how she incorporates when to chop each item up right in the recipe during downtime. This meal is quick to throw together, very flavorful from the mix of gochujang and mirin, and the combination of tofu, veggies and rice fills you up. (If you need other recipes to use up gochujang, check out the winter menu for suggestions.)
Flexible meal planning
Time this meal plan however it works for you! Day 1 could be Monday, or you could even start it on a Saturday or Sunday and cook into the week. Feeling inspired today? Start it on a Tuesday.
Meal planning is only helpful if it’s doable for you. If purchasing ingredients for and planning to cook for five straight days isn’t a good fit, chop this weekly meal plan in half. Based on what you have and what your favorite foods are, I’d recommend:
Mini-Menu 1 - All about fresh, spring herbs
Spring-y salad with crusty bread
Mini-Menu 2 - Full of hearty spring veggies
Roasted beets with jalapeno feta sauce from Huckle & Goose
A few bonus recipes
There’s already so much great spring eating in the above recipes, but I can’t help but sharing a few more ideas for seasonal recipes.
Bonus: Burrata with charred and raw sugar snap peas
Do you need an indulgent appetizer in your life? I think yes. This is peak spring! Creamy cheese, crunchy snap peas, fresh herbs. Plus if you are already following the meal plan above you picked up a loaf of bread that is just dying to become breadcrumbs sprinkled over this plate of deliciousness.
Bonus: a strawberry or rhubarb shrub
I love making seasonal shrubs (drinking vinegars) year round and spring is the perfect time for this! You can even get creative and include herbs. A basil-strawberry shrub would be incredible! For a little more background on shrubs, check out my post on a blood orange shrub. I will be sharing a spring shrub recipe here soon.
Bonus: Lemon hummus
Citrus is accessible year-round but it feels particularly bright and spring-y to me. Homemade hummus is quicker than you think and such a lovely snack to have around.
Bonus: Leek and cheese scone
Baking feels less and less appealing the warmer it gets outside, but I will make an enthusiastic exception for my one true love, leeks. This recipe also includes dill, how could I say no?
That’s all (yes, it was quite a few!) the spring recipes for now. Whether you use the full meal plan or grab a single recipe, I hope this has inspired you to add more seasonal vegetables and herbs to your eating this spring. Rhubarb season is officially here in Minnesota, so I’ll be sharing more spring food inspiration in the weeks ahead!
Thank you for reading! If you’d like more nudges to live seasonally, please subscribe to seasonal things.
Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of the books linked in this post.