spring eating: leeks!
the transitional vegetable that you never knew you needed, just the ingredient for when spring isn't actually quite here yet.
The number of years I lived before eating a leek, it breaks my heart to think about it. Leeks are an absolutely magical vegetable! Or rather, an allium to be precise (in the same family along with garlic, onions, shallots, and, now that I think about it, all good things). I first came across leeks in all their glory while working on a vegetable farm, harvesting and bundling up veggies for weekly CSAs. I have since grown to love them deeply for making the best risotto, most delicious soup and an absolutely stunning Thanksgiving stuffing.
Since you asked, I’ll go ahead and enumerate just a few of the reasons leeks are amazing:
Leeks are a wonderful base flavor that amp up virtually anything that you can pair them with. We love a versatile veg!
Leeks don’t make you cry when you chop them.
You get a lot of bang for your buck! Leeks are enormous.
Leeks are a transitional ingredient, bridging us gracefully from winter’s hardy root vegetables straight into spring’s bright, fresh greens.
When it comes to cooking, one of my favorite things to make is a quiche. It’s a perfect vegetarian main with flakey, buttery crust, seasonal vegetables, and creamy cheese to round things out. To be honest, I have had many, many unsuccessful quiches over the years. One of my most frequent mistakes has been eagerly taking it out of the over before it is done. On multiple occasions, I have actually cut into the tart before realizing the egg was still runny. (No worries, popped it back in the oven and ate it just a little later to great joy!) I also have a removeable bottom pan, which I use faithfully in pursuit a lovely crimped crust. More often than not, the eggy filling has spilled out, leaving charred brown egg on my in-case-of-spills baking sheet.
Kitchen fails aside, leeks are the perfect building block for a transitional, early spring quiche. Start with your favorite pie crust recipe, or a store bought crust. Chop up one big leek - you can go rounds, half moons, a smaller dice. The world of leek-chopping is truly your oyster; all roads lead to delicious leek. Sauté your chopped leek in butter with a sprinkle of salt until soft. Add some more seasonal vegetables: 2-inch asparagus pieces, fresh or frozen peas, diced up new potatoes, whatever you’ve got. Sauté veggies until mainly cooked (this may be no time at all for something like peas!) and add the vegetable mixture to your pie tin. In a separate bowl, whip up a few eggs with some dairy. Three to four eggs is always plenty for me, and creme fraiche or heavy cream will both do the trick. Pour the custard into the pie crust over your veggie mixture. Finally, add cheese! Dollops of ricotta, crumbles of feta, mozzarella pearls, you really cannot go wrong. Bake until fully set. Remove from the oven, wait as long as you can, and then enjoy a truly blissful slice of spring!
Quiche is just one way to enjoy them, but there are so many other delicious vehicles for leeks. The only stuffing I will ever make is this buttered stuffing with celery and leeks. I have received the feedback that the leek flavor is too strong at multiple family gatherings, but I could not agree less and will continue to make it every year. Vive les leeks!
If it is the tiniest bit cold outside, all I want is potato leek soup. Naturally creamy from broken down potatoes and tangy from a splash of vinegar, this soup may be a perfect food. For a slight variation, there is also a lovely celery root and leek soup in my favorite cookbook, Huckle & Goose. In it you can also find a great sauteed cabbage and leek recipe, along with a much more detailed spring quiche recipe.
If you’re feeling inspired to explore the world of leeks a bit further. Bryant Terry’s Vegetable Kingdom has a whole chapter of bulb-focused recipes, including a section on leeks specifically. The entire book is an inspiring ode to vegetables, thoughtfully laid out to build your skills as a chef while building up your familiarity with specific produce.
As a genuine leek lover, I would love to hear any of your tried and true leek recipes! Do you have any favorites? Right now, we’re in a unique in-between season, just starting to shake off the cold of winter but not quite to spring’s warmth and sunshine yet. Do you have any other meals that feel just right for this transitional period?
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