The spring mornings have been beautiful this month with still a touch of frost on the grass in the early morning and mist in the valley. The blackthorn in the native hedge is in full blossom, the birds singing like crazy and the sun shining. The image below is my morning view.

So what is in season now in the UK and here in Ireland.

Lots of lovely vegetables including purple sprouting broccoli, spring greens, beetroot, carrots which apparently are great for your skin so I’m eating them lots in salads, simply grated. My soup celery is flourishing so I’m going to use it up this month to make way for summer lettuces instead. It’s perfect for our classic chicken soup but also lovely in the base of any vegetable soup. You can find some of my favourite soup recipes here. 

Wild Garlic

Wild garlic if you can find it, nettles also are super nutritious and lovely in a soup or used for nettle tea. Look out for bright green new growth and pick nettles away from the roadside.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of my favourites and still going strong. Next on my list of things to bake is a Rhubarb tart served simple with some pouring cream but there are so many great options.

Asparagus

But the star of the month is Asparagus. Look out for UK and Irish asparagus in the shops now or if you are lucky enough to grow your own even better. Eat plenty when you can as local Asparagus has such a short season. 

You can roast, steam or boil it and it’s very tasty in a risotto or pasta dish. I like to keep things simple and let the asparagus speak for itself so I usually cook it simply by plunging it into rapidly boiling salted water and then cook (with the heat on high and no lid) until just tender. Depending on the thickness of the stalks this could be 4-5 minutes. Test by lifting out a stalk and press gently on the thick end, when there is a little give that’s it done. Drain gently and serve with a really good extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Delicious!

If you would like to know more about what’s in season and learn some new delicious recipes do join me in my new monthly seasonal cooking class in which we will make the most of lovely seasonal vegetables and fruit every month.

You can find the details here.