Salads like this one scream “Spring in Minneapolis!” to me. Loudly, like that, with italics.

Minneapolis in the Springtime can be sassy. Tornadoes? We get them. Pouring rain? Yeah, hi. Amazing bright, sunny mornings full of hope? Those too. It keeps things interesting and when those bright mornings happen you do something.

You wake up, after ten glorious hours of sleep to the sound of Dan making coffee.

You declare that you’d like to make the most of this sunshine while it’s here and go for a walk.

Dan suggests walking down to the Farmers’ Market. You nod happily and put on your comfy, bit-too-big yoga pants. You pull your unwashed hair back, put on some sunglasses, and grab that coffee mug. Let’s do it.

Walking to the river and the market you talk about life and big picture things. Your husband indulges you because he knows you love talking about this stuff (where will we be…? what will we be doing…? what will happen to…?)

The market is full of all those things that scream “Spring in Minneapolis!” and you can’t help but grab a couple.

You don’t linger too long. Instead you head home with your radishes and pea sprouts and you make this salad for lunch.

This is Spring in Minneapolis.

This salad is fresh and full of maximum Spring flavour. The dressing is light and zingy, with just the right amount of punch from the lemon and red wine vinegar. You don’t want to go too heavy on the oil.

The salad itself is a work of flavour-pairing magic. Pea sprouts taste sweet and just like peas – not bitter at all, as we expected – they pair perfectly with crunchy, slightly spicy radishes and fresh cucumber. The tangy feta brings it all together with a little creaminess and saltiness. Eat it with a large hunk of fresh bread and butter for lunch or alongside a juicy, just-grilled steak.

Spring Radish and Pea Sprout Salad

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the salad

• 2 cups pea sprouts
• 1/2 bunch (or about 5) radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, diced or crumbled

For the dressing

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• splash red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and black pepper

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, toss pea sprouts, radishes, and cucumber with lemon juice, vinegar and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle feta cheese on top and serve.

This is the first recipe I’ve tried from my lovely Ottolenghi cookbook. It was a birthday present from in-laws who know me well and knew I’d been lusting after it. After flipping through it in a sort of from-a-distance way for several weeks, I sat down at the weekend and got a teensy bit overexcited with post-its. I want to make everything. There’s so much flavour in every recipe it’s almost like you’re getting smacked in the face with it. In a good way.

I’ve been told that the cakes are amazing and as you can imagine, I’m rather childishly excited to get to them. But I wanted to try something asap and this recipe is apparently Ottolenghi, the restaurant/cafe’s signature dish.

If you want a simple way to tart up broccoli, this here is for you. It’s not complicated, but it’s good. I went a little heavy on the oil (being too lazy to convert the measurements first) so watch out for that. This dish calls for a delicate hand to get the flavours spot on. This is another reason why I’m a better baker: I like precision and when I’m left to my own devices, I tend to go overboard.

If you’re looking for a colourful and bright dish for this long holiday weekend (in the States) or a picnic take-along (anywhere) this would be a most excellent choice.

Chargrilled Broccoli with Chilli and Garlic
from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook

Ingredients

• 2 heads of broccoli (approx. 18oz)
• 100ml olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 mild red chillies/jalapenos, thinly sliced
• coarse sea salt and black pepper
• toasted almond flakes
• very thin slices of lemon (with skin) to garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Separate the broccoli into florets and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes – don’t be tempted to cook it any longer! Using a large slotted spoon quickly transfer the broccoli to a bowl full of ice-cold water – you need to stop the cooking at once. Drain and leave to dry completely.
2. Once the broccoli is dry, toss with 40ml of the olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Place a griddle pan on high heat and leave for 5 minutes until smoking hot. Grill the broccoli in batches on the hot pan, turning to get lovely char marks on all sides. If, like me, you don’t have a griddle pan, use your barbecue!
3. While the broccoli is cooking, place the remaining oil in a small saucepan together with the garlic and chillies. Cook them over a medium heat until the garlic just begins to turn golden brown. Be careful not to let the garlic and chilli burn – remember they will keep even when off the heat.
4. Pour the oil, garlic and chilli over the hot broccoli and toss together well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature. You can garnish the broccoli with almonds or lemon just before serving, if you like.

Spring has zing. This is the truth.

The weather here in Minnesota has been typically crazy and all over the place. Just when you think those warm, sunny days, bare legs, and bike rides are here to stay, along come the thunderstorms and tornadoes. Zing.

You know what is amazing about Spring though, despite its surly nature?

Flavours. Colours.  Farmers’ Markets.

In honour of all the wonderful sensory things popping up and brightening this season as we finally climb out of the dark hole that was winter, here are six spring zingers to delight your senses. Enjoy!

1. Smashed Peas and Mint Bruschetta

This fancy sounding appetizer/snack is easy and quick to make and literally tastes like bursts of Spring in your mouth. Peas are in season in Minnesota and I have grand plans to march down to the Farmers’ Market this weekend, with this bruschetta in mind.

2. Radish Butter

A slightly different spin on using radishes, this butter is totally moreish. I’ve been eating it spread on toast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Salty, sweet, spicy, crunchy. All those good words. Chomp.

3. Lemon Grain Salad with Asparagus, Almonds, and Goat Cheese

This is a great salad to make for dining outside. It’s got a lot going for it: creamy goat’s cheese, crunchy asparagus, fragrant almonds, and bright, tart lemon. This, friends, is what we call a winner.

4. Ramp Pesto

Ramps! New to me. New to you? Read all about ‘em here and then go and make this pesto. Spread it on baguette, mix it into pasta, heck, eat it from the jar for all I care. Except don’t breathe near me if you do that.

5. Sweetcorn Fritters

If you haven’t had friends over for brunch yet and served these, we may not be on speaking terms any more. Seriously, make some. They are super easy to rustle up, reheat excellently, and are awesome vehicles for runny eggs, farmer’s cheese, sour cream, and more.

6. Ginger Oat Rhubarb Crumble

Crumble. A classic British dessert. Serve with piping hot custard if you’re brave. If it’s too hot for that already choose Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice cream for a hot/cold party in your mouth.