spring green

in my mind -- and on the phone with anna -- i'd planned to make a fancy little easter supper for my husband, featuring lamb chops (which i've never actually cooked at home), spring vegetables (TBD), and a souffle for dessert.

in reality, i acquired so many vegetables last week, josh blanched at the idea of buying lamb, or anything else for that matter. what can i say? the newly arrived spring vegetables were just too tempting. i picked up a few at the ballard farmer's market, a few at the pike place market, and a few more at whole foods... and we went out several nights last week. oops.

so, i cooked with what we had. six lovely spring vegetables from our fridge. and combined them in one dish.

i should back up to say this is not my usual approach. i am strongly opposed to almost anything "kitchen sink"-style. many a frittata, salad, and risotto have suffered that muddled fate of the eat-down. and i do not support that.

in honor of spring, or new beginnings, or my eat-down-loving new husband, comforting myself with the belief that "what grows together goes together," i took it all... and made risotto. 

stinging nettles, baby fennel, fiddlehead ferns, fava beans, wild ramps! i used all of that (plus half a leftover shallot!) to make one very green and spring-y dish. and it was actually really very good. still i maintain, not the best way to highlight all of these wonderful treats.

what was? nettle pesto! i couldn't pack an entire bag of nettles into risotto for two, so i made a simple pesto with the remainder. here's how:

nettle pesto

blanch nettles briefly in salted water
blend in a cuisinart (drain water, if necessary)
add a peppery olive oil, salt, pepper to taste

enjoy dolloped on top of risotto, stirred into pasta, with halibut or salmon, even grilled spring lamb or steak. or, as i did first thing monday morning, with a poached egg.

hello, spring!

rhubarb, peas, fava beans, miner's lettuce, asparagus -- delicious harbingers of spring! what better subjects could there be for a new beginning, the second post of this blog?

springtime also happens to be my favorite time of the year. it's hopeful, budding, still cool. 

there's no denying the goodness of a late-summer tomato, but for me, the slightly reserved, bright, clean flavors of spring are perfection.

for my april 2 wedding, we served a little spring feast (under blossoming branches, naturally).

the dish i'm thinking about this morning exemplifies simple springtime deliciousness for me -- 
alaskan halibut, fava bean purée, torn olive oil croutons
paired with àmaurice 2007 columbia valley chardonnay

(a big shout-out to the tom douglas catering team! how they served beautifully cooked halibut to 240 people is beyond me).

one day soon, i'll work on a home version and share it here.

welcome, thirsty piglettes! more springtime goodness coming soon...

photo: broad bean buds at ballymaloe, april 2010

Welcome Our Fellow Thirsty Piglettes.

"Thirsty Piglettes" are people who like to eat, drink and enjoy life. Thirsty piglette A and B are preschool friends Anna and Brooke. Now a winemaker and a cook they began their careers early. At snack time Brooke carefully hovered to ensure the placement of each raisin on the celery would accurately depict the "ants on a log" motif, while Anna watched the proportion of apple concentrate and water to maximize the phenolic enjoyment of the whole class. We not writers nor are we photographers...we are thirsty piglettes, indeed, eating, drinking and sharing it here.