In Season Dinner Recipe
Spring is in the air and can be in your tummy! Below are a list of vegetables that are IN SEASON right now! You can pick up these ingredients at your local Farmer’s Market.
asparagus, broccoli, broccolini, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, celery root, fennel, kale, leeks, mache, potatoes (maincrop), rutabaga, salsify, sunchoke, turnips.
Recipe Credit: http://paleoleap.com/baked-eggs-asparagus-leeks/
BUYING
Look for firm but tender stalks with good color and closed tips. Smaller, thinner stalks are not necessarily more tender; in fact thicker specimens are often better due to the smaller ratio of skin to volume.
STORING
Once picked, asparagus rapidly loses flavor and tenderness, so it really is worth eating it on the day you buy it. If that isn’t possible, store asparagus in the fridge with a damp paper towel wrapped around the bottom of the stalks and you can get away with keeping it for a couple of days.
PREPARING
Wash in cold water and remove the bottom ends of the stalks (with fresh asparagus they will snap off cleanly). Boil or steam quickly until just tender, around 4 to 7 minutes depending on thickness. Using an inexpensive asparagus steamer will help ensure perfect results as it cooks the stalk bottoms more quickly than the delicate tips.
BUYING
Go for small or medium size leeks; large leeks (more than about an inch in diameter) are likely to be tough and woody. Leaf tops should be fresh and green, the root end should be unblemished and yield very slightly to pressure. Buy more than needed (around double by weight) to allow for losses due to trimming.
STORING
Stored loosely wrapped in plastic (to keep them from drying out and to contain their smell) they will keep in the fridge for a week.
PREPARING
Remove any tired or damaged outer leaves. Trim the rootlets at the base and cut off around a half to two thirds of the dark green tops. Partially cut the leeks in half lengthwise, starting at the middle and running the knife up to the green tops. Make a second lengthwise cut perpendicular to the first, allowing you to fan out the leaves. Give them a good rinse to remove the dirt that can get trapped inside as the leek grows. If you’re not cooking the leeks whole then give them another wash after chopping them.
http://www.eattheseasons.com/Articles/leeks.php