By Leslie Brenner

There’s nothing like the season’s first asparagus, favas, green garbanzos and English peas to excite produce-worshiping cooks. And when treasures like ramps, morels or fiddlehead ferns turn up on a forest walk or a swing through the farmer’s market, the urge to create something special inevitably swells into can’t-wait-to-get-these-in-a-pan.

It’s not always easy to find recipes starring the more fleeting of these vegetables; improvising is great route, if you’ve got some skills and a bit of flair. Happily, all these springtime treats go beautifully together, whether on a savory tart, a quick sauté or a salad. Or you could resurrect that old 70’s-and-80’s standby, pasta primavera.

Don’t forget that you can round out a combo with more commonplace springy veg — slender young carrots, French green beans, sugar snap peas and radishes. And no one will arrest you if you toss in something frozen, like peas, shelled favas or artichoke hearts.

Harmony in a soup plate

Two years ago, I was smitten by a beautiful spring vegetable soup Ellie Krieger had created for The Washington Post, and took it a step farther by broadening the palette of vegetables and making it vegan. (It’s based on leek broth rather than chicken broth; you could also use store-bought vegetable broth.) Besides asparagus, carrots, French green beans, turnips and baby spinach leaves, it also calls for English peas or frozen peas. You could substitute sugar snaps, and add or subtract whatever — quartered radishes, favas, morels, green garbanzos and garlic scapes would all be fabulous additions (toss them in when you cook the diced turnips).

RECIPE: Vegan Spring Beauty Soup

Garden-fresh modern Mexican

Or take a tip from Cooks Without Borders’ Mexican cuisine expert Olivia Lopez and give her Tetelas with Spring Vegetables a whirl. The triangular tetelas are made from heirloom masa harina that you press into tortilla rounds, fill with vegan refried beans and cook on a griddle or comal. Top them with beautiful tumble of sautéd spring veg enlivened with lime and cilantro, plus charred scallion and blips of requesón (fresh Mexican cheese) or ricotta. If you happen to have some salsa macha, it’s wonderful drizzled on as a final florish. (Or not!)

RECIPE: Olivia Lopez’s Tetelas with Spring Vegetables

The dish has a similar vibe to a dish Olivia has created for a Molino Olōyō pop-up dinner in Dallas on April 17. Leading off a tasting menu of eight courses, her Sopecito con Alcachofa will feature baby artichokes, garden peas, green onions and requesón. “Spring ingredients were the inspiration for both,” she says. (There are still a few seats available — more info here.)

Luxurious springtime stew inspired by Spain

Finally, though this dish was inspired by a soup — minestra de primavera, traditional in the Navarre and Rioja regions of Spain — in the hands of superstar cookbook author Claudia Roden, it’s more like a spring stew.

A little cured pork in the form of prosciutto, serrano ham or bacon gives it depth and umami; cooking the vegetables long enough so they’re meltingly tender makes it deeply delicious. It’s definitely for folks won’t don’t want their vegetables crunchy. I highly recommended it.

RECIPE: Claudia Roden’s Medley of Spring Vegetables

Let yourself riff on any of the three recipes, and the possibilities are endless.

If you enjoyed this story and these recipes, we think you’ll like:

RECIPE: Fava Beans with Garlic, Cilantro and Lime

RECIPE: Asparagus Gribiche

RECIPE: Roasted Asparagus with Radishes

RECIPE: Warm Buttered Asparagus

STORY: Beautiful, bright and herbal: This easy-to-customize vegan soup gracefully celebrates spring

STORY: Say hello to the green gazpacho of your dreams

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