Spring is well and truly upon us. And with a new month comes a host of new ingredients at their seasonal peak. From fish that can be responsibly sourced from the seas around our fair island to the veggies we can pull from the land, there’s something magical about eating food that’s at its best. Here’s our pick of our favourite recipes that use May’s seasonal ingredients:
Curried cod (from BBC Good Food)
Image courtesy of BBC Good Food
This light fish curry is a one pot wonder. It’s a hearty meal that’s kind to your budget at just £1.11 per serving (if you shop at Asda). Made from delicious seasonal cod and garnished with coriander, it’s low calorie, packed full of iron, AND low carb! Make it as a speedy weeknight supper.
What you’ll need
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of curry powder (mild, medium or hot – it’s your choice!)
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
400g can of chickpeas
4 cod fillets (about 150g each)
Zest of 1 lemon, then cut the rest into wedges
A handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of oil
How to make it
Heat the oil in a large frying pan that has a lid.
Fry the onion for a few minutes, then stir in the curry powder, ginger and garlic. Cook for another couple of minutes until fragrant.
Then, stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook the sauce for 8-10 minutes until thickened, then place the cod fillets on top.
Pop the lid on the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
Scatter over the lemon zest and coriander, then serve with the lemon wedges
Carrot, ginger and turmeric seasonal soup (from Tesco Real Food)
Image courtesy of Tesco Real Food
As the weather warms up, it may not feel like the season for soup any more. But trust us, there’s no such thing as the wrong weather for this seasonal beauty! This recipe makes four servings and is freezeable, making it a perfect weekday meal.
What you’ll need
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
750g of carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
5cm piece of fresh ginger, finely sliced
2 teaspoons of ground turmeric
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 litre of vegetable stock
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 green chilli, diced
A handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Sesame oil
Lime juice
How to make it
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf and cook for 10 minutes. Make sure you stir often while cooking so that none of the veggies burn.
Add the ginger, turmeric and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir it occasionally.
Pour over the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer the soup for 15 minutes until the carrots are soft.
Remove the bay leaf, take the soup off the heat and blitz it with a stick blender until completely smooth.
In a small bowl, combine the spring onions, green chilli, coriander leaves, sesame oil and lime juice.
If the soup has cooled down while you were blending it, pop it back on the heat to warm it back up. Ladle each serving into a bowl and top with the garnish to serve.
Risi e Bisi (from Simplyrecipes.com)
Image courtesy of simplyrecipes.com
This seasonal Italian classic is easy peasy to make. Hailing from Venice, Risi e Bisi translates as “rice and peas”, and has many variations. We love this one with prosciutto, although if you can’t get prosciutto, any ham will do. Remember though, dry cured hams can be very salty, so the more you add, the saltier the dish will become.
What you’ll need
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 shallots, finely diced
250g of Arborio or other risotto rice
120g diced prosciutto
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
Up to 500ml water
250g frozen peas
125g parsley, roughly chopped
75g grated parmesan cheese
How to make it
Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot. When it’s hot, add the shallots and fry for 2-3 minutes. At the same time, heat the stock with 250ml water in a small pan. You want this to be simmering when you make the rice.
Add the prosciutto (or other ham) and the garlic to the pan with the shallots. Stir well and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
In the same pan, add the rice. Stir it well and fry for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Heating the rice like this helps it to open up so that when you add the stock, it takes on more of the flavour and cooks more quickly!
Ladle at a time, pour the stock over the rice mixture. Let each ladle of liquid be absorbed into the rice before you add the next. Risi e Bisi is supposed to be quite saucy, so don’t worry if the rice stops absorbing so much liquid towards the end.
When you get to the last couple of ladles of stock, add the peas to the mixture. Keep stirring, occasionally testing the rice to see if it’s done. You’re aiming for firm, but not crunchy!
Finally, add the parmesan and parsley and mix well. Add a little more water if you think it needs it, and serve.
Read more: Why it’s better for you and your wallet to eat in season
Oven-baked lamb chops with onion and rosemary sauce (from Delia Online)
Image courtesy of Delia Online
Just because we’ve already had Easter doesn’t mean you can’t eat lamb any more. It’s still seasonal, after all! Serve this up with steamed new potatoes, peas and broad beans. They’re all also in season!
What you’ll need
8 small lamb chops
2 small onions, both peeled, one chopped into big chunks and one finely diced
1 tablespoon of rosemary leaves
25g of butter
25g of plain flour
175ml milk
175ml vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of cream – whipping or double work best
Salt and pepper
How to make it
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celcius (gas mark 6).
Place the lamb chops in a shallow roasting tin with the chunky onion tucked in around them.
Season with salt and pepper, then place them on the highest shelf of your oven to bake. If you like your lamb pink, give them 30 minutes. If you prefer it well done, give them 45.
While the lamb is in the oven, prepare the sauce in a small saucepan:
Melt the butter and fry the diced onion over a gentle heat for 5 minutes.
Bruise the rosemary leaves with a pestle and mortar to release their oil, then chop them very, very finely and add them to the pan with the onion.
Continue to cook gently for 15 minutes without letting the onions colour too much.
Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour until smooth, then gradually add the milk, followed by the stock, bit by bit, stirring vigorously. Finish it off with a balloon whisk to get out any flour lumps.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper, let it simmer for a couple of minutes then remove it from the heat.
Pour half the sauce into a blender and liquidise it, then add it back to the rest, along with the cream.
Taste to check the seasoning, and if you’re happy with it, transfer into a serving jug and cover with cling film until the lamb is ready.
When the lamb comes out, serve it straight away with accompaniments of your choice, and sauce poured over.
Pan-fried haddock with creamy mustard spring greens (from Sainsburys)
Image courtesy of Sainsburys
Spring greens, haddock… does it get more seasonal than that? This isn’t the cheapest dish on the list, but you could make a few savvy swaps to bring the cost down. Try switching the Anya potatoes for new potatoes. If spring greens are difficult to get hold of, or pricey, any leafy green like spinach or cabbage will do the trick.
What you’ll need
750g of Anya potatoes
28g of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 haddock fillets
20g of butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
200g bag of spring greens
4 tablespoons of low-fat creme fraiche
1 1/2 tablespoons of wholegrain mustard
The juice of 1 lemon
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
How to make it
Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil on a medium heat with the lid on, then turn down and simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender.
While the potatoes are cooking, pat the fish dry with kitchen paper. Heat half the butter in a large non-stick frying pan and add two pieces of haddock. Once the fish has coloured nicely and become transulcent on the bottom, carefully flip it over and cook the other side until the whole fillet is nicely coloured and cooked all the way through. Repeat with the other half of the butter and the other two haddock fillets. Remove all fish from the pan and keep warm.
Lower the heat on the pan and add the chopped shallots. Cook for two minutes until softened.
At the same time, add the spring greens to a pan of boiling water and cook for two minutes until tender, then drain well.
Add the creme fraiche and mustard to the shallots and stir through all except two tablespoons of the parsley and the lemon juice. Add a splash of water, then stir in the drained spring greens.
By now, your potatoes should be cooked. Drain them, then return them to the pan with 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.
To serve, arrange the fish on a bed of creamy spring greens, with the potatoes on the side. Add a wedge of lemon as a garnish, if you like.
Long live the spring! Have fun cooking these seasonal dishes!
