Livening Up Roots
We've got some beautiful romanesco cauliflowers in this week. They may look like an alien landscape but they're not at all intimidating to cook with. You can use them exactly as you would cauliflower, but we always think they're most at home steamed with olive oil and lemon
All the things that go well with olive oil and lemon are good here - capers, anchovies, parsley, etc. Alternatively here's a very simple recipe for whole roasted romanesco with zaatar yoghurt - a lovely vegetable main course.
Purple and Perky
We're loving the purple sprouting broccoli as spring approaches. If you're impatient for asparagus season then PSB is at home in many of the same recipes, great with hollandaise or melted butter, divine in a wobbly tart and delicious in risotto.
Here's super easy leek and broccoli tart with ready-made puff pastry - delish!
Delicious Stingers
It's wild nettle season - one of the most widely available, abundant and nutrient rich leaf there is. Make sure you're wearing gloves! Just grab the tips of the smallest, tenderest, young nettles you can find and plunge them into boiling water to get rid of the stingers. Then you can use them in anything you'd use spinach for - we'd recommend nettle spanokopita - a winner!
Here's a terrific nettle spanokopita recipe - along with several other excellent nettle ideas from Hugh...