While many fruits and vegetables are available year-round, most are at their peak during specific seasons. You'll find the tastiest nectarines in the summer for example, while fiddlehead ferns are generally sold during the spring. With so much delicious produce to choose from, it can be difficult to know what to eat when.
Luckily, you’ll never be unsure again, thanks to our helpful produce guide that lists each season's best options. We’ll be bringing this to you in installments, along with great corresponding recipes we found on THE FOOD NETWORK—Spring produce first, of course.
SPRING Fruits and Veggies:
APRICOTS: Because these relatives of peaches are so delicate, less than 20% of the annual crop is actually sold fresh—the rest are canned or dried. They’re sweeter and more fragrant than peaches, particularly when truly ripe (those that “give” slightly to the touch and are fragrant and golden orange). Grill or poach them, add to desserts, or savor them all on their own!
Australian Apricot Dumplings: Marillenknodel
Dumplings:
1/2 lb fresh curd cheese, such as topfen, quark, or pot cheese
1 large egg
1 Tbsp sugar
Pinch salt
11/2 C sifted flour
1 Tbsp melted butter
12 whole fresh apricots
12 sugar cubes
Coating:
2Tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 C dried bread crumbs
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Sauce:
1 C sour cream
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 lemon, juiced
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting, if desired
Place cheese cheesecloth or several layers of paper towels; let it drain 5 - 10 minutes, pressing gently, removing excess moisture.
With a mixer, beat cheese until smooth. Add egg; continue beating until incorporated. Sprinkle in sugar and salt; gradually add flour; continue to mix until a dough begins to form. Add melted butter and mix just until dough holds together when patted with hands, it will look pretty wet. Wrap dough in plastic; refrigerate several hours or overnight (dough will stiffen as it chills).
Using a knife, make a slit down the seam of the apricot and carefully remove pit, keeping fruit in tact. Place sugar cube inside the apricot (into pit cavity) and squeeze apricot together to close it tightly. (Sugar cube will melt when cooked.)
Bring large pot of water to boil. Lightly flour a rolling pin and work surface. Roll the dough into a thin circle and cut 12 circles with 4-inch ring cutter. Place an apricot in center of dough and carefully bring the edges together to completely enclose the fruit and form a dumpling (check for tears or holes in dough). Working in batches, gently lower dumplings into simmering water; they should not be touching or crowded. Cook about 10 - 15 minutes; dumplings will sink to bottom of pot and then rise to the surface. Carefully remove the dumplings from water with a strainer.
In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add bread crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon; cook and stir for 2 minutes until bread crumbs are toasty and golden. Lay the bread crumbs out on a sheet pan or plate and roll the apricot dumplings in the browned crumbs to coat evenly.
In a small bowl, mix sour cream, brown sugar, and lemon juice together. Serve dumplings with sweet-sour cream sauce on the side and a dusting of confectioners' sugar if desired.
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Almond Apricot Tart
For the frangipane:
1/3 C sugar
2/3 C slivered almonds, slightly toasted
6 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
6 fresh apricot halves, pits removed
1/4 C whole almonds, skin on
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
Preheat oven to 425°
Frangipane: Place almonds and sugar in a food processor and grind until sandy. Add butter and continue mixing; add egg, vanilla, and flour and mix until smooth.
Tart: On a floured work surface, pass your rolling pin over the pastry just to flatten any ridges. Place pastry on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and cut a 9” disk. Spread almond frangipane in the center of the tart, leaving a 1” border. Firmly place apricot halves into the frangipane, spacing them evenly around the tart. Dot the spaces between the apricots with the whole almonds.
Bake golden brown and puffy, about 30 - 40 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
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NEW POTATOES: Contrary to popular belief, new potatoes don't have to be small - they just have to be freshly-harvested with thin skins and extra sweetness. These don't hold up as well as regular potatoes, so eat them within a few days and just give them a little brush under running water to take away any dirt and watch the peel come with it. Select potatoes of fairly uniform size if cooking them all together.
Grilled Chicken, New Potato & Roasted Garlic Quesadilla
2 large boneless chicken breasts
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 small new potatoes, cut in half
Twelve 6” flour tortillas
1 C Monterey Jack cheese, finely grated
1 C white Cheddar cheese, finely grated
1 head roasted garlic
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat grill. Brush chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through; remove and let rest. Toss potatoes in olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill cut side down until golden brown; turn and continue grilling until cooked through.
Place 8 tortillas on flat surface. Divide both cheeses among tortillas. Slice chicken on bias into ¼” thick slices. Cut each potato half in two. Divide chicken, potatoes, garlic and thyme among the 8 tortillas. Stack tortillas to make four. Top the four tortillas with the remaining four tortillas. Brush the top with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill, oil side down until golden brown. Carefully flip over and continue grilling until golden brown and the cheese has melted.
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Salmon, Asparagus & New Potato Salad
2 lbs new potatoes
2 lbs green asparagus
8 or 10 (5 ounces) salmon fillets, skinned
Home-made vinaigrette, mayonnaise or yogurt
1 lemon, zested
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Chopped chives or salad onions
Finely chopped chervil
Diced cucumber
Fresh chervil or tarragon
Scrub and steam or boil the potatoes until tender, using whatever potatoes available (bear in mind that the waxy fleshed variety, such as fingerlings, are particularly good in salads as they do not collapse). Cook asparagus tips in lightly salted water. Steam, poach or grill the salmon.
Skin or peel the potatoes and dice or slice them. Mix them with the asparagus and then with the dressing. Grate in the lemon zest; add seasoning and herbs; fold into salad. Spoon the potato and asparagus onto the plate; place salmon fillet on top. Whole herbs or baby greens make lovely garnishes.
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