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3 Recipes To Welcome Spring

Smitten Kitchen Blogger Shares 3 Of Her Favorite Springtime Meals

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chicken salad
Photo courtesy of Deb Perelman, Smitten Kitchen

The sun is shining brighter, you’ve switched from a heavy winter coat to a light spring jacket and now it’s time to start thinking about updating your recipe box for the new spring season.

When it comes to spring cooking, Deb Perelman, of the Smitten Kitchen Blog, is thinking green.

“I don’t mean like the hardy long braised kale of winter,” she said. “I need things that are lighter and brighter. I want more citrus, I want more herby sauces, I want more crunchy finishes.”

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Perelman shared three of her favorite spring meals:

Ramp Pizza


Photo courtesy of Deb Perelman

One of Perelman’s go-to meals when the first signs of spring appear, ramp pizza satisfies her craving for something light, crunchy and fresh, she said.

It’s a thin crust pizza, topped with a thin layer of tomato sauce, mozzarella, pecorino and a layer of sauteed ramps.

The ramps are key, she said. When sauteed, they become tender, but still stay crunchy. The flavor is reminiscent of scallions, chives and leeks.

“It’s nice to just saute up a whole bunch and then put it into things all week,” Perelman said. “You could mix it into a risotto, you can mix it into an omelet, you could use it with like a nice light spring pasta. It’s really lovely.”

Spring Chicken Salad Toasts


Photo courtesy of Deb Perelman

For a quick and healthy spring dinner, Perelman turns to spring chicken salad toasts, a lighter take on a classic that combines chicken breast (you can also use a rotisserie chicken), cucumber, celery, radishes, scallions, wine vinegar and creme fraiche in place of the traditional mayo. Top the mixture on rye toast.

“It’s really one of my favorite spring meals,” she said. “And it’s such an easy thing to make with a chicken breast, and actually you can stretch it into a few servings.”

If you don’t like one of the vegetables used, feel free to substitute for one you do. Perelman suggests giving raw asparagus a chance.

“You can shave it with a peeler and make ribbons, but you can also do it on a diagonal … cut it really thin like maybe an one-eighth of an inch thick,” she said. “Those pieces have a really nice crunch to them, but you can eat them raw.”

Vidalia Onion and Wild Rice Soup


Photo courtesy of Deb Perelman

And while the temperature is warming, there is still plenty of chilly spring weather. For those days, Perelman recommends vidalia onion and wild rice soup.

“This is a lighter onion soup and you add a little bit of wild rice to it, so it’s definitely not traditional,” she said. “And then instead of the usual gruyere toast we actually do blue cheese toast.”

Perelman prefers wild rice in this soup because it offers a more unique texture and flavor that isn’t as heavy as a standard white rice.

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