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Note: This list is by no means exhaustive! Please let us know if we overlooked something important! 👉means new on list this month 🌿means just coming into season Artichokes —March through June is the main season, followed by a smaller crop in the fall. Boil them in lots of salt water till the crown is just-tender, then eat with mayo or douse in vinaigrette. Or parboil, then halve them and grill them. Asparagus — Halleluyah!!! Toward the end of the month, So many ways to worship. Beets — Try them pickled, or wrap each in foil (don’t bother to peel), roast till tender at 425 degrees, pull off the peel with your fingers, slice, dress with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and enjoy
Blood Oranges — Peel, slice into circles and use in a salad with raddichio and arugula, or make our Blood Orange Panna Cotta with Blood Orange Compote Bok Choy of all kinds — Here’s our recipe for Baby Bok Choy with Garlic Cloves, or make a Quick Bok Choy and Radish Kimchi Brussels Sprouts — Roast ‘em, with or without pancetta, or shave and make slaw (with kohlrabi, maybe!) (These are on their way out in March.!) Celery — Make an elegant little Celery, Endive and Crab Salad. Or quarter the hearts lengthwise and braise them in chicken broth; use the leaves to flavor soups and garnish a hundred different things (deviled eggs!) Celery Root — To make celery root purée, peel and cut in eighths, cook till tender in milk, purée until smooth, add butter and a little warm milk. Or for a make one of our favorite French apps, Céleri Rémoulade Chinese Mustard Greens — Did you know there are 4 kinds? See The Woks of Life story below in resources Collard Greens — Braise them with ham hocks and onions, as in this Serious Eats recipe by Daniel Gritzer. Or make them part of a gumbo z’herbes — recipe and story coming this month! Crawfish — “Mudbugs,” as they’re called in Louisiana Cajun country, start to peak around Mardi Gras. I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never made made them; I love to drive down to Breaux Bridge or Lafayette to eat them in LA. If I can get my hands on some this year, I’ll try this recipe from the New Orleans Times-Picayune by Ann Maloney, who is now Recipe Editor at the Washington Post. Daikon — Shave or grate and use as a garnish, make Asian pickles or pickled salad, cut into thick discs and braise in dashi Dandelion Greens — We love small tender ones in a salad; the larger, more assertively flavored ones are wonderful in Gumbo Z’Herbes and soups. Dungeness Crab — The West Coast’s spectacular crab is harvested from late November through June, but winter — when the water’s cold — is its peak season. If you can get your hands on live crabs, boil a lot of water, salt it to taste like the sea, throw in a bunch of garlic cloves, add the crabs and they’ll be done in 12 minutes, as I learned reporting this story published eons ago. Garlic Scapes — Sweat in olive oil and use like shallots or scallions. Grapefruit — Peel and eat, make marmalade. March is the last month of peak sweetness for Texas red grapefruits. 👉🌿English Peas — You could cook these; they’re wonderful tossed at the very last minute in a spring vegetable sauté. But we love ‘em best raw, freshly picked as possible. Escarole — Braise in chicken broth till tender, serve with Italian-y pork chops, or use in winter salads like this one or this one Fava Beans — Labor-intensive, but what a treat! You have to remove the pods, then peel each bean. Brief blanching followed by ice-water bath isn’t necessary, but makes it easier. Then sauté gently with other tender spring veg. Or do like the French and serve them raw, still in their pods, with good bread, sweet butter and fleur de sel. Each person peels their own, and tops a bite of buttered bread with favas and salt. Fennel — Shave in salads, braise with chicken, green olives and lemon, slice and serve with Red Pepper-Harissa Dip. 👉🌿Green Almonds We haven’t seen these yet; they have an early window, usually beginning in April. When we find them, we’ll try them this way. 👉🌿Halibut — In season mid-March (though we only started seeing it in very late March) through early November. Horseradish — It’s super easy to preserve it. Shred fine, cover with vinegar and add salt to taste. Read more in Serious Eats. Kale —Make a salad, julienne and toss into a soup, or include in a mix of sautéed Wylie’s Greens or Maneet Chauhan’s Saag Paneer Kumquats — Pop ‘em in your mouth, peel and all; candy them for a cocktail garnish, or slice and make marmalade, like David Lebovitz does
Mandarins (Clementines, Satusumas, etc. — what used to be known as “tangerines”) — Peel and eat. We’re plotting a clementine tart recipe; will keep you posted! Mizuna — Include tender baby leaves in salads, use bigger ones in soups or sautéed greens
Napa Cabbage — Kimchi! Parsnips — Peel, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast; braise then purée with celery root or turnips; always include one, if possible, in Joan’s Chicken Soup Pea Shoots — Stir-fry, use in salads, strew about Savoy Cabbage — Roast with chicken thighs and turnips Snap Peas — Make this beautiful salad. Strawberries — The best early ones tend to stay In California, but later in the month, other parts of the country should be able to join in the deliciousness. Tokyo Turnips — Braise and glaze them, or sauté them with their greens, à la Daniel Gritzer at Serious Eats Turnips — We like to have one or two on hand this season in case we feel a Sunday Souper Soup coming on. Also include them in Chicken and Lamb Couscous, or roast them with chicken thighs and Savoy cabbage
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