Faced with fresh produce from your CSA, and not sure what to do with it?
Here’s a pair of seasonal, farm-fresh recipes for items you might find in your spring boxes.
Charred Asparagus with Green Garlic Chimichurri
PG tested
Here we have the green-greenness of spring, fast and simple. Substitute regular garlic if the young green garlic doesn’t come your way. The char on the spears and the lush chimichurri vinaigrette are all you need. Feta and olives are nice, but not necessary. Like strawberries, the asparagus window is fleeting, so grab it.
3 tablespoons finely chopped green garlic, or 2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Salt and pepper
1 pound pencil-thin asparagus, tough ends snapped off
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 ounces crumbled feta
Handful of olives
Crushed red pepper to taste
Heat a cast-iron skillet or broiler or prepare a charcoal grill.
Make the sauce: In a small bowl, stir together chopped green garlic, parsley, oregano, olive oil and ¼ cup water. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spread asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle very lightly with oil and sprinkle with salt.
Transfer asparagus to hot cast-iron pan or to a grill grate that is placed very close to live coals; alternatively, if broiling, place pan as close to broiler element as possible. Let asparagus cook 4-5 minutes, until nicely charred, with a few burnt and blistered spots. (Asparagus cooked this way tastes best if slightly undercooked and still bright green.)
Put cooked asparagus on a platter. Stir vinegar into chimichurri and spoon sauce generously over spears. Top with crumbled feta and olives, then sprinkle with crushed red pepper and serve.
Serves 4.
— Adapted from David Tanis, New York Times Cooking
The River Cafe's Strawberry Sorbet
PG tested
I’ve made this 3-ingredient wonder from the “London River Cafe Cook Book” for years, watching it creep all the way up to a Food52 Genius Recipe. People gasp at its brilliant color and flavor. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, don’t worry. The slush/fork method works fine too.
If you are not using an ice cream maker, you can freeze, or partially freeze, the hulled berries, which speeds things up. I usually do half the recipe, from fragrant, peak-season berries stored in the freezer.
2 to 3 lemons, one seeded and roughly chopped and the other 1-2 juiced
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined: It will look like lemon slush. Transfer to a bowl. Purée the strawberries in the same food processor bowl, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but not overpower the strawberries.
Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen, or, if no ice cream maker, pour into a 8-by-8-inch cake pan. Place in freezer, then scrape and toss vigorously with a fork every half hour or so until softly frozen. If it freezes too hard, whirl in a food processor until spoonable and serve.
Makes 1½ quarts (8-10 servings)
— “The River Cafe Cook Book” by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers
Virginia Phillips is a Mount Lebanon freelance writer.
First Published: May 2, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
