Spring Produce First and Second Team

Spring is in the air and March Madness is beginning to dominate sports television. In the grocery stores, greenery is abundant, and strawberries enticing. Yes, you can find most of these items I’m about to give insight on year round, but during the Spring you’ll find the best price, closest proximity to home, and the best quality among them. In produce, seasons do still matter. Here are my Spring First and Second Team produce selections to look out for:

First Team All-Spring: Availability, pricing, and deliciousness. These five do it all.

Asparagus

Chard

Grapefruit

Kale

Strawberries

Second Team All-Spring:

Arugula

Fennel

Kiwi

Morels

Rhubarb

First-Team:

Asparagus - In the spring you’ll find asparagus the perfect size, not too woodsy, and again, the right price per bunch. Asparagus makes my first team for its simplicity and how quickly it’s ready to eat regardless of the technique used. You can steam, roast, or grill asparagus and even served it chopped in a salad with other seasonal vegetables. The two keys for enjoying asparagus: cutting the stalks to the accurate length, and NOT OVERCOOKING IT. The latter can be much more difficult to avoid than the former. Once the asparagus turns a vibrant green it is ready to eat and needs to be pulled from the heat source! To check how much of the stalk you should cut from each bunch simply bend of the stalks until it breaks, then cut the remaining stalks at the same length. Asparagus is a go-to side for the spring time.

Chard - Understandably an underrated, under the radar leafy green. Allow me to inform you. Chard is the best green you can buy and quickly prepare on the market. No, you probably won’t find it in your standard grocery store’s produce package, but at farmer’s markets and higher end grocers you will find plenty and have a choice between red chard, rainbow chard, and green chard. Enjoy it next to a nice piece of pan-roasted fish or grilled chicken for a quick dinner this season.

Grapefruit - Becoming a fan of grapefruit may be a sign of age, but it’s now one of my favorite citrus fruits. You’ll see Melogolds, Ruby Reds, and many other varieties in farmer’s markets this time of year. Also, you can find the ‘Pomelo’ or ‘Pumelo’ (spelling varies) in the international groceries. Each fruit is at its best this time of year and make for a refreshing breakfast, mid-morning work snack, or as an addition to a salad. Even consider subbing a sweet Ruby Red grapefruit in my blood orange kale salad recipe!

Kale - Yes, kale is available everywhere year-round, but towards the late fall and winter the bunches grow smaller and smaller, and the price rises. For me, kale is a staple leafy green because of its versatility, availability, and storage life. You’ll find big bunches that stretch a mile for $.99 around this time of year. Even an organic bunch of kale will be closer to $2 in the spring. Making kale chips, or braising the kale with stock and sauteed onion or my most used techniques. If you find you have too much extra, freeze it and mix the kale into your smoothies.

Strawberries - My last first teamer will frustrate you all year long until the spring. Noted for being highly inconsistent and pricey, springtime is the sweet spot for strawberries. Look for plump, deep red berries as close to home as you can get them. Or, for a fun outing head to a strawberry patch and pick some yourself. Of course strawberries are good enough to eat on their own, but they make great homemade compotes or jams. You can also add them to your salad, lemonade, and of course strawberry shortcake!

Second Team: Some limitations, but still great choices nonetheless

Arugula - A peppery leafy green that will give any salad, wrap, sandwich or flatbread an extra layer of flavor without too much fuss. Two things kept arugula from making first team for spring produce, however: durability, and the availability of mature greens in the marketplace. Grocers have moved to selling baby arugula far more than the mature bunches. Baby arugula does just as well in salads and wraps, but is not something you can add heat to successfully; preventing cooks from adding arugula to fresh pasta dishes or sauteeing the greens. All in all, arugula is still a wonderful leafy green to get to know for this season.

Fennel - Firm second team selection for its aromatic flavor. Fennel has a licorice flavor that mellows out and sweetens when roasted. Buying a bulb or two can feel a little awkward in the market, with its long green stems attached to it. Don’t be intimidated though, you simply cut off the stems and the bottom of the bulb and thinly slice for roasting. Mixed with chard or kale, you have a nice side salad with plenty of flavor thanks to fennel. I like to use fennel for a flatbread recipe that you may see here shortly as well.

Kiwi - I think I’ve only added kiwi to one dish I’ve prepared so far on the site. They’re mainly purchased for immediate consumption. The trick is to let them soften for a couple of days in the refrigerator. If you have a peeler, use it to remove the furry skin. I usually don’t eat more than two at a time because of a slight allergy. They make the roof of my mouth itch, but kiwi is still one of my favorite fruits. You could have a similar allergy as well, so be careful.

Morels - This wild mushroom is a second-teamer because they are quite difficult to find, but still very much worth noting. Morels look nothing like the usual portobello, baby bella, or shiitake mushroom you’ll find in the market and carries a completely different texture. Much more firm, while still delivering the nutty flavor of mushrooms. Morels go perfectly in a cream sauce spooned over roasted beef or chicken for a special occasion dinner, or tossed in a pasta dish to give it a fancy touch.

Rhubarb - Each time I see rhubarb in the market I think “red celery” to myself, because that’s exactly what it looks like. Rhubarb is a great choice to cook down into a compote with strawberries to add to yogurt, waffles, or salad dressing. It is also a great ingredient to pickle. You’ll take away some of the tartness that raw rhubarb is notorious for and smooth out its texture as well. I wouldn’t suggest buying a ton from the market, but it is an ingredient I encourage you to familiarize yourself with. It truly only comes around once a year.