Spring is here! Well, hopefully. Southeast Kansas has a way of tricking us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a wider variety of fresh produce than we saw during the winter. Here’s the fruits and vegetables you can find in Southeast Kansas during spring and a few recipes to try. Check out our lists for other seasons; summer, fall, and winter.
The produce of the season
Spring brings a lot more green to Southeast Kansas and with it we can add more green to our plates. The leafy green vegetables, like arugula, cilantro, collard greens, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, and other salad greens, make a great base for homemade salads. But what should you add with it?
Beats, carrots, green onions, parsnips, peppers, and radishes are also in season. Thinly sliced, they make some great additions to a salad. For a change of pace, saute some of these in olive oil before adding them to a salad along with a protein like grilled chicken.
Despite being available year round in most stores, asparagus is a spring vegetable. It’s grown almost everywhere and has been for thousands of years. Even the ancient Egyptians grew it. It’s an easy side to make for almost any meal. Check out the recipe below.
As spring gets rolling, the first fruits we’ll begin to see are strawberries. Soon after we’ll find many other berries; blackberries, blueberries, raspberries. Big in late spring and into summer are brambles. It’s the catch all term for black and raspberry kind of berries. You may also find local cherries and plums in late spring.
Recipes
For all the salad greens available this spring, make sure you have a healthy dressing option on hand. Try to stick with lighter options, like vinegrettes or make your own! Check this link to find recipes for dressings like chile-lime or greek yogurt.
Here are two recipes that incorporate spring produce; blueberries and asparagus.
Blueberry No-Cook Overnight Oatmeal
Oven-Roasted Asparagus
Recipes and a plan
If you’re stumped for good spring recipes try sites like myfridgefood.com and supercook.com to get you started. You can also check out other article on squeezing whole foods out of a tight budget to learn more about shopping in-season and what to look for at the store. If you’d like to see more recipes or have any questions, please leave a comment or reach out to us! We’d love to hear from you.
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