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Local Foods

Fresh Spring Recipes

By , About.com Guide

Eating locally means eating seasonally. These seasonal spring recipes will help you get started using all the great local and regional products you find at farmers markets, farm stands, and co-ops. More than just ways to use spring produce you find, these recipes are designed to be cooked in spring: they use other produce that is available in spring and they take spring weather and its drastic shifts from hot to cold, calm to windy into consideration.
  1. What's In Season in Spring?
  2. Spring Fruits
  3. Spring Vegetables
  4. Spring Foraged Foods
  5. Quick Spring Dinners
  6. Fresh Spring Salads
  1. Easy Spring Desserts
  2. Spring Side Dishes
  3. Simple Spring Soups
  4. Spring Breakfasts
  5. Making Spring Last: Preserving

What's In Season in Spring?

First things first: You have to know what's in season to cook seasonally. See what's considered "spring produce" and what's in season in your neck of the woods so you know what to expect at the market.

Spring Fruits

Spring starts with lemons and grapefruits - the sunnier, tarter citrus fruits that carry over from winter. Rhubarb tends to be the first truly spring fruit to arrive at the market and hold forth until strawberries, the king of spring fruits, show up. Warmer areas also get a hit of cherries and apricots before the season officially turns to summer.

Spring Vegetables

From artichokes and asparagus to spinach and sweet peas, spring vegetables are the greenest around. The fresh, tender vegetables of spring are more fragile than those of other seasons and are particularly well worth seeking out from fresh, local sources.

Spring Foraged Foods

Foragers look forward to the warmer days of spring and the season's light showers to bring out the yummy delights that rise from the forest floor. Foraged items are increasingly available at farmers markets and specialty stores.

Quick Spring Dinners

Spring produce is so tender, most of it needs but the briefest of cooking time. And that's a good thing as the days grow longer and warmer and pull us outside and away from the kitchen.

Fresh Spring Salads

The fresh, tender produce of spring practically turns itself into salads

Easy Spring Desserts

Try these fresh, light desserts to end any spring meal.

Spring Side Dishes

Let the clean flavors of spring vegetables shine through with these easy side dishes.

Simple Spring Soups

Some hot, some cold, depending on the particular spring weather you're experiencing this week.

Spring Breakfasts

Light and full of sunny springtime flavor, these easy breakfast dishes use the sweet produce of spring for great, seasonal starts to your day.

Making Spring Last: Preserving

For advanced local eaters only: Preserving the seasons. Canning, jarring, freezing, drying are all part of serious local eating, since preserving takes the bounty of each season and saves it for a future time when that particular bounty has faded. If you've never preserved before, don't worry. It's a lot easier than you may have been led to believe.

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