After a cold, dark winter, there’s nothing more refreshing than the taste of fresh spring greens—from snap peas to petit pois, from baby lettuce to kale shoots—to launch you into the spirit of spring. Harvested from your garden or snagged at your local farmers’ market or grocery store, fresh local garden greens are the harbingers of the new season. This month, we’re bringing you a collection of delicious spring green recipes, with a focus on food that’s fresh out of the ground and full of health-giving nutrients. Nutritional research focusing on green vegetables has shown scads of healthy benefits, including supporting immune health and reducing risks of cancer. Not only have we selected fresh greens to boost good health, but you’ll also find plenty of colour variety in these immunity building, vegan-supporting, and vegetarian-focused dishes—all of them loaded with springtime freshness. Get into the spirit of the season!
Coconut Lemongrass Chicken Soup with Snap Peas
Asparagus Smoked Salmon Flatbread with Spring Greens
Warm Israeli Couscous and Spinach Salad with Grilled Prawns
Toasted Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Buttermilk Almond Dressing
Irene McGuinness is a passionate food writer, editor, and food stylist living on a small farm outside of Vancouver. When not writing, she is nurturing animals and tending to her extensive garden. Her work appears in a variety of Canadian, US, and Australian magazines.
This recipe article was originally published in the April 2020 issue of alive Canada, under the title "Spring for Greens."
Irene McGuinness is a writer, recipe developer, food stylist for numerous magazines and corporations, and alumna of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University
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