Asparagus is a harbinger of spring; and like most vegetables, it’s very versatile.

 
We’ve got lots of asparagus recipes for you below, for every meal of the day.

A tip from asparagus growers: squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice on top, or use lemon zest.
 
 
> How to buy and cook asparagus.
 
 
> The history of asparagus.
 
 
GREEN, PURPLE & WHITE ASPARAGUS

Green asparagus is the norm. But you may come across purple asparagus, and the more rare white asparagus.

White asparagus (photo #2) is a special treatment of conventional asparagus, grown for its color. They’re less herbaceous and fibrous than green asparagus—more delicate.

The spears must be grown under a layer of topsoil or in the dark without exposure to sunlight.

Light would engender photosynthesis and the development of green chlorophyll. The growing technique was developed in France in the mid-1600s.

If you come across fresh white asparagus and want to see if the extra cost is worth it, steam them with a bit of salt and taste their nuances before adding butter or another ingredient.

You may or may not find a difference worth the money.

Never buy bland, canned white asparagus.

Here’s more about white asparagus as well as purple asparagus, a breed that is larger, sweeter and tastier than the conventional green types of asparagus.

Purple asparagus (photo #2) was originally developed in Italy by farmers in the Albenga region of the Italian Riviera.

It was first commercialized under the variety name Violetto d’Albenga.

Purple asparagus retains its color if cooked briefly (blanching, quick sautéing), or used raw (crudités, salads) or pickled.

But it reverts to green with prolonged cooking.
 

30 ASPARAGUS RECIPES

Enjoy asparagus every meal of the day!
 
Breakfast & Brunch

 
 
Lunch

 
 
Dinner

 
 
First Courses & Sides

 
 
Snacks

[1] Spring is asparagus season. Dig in: they’re delicious, nutritious, and very low in calories (photo © Good Eggs).

[2] There are three colors of asparagus: green, white and purple (photo © Australian Asparagus Growers).

[3] Asparagus for lunch, with burrata, prosciutto and crostini (photo © Barbuto | NYC).

[4] Asparagus on your pizza, here with spring peas and grana padano cheese (photo © Oath Pizza).

[5] For brunch or lunch, an asparagus and bacon frittata (photo © Fresh Planet Flavor).

[6] Linguine With Asparagus & Parma Ham (photo © C.C.I.A.A. Di Parma).

[1] La Pivón red vermouth and the Valencia Reverse Old Fashioned. Here’s the recipe (all photos © La Pivón).

[2] La Pivón red vermouth on the rocks. You can drink it in a rocks glass, but doesn’t it look great in a stemmed glass?

[3] After work, have a glass with some nibbles. Here, cheese and sausage skewers, olives, salted nuts and charred shishito peppers.

[4] The Merit Badge cocktail mixes vermouth with rum and bitters (all the cocktail recipes are on this page).

March 21st is National Vermouth Day.

In the U.S., that largely means dry [white] vermouth, in a Martini.

But don’t mix that Martini just yet. Or a Manhattan, the other prominent American cocktail that has red vermouth in the recipe.

There are a number of different vermouth styles: sweet and dry, red and white, amaro (with added bitters), chinato with added chinchona (quinine) and often gentian (a root), alla vaniglia with vanilla, and others.

Vermouth houses typically make a variety of styles.

Today for brunch*, we had a sweet red vermouth from Spanish producer La Pivón, along with a delicious (and easy to prepare) tapas brunch.

In fact, red vermouth is very popular among the fashionable people of Madrid.

It’s enjoyed during “La Hora de Vermut,” (“vermouth hour”—read more about it here).

That’s before lunch with tapas.

Madrileños (residents of Madrid) typically consume it over ice with a splash of sparkling water and an orange slice garnish.
 
 
WHAT IS VERMOUTH

Vermouth is a fortified wine that is flavored and aromatized with a proprietary blend of botanicals.

The botanicals are a mix of barks, flowers, herbs, roots, seeds, and spices. The specific botanicals and the amounts used are proprietary to each producer.

Red vermouth is made from red wine; white vermouth has a base of white wine.

The botanicals are macerated in the wine for aroma and flavor; then, the wine is often fortified with distilled alcohol (La Pivón has no distilled alcohol).

Check out the history of vermouth.
 
 
LA PIVÓN TRADITIONAL DE ESPAÑA

La Pivón is a vermouth crafted in Madrid in the traditional Spanish style. In Spanish, the “h” is dropped: It’s vermout.

Also in Spanish, La Pivón is slang for a very attractive person. When you give a bottle as a gift, make this fact known.

La Pivón is the only vermouth producer in Madrid. It makes a sweet rojo (red) and a dry blanco (white).

Because it has no added distilled alcohol, it’s a refreshing drink with a low A.B.V. (alcohol by volume; double it for the proof).

The only alcohol is from the wine.
 
 
MAKING LA PIVÓN VERMOUTH

 
Versatile, La Pivón can be enjoyed on the rocks (that’s how we like it—photo #2) or any number of cocktail recipes.

Wonderfully aromatic, the herbal flavors are joined by spicy notes: cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. You may also find vanilla on the finish, from the French oak barrels.

If refrigerated properly, the vermouth should keep anywhere from four to six weeks after opening.
 
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*TRIVIA: In English, “brunch” is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. In Spain, however, there’s no portmanteau. What we’d call brunch, they call el desayuno almuerzo, breakfast-lunch.

Here’s a fun Easter gift for a tea lover:

Jello Bello tea blend from Fava Teas.

It’s an herbal tea blended with actual jelly beans.

(We’re not sure that “Jello” is so helpful in explaining the tea. It contains no Jell-O).

The fruity, caffeine-free tea is blended with apple, blackberry leaves, coconut, hibiscus, rose hip, orange peel, strawberry…

…and jelly beans.

The tea has a juicy flavor, balanced with the floral flavor of hibiscus and strawberry.

And sweetness of the jelly beans!

The fun, kid-friendly, refreshing tea can be enjoyed hot or iced.
 
 
GET YOURS

The tea is a limited edition seasonal offering, so don’t tarry.

Head to FavaTea.com.

Or…you can try blending your own!

If you have fruity teas (apple, berry, etc.), try your hand at blending in some jelly beans, dried fruit (apples, coconut, orange peel), etc. for your own signature Easter tea.
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEA
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA

[1] Jello Bello Easter tea with jelly beans (photo © Fava Tea).

[2] Try blending your own. Add some jelly beans to your favorite fruity tea (photo © Williams Sonoma).

[1] Smoked salmon with spring greens salad (photo © Good Eggs).

[2] A spring salad mix, washed and ready to eat (photo © Earthbound Farm).

[3] A beautiful side of smoked salmon (photo © Caviar House – Prunier).

[4] Meyer lemons (photo © Good Eggs).

[5] Tricolor baby potatoes (photo © Recipes Worth Repeating).

It’s the first day of spring, so here’s a spring salad dish: smoked salmon with spring greens and a sprightly Meyer lemon vinaigrette (Meyer lemons are an early spring fruit).

The vernal equinox (spring equinox) occurs roughly around March 20th each year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun crosses the equator, moving north.

It marks the beginning of spring: longer days and shorter nights.

You can celebrate with a spring cocktail, and lighter spring dishes like the salad recipe below.

The smoked salmon salad recipe follows below.
 
 
WHAT ARE SPRING GREENS?

While global transport and greenhouses put these greens in our markets year-round, these are the seasonal greens that people looked forward to each spring.

You can buy a bag of Spring Mix in the salad department; a combination of baby lettuces and often arugula, baby spinach and baby chard.

If you want to put together your own spring mix, start with baby lettuces or butter lettuces, and add on. Here’s a spring “menu”:

 
You can also add non-greens, such as sugar snap peas and baby radishes.
 
 
RECIPE #1: SPRING SALAD WITH SMOKED SALMON

Preparwation time is 15 minutes.

Ingredients For 3 Servings

 
Preparation

1. WASH the salad ingredients, as needed.

2. STEAM the potatoes (do not peel). When tender, remove and set aside to cool; then slice in half.

3. MAKE the vinaigrette. The recipe is below. The Meyer lemon substitutes for vinegar. Meyer lemons are less acidic (sweeter) than convention store lemons—the Eureka and the Lisbon (check out the different types of lemons).

4. PLATE 4-6 slices of salmon, fanned, on one side of the plate. Sprinkle with chives and capers.

5. DRESS the greens just before serving and toss with the salad greens.
 
 
RECIPE #2: MEYER LEMON VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. WHISK the vinaigrette ingredients together. Grate the optional zest into the dressing (note: grate the zest before juicing the lemon).

2. OPTIONALLY, use the “shaking” technique: Add the ingredients to a jar with a lid and shake until blended.

Here are uses for leftover vinaigrette.

*Baby potatoes are harvested before they are fully grown, to keep them small and tender. They thus have a sweeter flavor. Creamer potatoes are particular varieties that are also harvested before they mature. They are generally either Yukon Gold potatoes or red potatoes, called gold creamers or red creamers.
 
 

We recently received a few jars of pie filling from Brownwood Farms:

We opened one and spooned out a bit (and then another bit, and another, and another…).

We planned to bake a pie this weekend, and then we thought:

What else can you do with a jar of pie filling besides a pie, cobblers, crisps, strudel and tartlets?

We came up with this list, where we can put the pie filling to use.

For the purpose of simplicity, we’re featuring only cherry pie filling; but you can substitute any flavor (except Black Forest Cake, which requires cherries).
 
30 NON-PIE USES FOR PIE FILLING

 
Think of creative uses. Out of jam? Spread it on your PB&J.

Making a cake for July 4th? Use it to create a red star on top of the icing.

Have more ideas? Let us know!
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHERRIES
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SWEETENERS
 
 
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(1) Blend with water and freeze in ice cube trays.

(2) Use instead of the sweetener in the sangria recipe.

(3) Soften vanilla or other flavor ice cream. Swirl in the pie topping and return to the freezer.

(4) Scoop a hole in the top of an un-iced cupcake. Add cherry pie filling, return the cake from the scoop, tamp down and ice the cupcake.

(5) When Jell-O is half-firm, swirl in the pie filling.

(6) Stir a spoonful into a glass of lemonade, iced tea or hot tea (no milk added), instead of other sweetener. In Russsia, tea has been sweetened this way for centuries.

(7) Deglaze the pan, adding some pie filling to the pan sauce.

[1] Pudding with cherry pie filling topping and graham cracker crumb base (photo © Taste Of Home).

[2] Yogurt parfait with pie filling, also great for an ice cream parfait (photo © Brownwood Farms).

[3] Cherry grilled cheese sandwich. Use a sweet cheese: cream cheese, brie, mascarpone, even a mild blue cheese (photo © Taste Of Home).

[4] Michigan Cherry, one of three premium pie fillings from Brownwood Farms (photo © Brownwood Farms).

[5] Cherry orangeade or orange soda. Just mix in a spoonful of pie filling (photo © Rodion Kutsaev | Unsplash).