Spring Vegetable Stew

Or ragout, if you want to be fancy.  This is a light treatment where you saute chopped spring veg (I used the white of a leek, a bunch of asparagus, trimmed and each spear cut into three, some radishes, sliced, a courgette, diced and some shredded lettuce leaves) in a knob of butter until wilted and starting to soften.  However, you don't want the veg to colour.  Pour over about 200ml of veg stock (Marigold is fine) and allow to cook for a few more minutes until the stock has reduced a little.  Then stir in a tablespoon of half-fat creme fraiche, plenty of black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped parsley (or chives, or tarragon, depending on what you have).  Spoon onto two plates and top each with a piece of poached salmon or grilled chicken, or a lovely piece of poached smoked haddock was what I opted for tonight.  Or a poached egg would be good, if you wanted a veggie option.  Served with some new potatoes, this was a lovely spring supper.

Thai-style Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

Do you ever have something to eat where you think "I could go on eating this until I burst?".  Well, these wonderful meatballs were just like that.  I found them on the BBC Good Food site so the simplest thing is to link to their recipe.  We served them with a bowl of coconut rice noodles with asparagus and courgette.  We will most definitely make this again.  It was such a pleasant way to wind down at the end of the day - select a lettuce leaf, add a meatball, stuff with some coriander leaves, sprinkle with lime juice, roll up, dunk in sweet chilli sauce, repeat.  Excellent.  This would be an easy, relaxed way to feed friends - bung it all on a platter and let people help themselves.  Just make plenty!

Braised Peas and Lettuce in the French Style

Okay, so this may not be the best-looking dish in the world, but it sure tastes good. If you have really fresh peas, great, but otherwise froze petit pois will do just fine. I had some 'wet' garlic, so started th braise with a head of this, finely chopped, and a white onion, finely diced. Sweat these gently in a spoonful of olive oil, along with some bacon or prosciutto if you have it/want it. Add a bag of peas, and just a little stock, enough to get the dish cooking well, but not enough to swamp the peas - Marigold is fine. Then, take some little gem lettuce, halve or quarter them, and add to the pot. Spoon in a spoonful of cream or creme fraiche. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes untill all is soft. The peas will lose their vibrant green colour, but will taste mellow and sweet. Adjust seasoning, add fresh parsley and/or mint, and enjoy!