Spring is here to nudge you back outside and straight to the farmers market. There are bundles of taut chives still topped with blossoms, sweet and tender spears of asparagus, and creamy new potatoes all waiting to be snapped up. Here, we’ve gathered 10 new recipes that celebrate this transitional, transformational season overflowing with newly sprouted veggies.
To gently ease into the longer, brighter days ahead, try our dill-flecked, lighter-and-brighter take on chicken and biscuits. Embrace the joy of eating outside again with a porchside dinner featuring salmon coated with a glossy Dijon mustard and maple syrup glaze. There’s an embarrassment of produce-packed riches.
Photographs by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. & Travis Rainey, Prop Styling by Emma Ringness, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
To usher in the earliest days of spring, dig into a dish of this zippy mac and cheese spin-off. Leeks are sturdy enough to survive winter frosts, sprouting with a gradation of green colors and a mellow flavor all their own. Here, they’re slant-sliced into planks and baked with oversized noodles, all draped in a sharp cheddar sauce with a mustardy kick. Conchiglioni, a larger shell pasta, manages to nail the best of both texture worlds, staying tender when submerged and catching color and crispiness at the surface. Often stuffed with meat or cheese, they can hold plenty of sauce and even a hefty leek. Make sure to separate any stuck-together noodles before baking—they love to snuggle like nesting dolls. —Rebecca Firkser
Photographs by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. & Travis Rainey, Prop Styling by Emma Ringness, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
