Spring Vegetables Green Vegetables Asparagus Snap Peas Fava Beans

Spring is coming! Spring is coming!

Time to leave the house again. Time to frolic across fields of budding ramps in sensible single-ply sweaters and to give a big middle finger to the vernal equinox for a late, unlamented winter.

OK, we're a little over-eager. But it's a fact that the season of abundance has finally, blessedly, nearly almost returned. And with the arrival of those first long days after the thaw, we'll be down at the greenmarket looking for our old friends, green vegetables.

Hello, asparagus. My, you are looking plump and green today. Fancy a hot bath followed by a nice rubdown with a bracing mix of vinegar, green garlic and ginger? Thinly sliced raw kumquats would nicely complete the scene (see the recipe).

Lookin' snappy, snap peas! You don't need any cooking at all. Just–chop, chop–a little slicing on an angle and you're ready to be tossed with some radishes in rice wine vinegar, Aleppo pepper, Meyer lemon and a touch of sesame oil (see the recipe).

Fava beans, you difficult bastards! For all the blanching and arduous shucking you require, well, you're worth it. Especially with some creamy, roughly torn burrata, plus nigella seeds and a nutty, herb-infused olive oil. Add some charred bread and it's a party (see the recipe). 

Welcome back, spring. We couldn't be happier you're here.