Healthy cuisine in spring
Springtime
Spring is here. Nowadays, it is sometimes hard to distinguish between seasons. Nevertheless, I wouldn't want to miss them. The fast and extremely changing weather, admittedly, often gets to me. But I love watching nature in Spring - the blossoms on the fruit trees, the tulips and daffodils, and the transformation of what seems to be dead into life again.
In agriculture, Spring is a time of preparation. The fields are tilled and planting and sowing is done. Spring is also a busy time for my neighbours in the garden. They fiddle around and make plans so that they can harvest in Summer and Autumn.
It is also a time when we "wake up", feel lighter, and want to look out into the world again. Simply put. Not always so easy when you have chronic illnesses that limit you either mobility or physically, or both. I'm usually sick a lot in the spring. Thanks to wearing masks - not this year. Following the motto, "You are what you eat", it can help nourish our bodies with very fresh, new, tender foods so that we too can outgrow our winter shackles a little.
Wild garlic soup
delicately fragrant, light
Green asparagus with strawberries
Also works with white...
Roasted radishes
the little red bulb can do more than just salads
Grocery shopping in the past
I recently told my stepfather that I am currently trying to significantly reduce plastic consumption in our household by buying products that are largely unpackaged.
For example, by picking up milk directly from the farm and other products such as eggs and potatoes. I visit the weekly market quite often now. I love seeing fresh vegetables and fruit neatly stacked in rows and dropping them into my basket after paying for them. I also plan to go to an unpacking shop armed with a row of containers soon.
My stepfather said: "It was normal for us to get milk in a can, talk to the local grocer and get advice on the products we bought. We didn't have ready meals and if our produce was packed in anything, it was in paper. The less packaging is a nice side effect of buying fresh as much as possible and cooking for yourself. If shopping is not an option, there are great fruit and vegetable delivery services.
"In every good cook's childhood memory there is...a big kitchen, a running cooker, a cake in the oven and a mummy."
Barbara Costikyan
In my childhood memories there is no tofu, it came later. Many people shy away from this food. Here in this video by Sebastian Copien you can see how easy it is to prepare tofu. Complemented with fresh spring vegetables - the body rejoices!
We need your consent to download the content from YouTube."Cooking is a bit like cinema. What counts is the feeling.
Anne-Sophie Pic
Well we could learn best from our grandparents how to prepare seasonal and regional food on a small budget and then maybe update the recipes a bit. Although, when I browse through some old cookbooks, I think this is where today's cooks often find inspiration.
The words that come to my mind in Spring are renewal and tender. Spring is a time of new beginnings. Vegetables and salads are not of the kind that got us through the winter. Now we don't crave thick soups and stews, but something lighter. But we don't have the bounty of summer yet. We are no longer drawn to apples that have been stored all winter, but we lust after something fresh. Freshly sprouting wild herbs like wild garlic are great for salads. It's also time for rhubarb and strawberries, which we can wonderfully incorporate into savoury dishes as well. The crowning glory of this season, however, is asparagus. In Germany there are two types, green and white asparagus. The latter has to be completely peeled, but tastes delicious. Lambs are born and chickens, if kept species-appropriate, start laying more eggs again. There is variety and nothing has to be complicated. On the contrary.
Sources:
C. (2018, November 1). The best sayings you should know as a chef-to-be! www.superprof.de. https://www.superprof.de/blog/redensarten-thema-essen-gastronomie/
Pictures:
Strawberries
Photo by Lucinda Hershberger on Unsplash
