Spring Needs to HURRY UP

Apparently spring was supposed to start on March 21st. However, I currently see no signs of Spring. When I think spring, I think green stuff and yet I went by the Greenwich street Greenmarket today and there were only three stands, two of which were selling bread. Really all I want out of this season is an abundance of new vegetables and new stuff to cook. I’ve really only had one to two greenmarket springs since I started cooking seriously so having the opportunity to work with new local ingredients and try new spring dishes is very exciting for me. I’ve been craving asparagus, fava beans and fresh peas for the last two weeks.

Yesterday I finally gave in. I couldn’t wait any longer for spring to simply happen. I was tired of seeing the same old beets, potatoes and sunchokes (even though I love sunchokes) at the Greenmarket and decided to buy some typically ‘spring’ vegetables from my local Korean deli. Usually I wait for produce to be in season before I go and cook with it but this time I couldn’t wait, I needed my vegetables.

I decided to pan roast some salmon and serve it over crisp fiore pasta with peas, carrots, asparagus and a light fennel cream sauce. I was able to cook the salmon perfectly so that the skin was crispy and salty and the flesh was firm but moist at the same time. (Side note: it makes me so happy when I can take a good ingredient and add salt and pepper and have it taste amazing by itself which is why I’m including the picture of the salmon while cooking.)

My parents loved the dish and I thought it worked really well too. The vegetables were really the focus of the plate while the salmon and the cream added a little weight and fattiness to the dish and the pasta added a nice textural element as well as a starch. Now I need to make this dish when it is actually Spring. Here’s to hoping that the wild asparagus arrives soon.

Tomorrow: The Mexico recap