Oliver Radcliffe
Why Spring Greens Are Worth the Wait
There is a short window each year, roughly from late March to the end of May, when British greens are at their absolute best. Kale grown through the winter turns sweet after a frost, spinach arrives as thin, tender leaves rather than the thick, chewy sort that turns up in supermarkets in November, and wild garlic carpets damp woodland with a scent you can smell from ten paces away.
If you grow your own, this is the month you feel quietly smug. If you don't, a local veg box, a farmers' market or a good greengrocer will do the work for you. Either way, the cooking should be quick and light — these are not the greens to simmer for an hour with a ham hock. A few minutes in a hot pan is usually all they need.
What to Look for and How to Keep It
- Kale: Choose small, perky leaves with no yellowing. Curly kale and cavolo nero both work well, though cavolo nero is sweeter and holds its shape better in the pan.
- Spinach: Baby leaf for salads, larger leaves for wilting. Avoid anything slimy or bruised at the base of the bag.
- Wild garlic: Broad, oval leaves, soft and glossy. If you are foraging, pick one leaf, tear it and smell it — if it doesn't smell of garlic, leave it alone. It is easily confused with lily of the valley, which is not edible.
- Herbs: Flat-leaf parsley, chives, mint, chervil and lovage all come into their own now.
Store washed greens in a clean tea towel inside the salad drawer; damp leaves in a sealed bag go to mush within a couple of days. Wild garlic is best used within 24 hours of picking, though it freezes beautifully as pesto.
Wild Garlic: The Star of the Season
Wild garlic — also called ramsons — is one of the easiest things to forage, provided you follow a few rules. Pick from woodland away from roads and nature reserves, take only a few leaves from each plant, and never pull the bulb. The white flowers are edible too and make a pretty addition to a spring salad.
The simplest way to use it is to blitz a handful into a pesto: roughly 60g of leaves, 40g of toasted hazelnuts or walnuts, 50g of grated hard cheese, a squeeze of lemon and enough rapeseed oil to bring it together. Loosen with a spoonful of pasta water, toss through tagliatelle, and you have supper in ten minutes.
For something even quicker, chop a big handful of leaves into soft butter with a little lemon zest, roll it into a log and chill. A slice melts beautifully over new potatoes, grilled fish or a baked jacket potato.
Three Simple Recipes for the Rest of the Greens
- Wilted kale with lemon and nutmeg. Heat a knob of butter with a splash of olive oil, add shredded kale and a tablespoon of water, cover and cook for three minutes. Uncover, add grated lemon zest, a grind of nutmeg, salt and pepper, and toss until glossy.
- Spinach and chive frittata. Soften a sliced leek in butter, add a large bag of spinach until just collapsed, then pour over six beaten eggs with chopped chives and a little grated cheese. Cook gently until set at the edges, finish under the grill, and serve warm or cold in wedges.
- Spring greens soup. Sweat an onion and two diced potatoes in butter, add a litre of vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in a bag of shredded greens and a handful of parsley, cook for three more minutes, then blend. A swirl of cream and a pinch of nutmeg lifts it nicely.
Herbs That Earn Their Place
You don't need a garden to grow herbs. A south-facing windowsill will happily support chives, mint, parsley and basil. Chives are the most useful of the lot — snip them over eggs, potatoes, soups and salads, and cut the flowers off to keep the leaves coming.
Mint is best kept in its own pot, or it will take over everything within reach. Lovage is worth trying if you have a corner of ground going spare; its celery-like flavour is superb in soups and with roast chicken. Chervil, delicate and faintly aniseedy, is the classic partner for spring vegetables and is criminally underused in British kitchens.
Making a Day of It
Spring is the best time to combine cooking with a day out. Many farmers' markets run a grower's stall in April and May, where you can often bag a bunch of just-cut herbs for less than the price of a supermarket packet. Pick-your-own farms open their gates for the first crops, and a country park with a bluebell wood makes a fine morning out before you head home to cook.
If you have children, give them a job. Picking wild garlic leaves under supervision, shelling peas or tearing herbs into a bowl all keep small hands busy and make dinner feel like their achievement. Take a bag for your haul, a pair of scissors and a flask — spring weather is rarely as warm as it looks through the window.
