The window for inexpensive, in-season asparagus is now open. Try roasting or barbecuing asparagus for a yummy dinner side dish. Photo by Jennifer Baldwin

By Michelle Beck

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am getting weary of winter vegetables. I know next winter I will greet them with delight, but right now I am ready to move onto spring vegetables.

Sugar Snap Peas

Sugar snap peas grow very well here and can be eaten raw, straight off the vine. In fact, I think they taste best that way. They are crunchy, delicious and nutritious. This time of year, I love having a bowl of raw snap peas with my lunch. Both Amberhill and Tesch Farms usually sell sugar snap peas, so watch for them at the Farmers’ Market. I haven’t seen them yet this spring, so I think the late cold and rain may have delayed the harvest.

My own plants suffered a tragic setback this year when a gusty windstorm snapped the top two feet of my plant. They have not recovered, so I will definitely be stalking those with fresh peas, as I don’t think the ones available in the grocery store taste very good. They are just not fresh enough.

Apparently, some people actually make it into the house with their snap peas and take the time to cook them. If you can keep from eating all of your snap peas raw, you can try Sugar Snap Peas with Bacon or Sugar Snap Peas with Lemon Butter.

Asparagus

In the book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” author Barbara Kingsolver describes her efforts growing asparagus. It is one of the first spring vegetables, and is a big favorite of mine. The season is short, so I never quite get enough before they are gone. After reading the book, I really, really wanted to grow my own. I saw asparagus starts at Lowe’s this year, but was puzzled by their presence, because asparagus only grows up to zone 7 and we are in zone 8/9 here on the valley floor. If anyone has success growing asparagus here, please let me know!

In the past, Murray Farms has had delicious asparagus at the Farmers’ Market, and the grocery stores generally have some from the Salinas/Castroville area. It is usually readily available by now, but I think our cold, wet spring may have delayed the harvest of asparagus as well, because I have only seen asparagus from Mexico in the stores. With the warm weather we’ve been having, hopefully we’ll start seeing California asparagus this week! Shall we all do a challenge to see who spots California asparagus first? It should be any day now.

Asparagus is delicious steamed, barbecued or roasted. In my opinion, boiling makes it flabby and bland, and it doesn’t have a great flavor raw.

To roast asparagus, heat the oven to 450 degrees, line a baking sheet with foil, toss the asparagus with olive oil, sprinkle it with garlic powder, salt and pepper and bake it for 13 to 15 minutes. If you are barbecuing, just prep the asparagus the same way you do for roasting and toss it on the barbecue. It is delicious straight off the tray, but some people prefer to put it on a plate and eat it with actual silverware. It is also delicious topped with cheese sauce, hollandaise sauce or mayo.

Asparagus soup is delicious, and this sauteed balsamic asparagus is a tangy side dish. This asparagus salad would make a great side dish at a brunch.

Artichokes

Artichokes are another favorite spring vegetable. They are a Mediterranean plant related to the thistle, and will grow here, although they don’t produce until at least the second year. Most artichokes in the store come from the Salinas/Castroville area where the weather is milder. They are very easy to prepare and fun to eat.

When I talk about artichokes to people who have never eaten them, I always think of Stymie from Our Gang saying, “They might choke Artie, but they can’t choke Stymie!” When I was a kid, my mom always boiled our artichokes, but I prefer to steam them. They seem to cook faster and taste better to me.

To prepare them, just trim off the stem and cut off the tip, so the top of the artichoke is flat. Pull open the leaves and place top down in a steamer basket. Put the basket into a pot of boiling water, then cover. Cook for about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your artichokes. They are ready when a leaf pulls off easily.

To eat, pull off the leaves, dip the fleshy end in the sauce of your choice, then use your teeth to pull the flesh off the leaf. To get to the choke, which is delicious, use a spoon to scrape off the thistly part covering it. We always made a sauce of mayonnaise, lemon juice and dill. My childhood neighbors, who are French, used oil and vinegar dressing. Other choices include hollandaise, aioli (garlic mayonnaise) or melted butter. Another option is stuffed artichokes. I confess that I have never made these, but I have heard people rave about them. Here is a recipe for stuffed artichokes.

Authentic Foods GF flour blends

I buy my brown rice flour at Authentic Foods because their rice flour is finely ground and not gritty. Usually, I also buy potato and tapioca starches at the Asia Market and blend them with the brown rice flour to make my favorite flour mix from the Gluten-Free Baking Classics book. When I went to the site the other day to order more rice flour, I was very happy to see that Authentic Foods now sells the GF Baking Classics blend pre-mixed! It is called the Classical Blend, and the price seems comparable to buying the ingredients separately.

They also have some mixes that look intriguing. I bought the pie crust mix, and they were nice enough to include a bag of their chocolate chip cookie mix in the delivery box.

I also picked up a bag of their Multi-Flour Blend. According to the label it can be substituted cup for cup for wheat flour. On the back of the package is a recipe for biscuits, which I am excited to try. Buttermilk biscuits are a favorite of mine and I have yet to make gravy-worthy gluten-free ones.

Authentic Foods has an active fan page on Facebook with recipe ideas and baking tips. It also looks like they are active on Twitter.

Gluten-free doughnuts, waffles and breadcrumbs

Kinnikinnick has reformulated their gluten-free doughnuts, so I picked some up at Lassen’s to try. Oh, the sacrifices I make for this column! They are cake doughnuts, not raised. Keeping in mind that I use Smith’s Bakery for all comparisons, they are good! They are much lighter than they used to be, with a nice texture. I tried the maple and the crumb, then promptly hid them in the outside freezer for doughnut emergencies, because it would be far too tempting to have them in sight. I did not try the chocolate-dipped, even though they look good. If someone wants to try the vanilla, please do, then report back, because with maple, crumb and chocolate as options, I will not be trying the vanilla. I have to exercise some discipline! Lassen’s keeps the doughnuts in the freezer section, and they should be kept frozen. They re-heat nicely in the microwave, as most GF baked goods do.

Nature’s Path’s Mesa Sunrise frozen waffles are also a good gluten-free treat. They are crisp and include a variety of grains. They have some buckwheat in them, for those who hate buckwheat, but the buckwheat flavor is mild.

When I was visiting the Kinnikinnick website, I was very happy to see that they now offer Panko-style, gluten-free bread crumbs. Panko crumbs are light, crisp Asian breadcrumbs, and I am very interested to try Kinnikinnick’s version.

Citrus tasting and planting

Spring is the perfect time for planting citrus trees. I ran into the Four Winds citrus guy at Lowe’s the other weekend where he was a conducting a small tasting. It was nice to taste the Cara Cara oranges and the Moro blood oranges, but he didn’t have nearly the selection he’ll have later this month when he does a tasting at White Forest Nursery.

If you are thinking of adding a few citrus trees to your landscaping, drop by White Forest Nursery on March 27. White Forest Nursery has a Facebook page here. Bolles Nursery had a citrus tasting last Saturday, which I would have known about, had I become a Facebook fan sooner. To stay up on the latest news from Bolles, become a Facebook fan here.