Spring marks the beginning of easier eating. We trade tough, knobby vegetables for tender, quick-cooking ones. The best spring ingredients taste green and fresh. Once asparagus is in season, I eat it nearly every night. I’m a fan of the minimal prep and the one-minute cook time, not to mention the lovely flavor of the tender stalks.
Spring is also a time of newness. Creamy baby potatoes and radishes, bracing onions, and supple greens are trickling into markets as the weather warms.
Together, these of-the-moment ingredients make for a lovely meal. Especially, if you can pull off cooking it all in a single, bubbly pot. This hotpot approach to cooking spring ingredients works quite well, and the possibilities for variation are nearly endless - fish or shellfish, chicken, carrots, turnips, radishes, cabbage, leafy greens, and spring alliums can all be swapped in.
Start with a big pot half full with flavorful broth. Longtime readers will know I am extremely partial to Better Than Bouillon as an alternative to store-bought broth. Add the onion whites, a sliced lemon, and whatever herbs you have on hand. Salt the broth generously.
Next, cook each ingredient in succession. The potatoes will take the longest – you’ll have time to prep and chop other things while they cook. The asparagus goes in for a minute or maybe two. Cook the fish filets just until they are cooked through and flaky, 4 - 5 minutes. Finish it all with sliced onion greens and herbs, a few knobs of butter or drizzles of olive oil, and lots of pepper.
Poached Cod with Spring Vegetables
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