Each week I get a vegetable box.  It's a mixture of in-season, local fruit and vegetables.  It's one of the strategies I use to make it easier to eat well - basically if there are vegies in the house, I'm much more likely to cook a good meal at the end of the day.

 

As I mentioned last week, my latest vegie box included a small bag of broad beans. While these beans are a bit fiddly to prepare, they're absolutely delicious and most definitely worth the effort.  I'm going to add my broad beans to a risotto, something like this spring vegetable risotto.  However there are many other ways you can use them:

 

 

 

I love this time of year. Of all the seasons I think spring is my favourite and where I live there's a noticeable buzz of spring in the air. The days are warmer; I'm cautiously removing some of the many layers of clothing I wear during winter; and can feel everyone's mood changing around me. As well as the change in weather, it feels like the jasmine bushes in my suburb have blossomed overnight, and early evening walks are now scented by flowers.

 

This change in season is a joyful thing and fills me with excitement. Not only is the cold weather coming to a close, but spring also means different food - new fruits and vegies, plus a change in cooking style.

 

Nestled in my vegetable box this week was a small bag of broad beans - my first of the season. Earlier in the week I spotted the first locally grown asparagus of the season. Outrageously expensive, I didn't buy any, however these changes signal to me that spring is on the way.

 

As well as longer days and warmer weather, for me the excitement of spring is all about food. Spring means salads, eating the first peaches of the year, sugar snap peas, light and refreshing spring vegetable soups, as well as barbecues in the garden as the weather warms up.

 

I can't wait.

 

 

Photograph by CommunicaTI.