Easter

Spring is abundant with greens of all types, both wild and cultivated. You never know what might show up at your market in any given week. It just so happened that I was able to get pepper y watercress, wild stinging nettles, and sour sorrel at the same time. I love the idea of a watercress or nettles soup, but it always leaves me wanting acid, which inevitably turns the vibrant green soup to a drab olive. Naturally sour sorrel solves this by adding brightness without acid to balance the flavor. If you have trouble finding nettles, just use more watercress, or substitute arugula, mizuna, or dandelion.

I admit that I'm hard on sugar snap peas. I get disappointed when they suck, of course, but I also get grumpy when they're anything less than perfect—unblemished, super sweet, and not a bit starchy. That's the curse of keeping high standards, I suppose: you're so rarely satisfied. When at last I do find perfect snap peas, I make this salad. I leave them raw—only the finest snap peas can be this delightful without a dunk in boiling water—and accentuate their flavor with little more than a lemony dressing and mint. If you'd like, you could add some creamy goat cheese in blobs or good old burrata alongside.

Though good with any fresh vegetable, this sharp, creamy feta dip, smoothed with a little buttermilk, is exceptional with crisp spring radishes. Much as in the combination above, salt and fat mellow any heat from the raw radishes. Cheesemaker Mary Rigdon of Decimal Place Farm has been brining her goat's milk feta to order for us every week since Miller Union opened. If you have a local farmers' market that sells fresh cheeses, look there first for good-quality feta. I love the little pink, purple, or red garden variety radishes for this dip.

This elegant stew can be made up to the point that the farro goes in; cool, then cover and chill up to 2 days.

These mini tarts are double sealed for extra insurance.

End your meal with this creamy, coconut milk custard topped with a sweet-tart fruit compote and crunchy pistachios.

The pickled hard-boiled eggs are a great snack on their own—they're sold individually at Shed.

This recipe includes a little citrusy butter melted over the vegetables once they are out of the oven.

These vibrant, savory, and slightly spicy deviled eggs are perfect for parties, but easy enough to make as a snack, too.

Low-acid Meyer lemons make the citrus flavor of these bars especially vibrant.