Whether it comes in like a lamb or a lion, March is filled with culinary delights. Spring vegetables will start coming in to your local grocery stores. Think beets, asparagus, carrots and baby Vidalia onions. These are all delicious roasted with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Or, add chopped vegetables, broth and a few leaves of fresh basil to make a quick soup.
Another great way to showcase these harbingers of spring is to make shepherdess pie, an all-vegetable version of the popular St. Patrick’s Day comfort food shepherd’s pie.
Dice about 4 cups of vegetables—like carrots, celery, onion, garlic, parsnips and rutabagas—and add some dried thyme, rosemary and parsley. Sauté veggies with two tablespoons of olive oil until soft; add two tablespoons of tomato paste, a cup or two of vegetable broth, a tablespoon of flour, and some salt and pepper, and stir until just thickened. Add one cup of frozen peas, stir to combine, and put mixture into a casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes and bake for 15 minutes. It’s a perfect comfort food for all of us wishing spring would arrive a little sooner.
Amy Goetz is a FoodE Expert for Lunds & Byerlys Woodbury. She helps customers with recipe ideas, teaches cooking classes, and plans events. She writes about food and recipes.
