Food

Sure, it breaks from tradition, but sunflower greens infuse guacamole with fresh, nutty flavour. Beyond using as a dip for tortilla chips or sliced vegetables, try using this guac as a spread for toasted bread and top with roasted chicken, fried eggs, black beans, or smoked salmon. Tip: When the first true sunflower leaves appear, make sure to harvest the shoots within a couple of days. If left too long they will become fuzzy and bitter tasting.

Green power

Think of these pea-infused savoury pancakes as a blank canvas ready to welcome all sorts of toppings such as smoked fish, a slick of hummus, or even just melted butter. And don’t forget to sprinkle on some additional pea shoots. Made by grinding up dried chickpeas into a fine powder, garbanzo bean flour contains higher amounts of protein and dietary fibre than typical types of flour such as whole wheat. You can also use it in pizza crusts, flatbreads, crackers, crepes, and muffins.

Not just for sandwiches, microgreens can also instantly punch up the flavour of tacos. For a horseradish-like kick, opt for mustard greens, or for a splash of cheery colour, scatter on mini-sized red daikon radish. This hand-held meal serves up a festival of great textures and comes together so quickly it’s a definite candidate for the most harried of weeknights. For more authentic taco flavour, seek out Mexican-style tortillas made with no more than masa (corn flour), lime, and salt.

When people think of salad, they generally envision leafy greens. Well, not all salads are leafy—and definitely not remoulade. But it lends itself to being served on a bed of leafy greens. Or salmon. Or grilled chicken. Or even crisp little toasts. Take your pick. Tip: For a lovely twist, fold in some julienned strips of smoked salmon.

Kale pesto is heartier than the more familiar basil pesto. It’s delicious tossed with our Potato Gnocchi recipe, but it’s also appealing in many other dishes. Try tossing it with roasted diced butternut squash or spreading it on chicken breasts before roasting. The possibilities are endless wherever pesto is used. Can be refrigerated in tightly covered container for a couple of days or frozen for up to a month. Double up the recipe and freeze in batches so you’ll have a small container ready in an instant for any dish.

New baby potatoes, also known as creamers, are so satisfying. They’re easy to prepare because you don’t have to peel them. Simply said, they roast or cook in an instant. These little babes are sweeter than big potatoes because their sugar content hasn’t converted to starch. Just rinse and scrub off any marks. Toss them with handfuls of fresh greens such as garden-fresh arugula and you have a delicious meal in practically minutes. Tip: Depending on what gardens are growing, pick from baby yellow, red, blue, purple, or fingerling potatoes. Or mix them up to create your own colourful and flavourful dish. Tip: Switch it up and substitute baby spinach leaves for arugula. Delicious served as a side dish with salmon fillet.

This is a delicious hearty meal in a bowl for lunch or dinner. We stirred kale into this recipe, but any chopped greens will do.

Borlotti beans

Mizuna is an easy-to-grow Asian green, often found in store-bought baby lettuce mixes. Grown fresh, it lends a slight peppery flavour to salads. Delicious tossed into rice dishes, pastas, soups, or in a simple salad. Tip: For a warm salad, sauté onion. Whisk lemon juice and oil into sautéed onions and heat through. Drizzle over crisp greens and toss with remaining ingredients. Delicious!

This delicious, lemony spring soup is light and creamy without adding dairy. For a meal-in-a-bowl, it lends itself beautifully to some cooked, diced chicken or cooked shrimp. Stir in and warm thoroughly before serving. Wine Pairing: Covert Farms 2014 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillion, Oliver, BC Tip: Looking for an even creamier soup? Purée quinoa and broth with handheld blender before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

We’ve broken from tradition with this light and healthy version of paella, adding fresh peas, asparagus, and herbs—the harbingers of spring. Fresh and clean, but still with a hint of smoky flavour. Wine Pairing: Castellblanc Cava Organic Brut Nature, Catalonia, Spain Tip: Bomba rice is a short-grain Spanish white rice. It absorbs far more liquid than long-grain rice but doesn’t become sticky. Alternatively, you can use Arborio or short-grain brown basmati rice for a creamier texture. Tip: Many canned products contain BPA (bisphenol A), which is linked to a variety of health risks, including increased risk for breast and prostate cancers, reproductive dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, and many other ailments. Reduce your exposure and look for organic cans labelled “BPA free.”

So lush in health-hiking nutrients and fresh flavours, this vividly green dish is perfect for moving away from heavier winter fare into lighter dishes that are a harbinger of warmer, greener days ahead. Left to darken in a frying pan, shallots transform from pungent to deliciously sweet, making them an inspiring salad topping.

Buddha bowls are insanely good. And good for you, too! Try this combination, or switch it up with any number of flavourful garden greens such as bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, and more. With a generous sprinkling of gomashio overtop before serving, it’s a powerhouse of nutrition in a bowl.

This detoxifying tempura will be sure to jazz up any dinner party! Garlic scapes arrive in late spring and are similar to asparagus in texture but pack a distinct garlic taste that’s slightly milder than the bulbs. They’re great pickled, on the grill, or turned into a wonderful pesto.

Tip

This salad is a great spring dish using fresh local and seasonal bounty. This dish not only looks amazing, but is also packed with flavour and nutrition. Swiss chard is an excellent source of vitamins K, A, and C, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, and dietary fibre.

Tip

Pesto is delicious and often paired with pasta. But there are many other tasty ideas. Drizzle pesto over oven-roasted vegetables, swirl in a soup, or spread over bread and layer with sandwich toppings. We’ve compiled this insanely delicious pesto and drizzled it over a salad, then topped it with a poached egg, halloumi, or tempeh. The secret to this great pesto is in the nutrient-rich kale stems.

Tip

This may seem totally self-indulgent and just a reason to eat chocolate at breakfast, but to be honest, it’s the perfect time of the day for chocolate—or rather, its source, raw cacao. The caffeine in cacao gives you a natural high, and having caffeine at this time of day won’t disrupt your sleep patterns. It helps to boost your energy for the day ahead, so jump right into this porridge knowing your chocolate cravings will be satisfied and your circadian rhythm healthily maintained.

You’ll be amazed at how much this nut “cheese” tastes just like a soft cheddar. Although it may seem like a bit of work to make the cheese, I have really come to appreciate the art of making nut cheeses, and I recommend giving it a go. Serve this dish for a dinner party starter or as a simple weekday lunch. This soup is suitable for simplicity or celebration.

This is a tonic to your body and an awakening signal to your third-eye chakra. Enjoy this elixir before your breakfast.

It is truly amazing what you can do with a couple of cans of beans. Their versatility was unveiled to me when I visited a friend who had just returned from a trip to Sardinia; she told me about a meal she had enjoyed in a simple taverna on the beach one summer’s evening. She wanted to recreate it in her kitchen back in London with me, so we did—and I have to thank her for this magic recipe. Flageolet beans are a member of the haricot bean family; they are picked before the beans are ripe and retain their green color, and they are even more flavorful than a regular cannellini or haricot bean. You can buy them pre-cooked in cans in most grocery stores, or you can substitute with butter beans or any other white bean you like.

This salad is a great way to welcome spring. Cha soba are buckwheat noodles that have matcha green tea added to them. They can be easily sourced next to the regular soba noodles in the Asian section of some grocery stores. To make this into a more substantial meal, serve topped with some slices of tempeh or tofu.

Crunch time

These pretty, gluten-free muffins are a great on-the-go breakfast or midday snack. The spottier and browner the bananas, the better for this recipe. That’s because very ripe bananas have a stronger banana flavor, making for a tastier muffin.

Chip in

This show-stopping, make-ahead, no-bake cake is a grown-up version of a childhood favorite: ice cream cake. Sweet, creamy and refreshing, this is one recipe you’ll find yourself repeating through the year.

Piece of cake!

As women enter their fifties, there’s an increased need for vitamin D as well as omega-3s and potassium. With vitamin-rich salmon that’s also packed with healthy omega-3 fats and a colourful salad that offers a healthy serving of vitamins and minerals, including potassium, this meal is a powerhouse of nutrition—and flavour. TIP: Shichimi togarashi is a Japanese blend of seven spices that often includes red chili flakes, dried orange peel, white and black sesame seeds, nori (seaweed) flakes, poppy seeds, and ginger. Ingredients may vary in some brands.

Many women are leaning into motherhood in their thirties, when increased levels of folate are needed. In this recipe, dark leafy vegetables coupled with asparagus and artichokes add an über-healthy hit of folate. Not only is this bouquet lovely to look at, but it also offers a combination of flavours that virtually pop in your palate. DID YOU KNOW? Folate is a B vitamin naturally present in many foods and is essential for forming healthy DNA and other genetic materials. It’s especially important for pregnant women to facilitate the healthy division of cells. TIP: There are many foods naturally rich in folate that would be delicious with the Smoked Rosy Tahini Dressing. All dark leafy vegetables, Brussels sprouts, various nuts, black-eyed peas, and kidney beans are excellent sources of folate and would be a delicious substitute for the greens in the Asparagus Bouquet Salad.