Change is in the air. The long table at the greengrocer’s – a scene of never-ending inspiration – has swapped its warm ochre and crimson tones for a leafy fizz of green. Sprouting broccoli, spring greens and early wild garlic have replaced the beetroot, parsnips and swedes. There are pale curling fronds of frisée and plump bunches of breakfast radishes – shopping once again has a spring in its step.

I have enjoyed this good, long winter with its slow-cooked bean stews and sugar-dusted baking days, but have also been longing for the first days of spring. I want nothing more than to snap crisp stalks and tear up green leaves, tossing them in a pan with a punch of ginger and chilli and a spritz of lime. I want to shred pale, crackling salad and toss it with citrus and green herbs and dress it with tart little pickles. And now I can.

I made a refreshing lunch this week of trout fillets with shredded fennel and cucumber tossed with homemade pickled onions. I could easily have used smoked mackerel – exceptionally good with fennel – but the trout has more subtle smoky notes and feels more at home with the bright citrus and lightly vinegared fennel I wanted to dress it with.

Later in the week, I came home with a bundle of spring greens. Their leaves less earthy and bitter than the dark-fleshed Savoy and cavolo nero I have been eating all winter. Their stalks sweet enough to munch raw. Shredded, seasoned and stir-fried, they were on the table within minutes of getting home.

 

Spring greens, beanshoots and lime

 

Crunchy with roasted peanuts and bright with lime juice, this is a recipe that can be almost endlessly adapted to suit what greens are in season. I made a version with gai lan the other day, and used roasted cashews in place of the peanuts. There is a little prep to do – crushing garlic and chopping spring onions and ginger, shredding spring greens and washing beanshoots – but the cooking is all done in a minute or two. You could veganise the recipe by using a vegan substitute for the fish sauce. Serves 2

garlic 3 cloves
spring onions 2
fresh ginger 50g piece
hot red chillies 2
beanshoots 100g
sprouted mung beans 100g
roasted peanuts 4 tbsp
spring greens 250g
groundnut or vegetable oil 3 tbsp, plus a little extra
fish sauce 2 tbsp
caster sugar 2 tsp
lime juice 3 tbsp
Thai basil leaves a handful
coriander leaves a handful

Peel the garlic and mash to a paste. I do this in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt. Discard the root and the very dark green tips of the spring onions, then finely slice. Peel and thinly shred the ginger into matchsticks. Finely chop the red chillies. Wash the beanshoots and sprouted mung beans and shake them dry in a salad spinner or colander. Roughly chop the peanuts.

Wash the spring greens. Lay the leaves on top of one another and roll up tightly. Then slice into finger-thick strips, like pappardelle.

Heat the oil in a wok. When it is hot, add the garlic, spring onions and ginger, and fry, moving them quickly round the pan for a minute or two, then add the chillies. Fry for another minute or so, until very lightly coloured, then remove everything from the pan with a draining spoon or spider.

Add a little more oil to the pan and, when it is hot, add the beanshoots and mung beans quickly followed by the shredded greens. Add the peanuts, fish sauce and caster sugar, then return the aromatics to the pan. Keep everything moving around the pan, stirring and frying, then finish with the lime juice and Thai basil and, if you wish, coriander leaves.

 

Smoked trout, fennel and sweet-sour onions

 

A crunchy, bright-tasting salad to start the season. I learned the trick of speeding up the pickled onions from Mark Diacono – rub the onions and salt together as if you are warming your hands. It works. Serves 2

red onion 1, large
salt 1 tbsp
cider vinegar 50ml
whole black peppercorns 6
white peppercorns 1 tsp
caster sugar 1 tsp

For the salad
fennel bulb 350g
olive oil 4 tbsp
cucumber half (250g)
smoked trout fillets 350g
pink grapefruit 1
orange 1
sprouted seeds 50g

Peel the onion, cut into pencil-thick slices, then separate into rings. Toss the rings of onion with the salt, rubbing it all over the onions with your hands, then set aside for an hour. Rinse the salt from the onion rings in a sieve, then put them in a wide-mouthed jar, pour in the vinegar, add the peppercorns and sugar, then screw on the lid and shake gently until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside for a good hour before using.

Cut the fennel in half from root to tip, then cut into thin slices, no thicker than a £1 coin. Mix together 2 tbsp of the cider vinegar from the onions, 4 tbsp of olive oil, a pinch of salt and a little ground black pepper. Pour the dressing over the fennel and set aside.

Peel the cucumber, halve it lengthways and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut into 2.5cm-thick slices, then toss with the fennel and its dressing.

Break the trout fillets into short pieces, then toss with the salad and the onions, drained of their juice. Peel the grapefruit and orange with a sharp knife, then cut into segments and add to the fennel. Add the sprouted seeds to the salad.

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