Before I started writing here, I had no real clue which fruits and vegetables were ripe with the season other than the ones with which I grew up (berries, onions, corn and squash). Writing about food and cooking more has piqued my interest in seasonal ingredients because frankly, they just taste better. Learning is as easy as visiting a local market. This weekend I saw some very foreign looking produce that if viewed in the wild, I would never have thought were edible, or if you were to eat them, some sort of mystical spell would be cast upon you (see fiddlehead ferns). However, I also saw some absolute beauties that gently lured me away from the school of restraint and comfort. I was wooed by a spring mix of leaves and flowers that inspired this salad. I packed this one to the brim with gorgeous spring luxuries and blooms, my official way of embracing the season and leaving the austerity of winter to tremble in its wake.
While figs aren’t quite in season yet, they had these beauties at the market at a much more reasonable price than in the winter. Combine the sweet syrupy figs with blood orange, snap peas, white string beans and the blossoms of arugula and you’ve got the most visually stunning and flavorful salad I’ve ever seen.
Ingredients:
- Mixed spring greens
- Snap peas
- Fresh figs, halved
- Blood orange, peeled and quarted
- Arugula blossoms
- Blackberries
- White string beans, cut in one inch pieces
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss together and plate. Squeeze extra juice from the blood orange as a dressing. Add salt and pepper, oil or vinegar as desired or just enjoy the juices of the fruit alone with the salad.
Those figs look absolutely gorgeous! Eating fruit in season really is the best. And fiddleheads are great! My mother used to forage for them in the spring.
Thanks! And she lived to tell the tale! Do you eat them raw?
I believe she steamed them, although I’ve also seen them roasted. Some people say that eating them raw is rough on your tummy, so probably best to cook ’em somewhat!
Ah ok! Thanks. I will try them next time! 🙂
My biggest food phobia is fruit in salads, but I have to admit this looks gorgeous
Ha! Thanks, JRJ. I think the right fruit will enhance a salad!
We love figs, we have three fig trees in the garden, this year the crop is looking good. The only problem is we are not the only ones who have noted this – last year a certain couple of birds in the garden helped themselves, I am sure they are back this spring. They know I don’t net so no doubt eying up the rest of my fruit crops! A wonderful new recipe to add to the list.
That’s so lovely! I want fig trees. Where do you live? know what you mean about the birds and animals. My parents have deer who love everything nature has to offer!
You can grow fig trees in pots. I live in England.