Asparagus, Snap Pea, New Potato & Fiddlehead Sauteé – Spring Sides

A quick green side for spring – Asparagus, Snap Pea, New Potato & Fiddlehead Sauteé.  Serve warm or cold, a simple medley of spring produce.  

A prepare ahead item for brunch, it’s perfect along side an omelette for Mother’s Day or in the evening fresh piece of fish, prepared very simply with just a bit of butter and lemon.  Quickly blanch asparagus and snap peas in boiling salted water until they’re bright green, about 2 minutes.   Then remove immediately from the boiling water and put them straight into an ice water bath.

The fiddleheads require a longer cooking time to remove all impurities.  Boil for ten minutes, strain and again chill the hot fiddleheads in cold, clean water.  This removes tannins and bitterness and some people get upset stomachs from fiddleheads so you’re better safe than sick.  You can see by the colour of the water after cooking just a half dozen fiddleheads that this might be a good idea, though I regularly just stream them until they’re bright green, about 5 minutes, rinse and serve.

Cook potatoes until just tender, about 12 minutes and chill them in the same manner.  Your cooked vegetables can stand at room temperature for a couple of hours if needed or then can pop them in the fridge until you’re ready.

A drizzle of olive oil, a bit of crushed garlic and a quick sauteé  to warm them through over medium heat, season, add a touch of chive from the garden and serve.

Asparagus, Snap Pea, New Potato & Fiddlehead Sauteé, a light, bright green taste of spring.  Good food doesn’t have to be complicated.