Leeks
A member of the onion family, the leek is a versatile vegetable that, combined with carrot, celery and onion, makes a great base for soups or stews. Make it the star of the show by whizzing up the traditional chilled leek and potato soup vichyssoise. Hot leek and potato soup can also be topped with seasonal oysters for a dramatic finish. The mild flavour of leek lends itself to being combined with butter and cream for a gentle sweetness.
Baby leeks can be steamed or griddled whole and make a pretty side dish. The green ends of larger leek leaves can be used to wrap the contents of a bouquet garni (a bundle of herbs added to soups, stews and stocks to add flavour and removed before serving). Do make sure you clean leek leaves thoroughly by separating the leaves and running them under cold water.
Lemon sole
Although it's often known as the poorer relation to Dover sole, this flat fish should not be overlooked. Tart it up with an array of sauces from anchovy or saffron sauce to lemongrass butter. Classic French sauces such as Véronique (a creamy sauce with fresh grapes) lend themselves well to this fish. Try rolling up fillets and stuffing them with a seafood filling, wrapping in prosciutto or cutting into fingers and breadcrumbing to make goujons. Lemon sole can also be grilled, steamed or baked whole.
Oysters
In the 19th century, oysters were plentiful and cheap and were used to bulk out dishes such as pies, soups and stews. Supplies decreased into the 20th century and now this shellfish is highly prized. Savour the taste of the sea by serving them raw simply dressed with a few drops of shallot vinegar, lemon juice or Tabasco sauce; or they can be grilled and topped with breadcrumbs or cheese.
Parsley
One of the few herbs to stand the chilly air of early spring, parsley comes in two main varieties: flatleaf and curly-leaved. Favoured by Mediterranean cooks, flatleaf parsley has a more robust flavour than the curly-leaved variety, making it ideal to sauté with strong flavours, such as garlic and onion. Use parsley abundantly to lift other savoury flavours and enhance dishes such as soups, casseroles, sauces and salads.
Radishes
The radish has been used as a food plant since prehistory. As it was cultivated, many varieties were established from the Mediterranean to the Orient giving us the red radish, the large white radish (also known as the daikon or mooli) and the black radish. The common red varieties are eaten and enjoyed as a salad vegetable. When choosing radishes, look for bright green leaves, which indicate freshness and promise a crisp texture and peppery flavour. Radishes are excellent when eaten raw or marinated in vinaigrette.
Rhubarb
Actually a vegetable but prepared as a fruit, early 'forced' rhubarb has long, pale, pink stems with small leaves that don't look enticing but have all the freshness and flavour needed to make delicious pies, fools, sorbet or ice cream. Forced or early rhubarb needs very brief cooking and, unless you have a palate for tartness, it always needs sweetening with sugar. Rhubarb can also be cooked as a vegetable accompaniment to savoury dishes.
Spring onions
Pick a normal onion early in the growing season and you'll get a spring onion. 'Green onions', 'salad onions' or 'scallions', whatever you call them, you'll find they're useful for adding a marked onion note to dishes, particularly when used raw.
Serve spring onions in salads or sprinkled over Chinese dishes (particularly steamed fish), stirred into raita or in traditional Irish champ (mashed potatoes speckled with chopped spring onions). They can also be brushed with olive oil and chargrilled whole, along with other vegetables.
