Why I don't like spring cooking

Recently, my friend texted me a spring pasta recipe with asparagus and peas. And while this turned out to be a delicious recipe, it got me a little fired up about the lack of creativity in the recipe world when it comes to spring cooking. Springy pastas with some variation of peas, spring onions, lemon, and asparagus (always asparagus!) feel like a dime a dozen.

As a season, I love spring. I love the blooming trees. I love the energy of people being out and about. The longer days. The chirping bird alarm clocks. But I find spring recipes to be pretty uninspired, and the season of cooking that makes me least excited.

Am I missing something great?! Please leave a comment and share your favorite spring recipe, I’d love to know.

Spicy Baked Pasta with Cheddar and Broccoli Rabe

The 411: Is a cheesy pasta bake a spring recipe? Some days yes? Some days definitely no. But regardless, Alison Roman’s recipe is chock full of tasty spring(ish) vegetables: broccoli (I prefer baby broccoli over broccoli rabe) and leeks. The sautéed veggies are added to pasta, heavy cream, and lots of cheddar, then topped with breadcrumbs that crisp up in the oven to provide the perfect crunch.

Zoe’s Tips: If you’ve never cooked with leeks before, you might be surprised to see that dirt loves to lodge itself in between the layers of leek. After you’ve sliced the leek into the half-moon pieces, soak them in bowl of water, and agitate to loosen up the dirt.

Taste-to-Time Ratio¹: 9:6

Cauliflower Shawarma With Spicy Tahini

The 411: A friend shared Melissa Clark’s recipe with me last week, and I was excited about the prospect of another opportunity to eat cauliflower and to add a dairy-free recipe into my rotation (something I struggle with as a former cheesemonger). Here, large chunks of roasted cauliflower and red onion get piled atop warm pita, followed by a layer of crisp cucumbers and zingy tomatoes, and finished with a garlicky, spicy tahini sauce. If you don’t have a NYTimes Cooking subscription, you can access a video of the recipe here.

Zoe’s Tips: I read once that there’s “no such thing” as over-roasting your cauliflower. And while, of course, this is a slight exaggeration, the essence of it is true. Cauliflower can take a lot of heat, and you’re probably under-roasting it. Give it time and let it really brown.

Taste-to-Time Ratio: 8:7

1. The Taste-to-Time Ratio is a ratio that evaluates flavor on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) with time on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the fastest). For example, our family favorite mac and cheese that requires 2 types of cheese, toasted baguette breadcrumbs, approximately all your kitchen pans, and 2 hours of baking is a 10:3 - insanely delicious, but not a quick weeknight meal.