What to eat in April

Ideas and thoughts on what to eat in Ireland during April

Seasonal Irish Greens

As winter turns to Spring it’s all about greens here in Ireland – the Glasnevin market on Saturday was full of spinach and chard which are so useful in the kitchen as they are great both cooked and uncooked. They can be shredded for any salad and I really love them like this in grain bowls which you can prep at the beginning of the week and have handy in the fridge. Toss them on a hot pan with Nobleza del Sur’s 1640 Picual, lots of garlic and chilli for a superfast side that goes with anything and everything. 

Bitter Greens are fantastic for gut health

There are bitter greens like dandelion leaves which are packed with polyphenols and so good for gut microbiome. These can be eaten fresh and work really well with a sweeter dressing with honey or aged balsamic but if that’s too hardcore for you (they are bitter!!) they are also great braised in stock and olive oil with garlic. Finish with some grated parmesan or Pecorino and/or a spritz of lemon. You can also add a tin of beans to make more of a meal of this.

There are lots of Irish herbs available at the moment

Herbs are also more available at the moment and we’ve been having lots of coriander, parsley and mint through quinoa of late and also blitzing them with olive and garlic for a sauce to put on grilled haloumi, fish and lamb. An anchovy is also great in this kind of sauce.

Purple sprouting broccoli

The McNally Family Farm have lots of Purple spouting broccoli which I love tossed on a hot pan and finish with an olive oil dressing of garlic and nduja with a dash of @fina PX vinegar. Garlicky sourdough breadcrumbs are also gorgeous on a plate of PSB. 

Don't overlook the humble carrot

There are still come roots knocking around and a grated carrot salad is a very useful thing to have prepped in the fridge as it goes with so much. I like to stew lots of onion with some cumin seeds and stir that through the carrot with maybe some radishes and coriander for taste and colour and this is especially good with Lebanese dishes. On Saturday night we dressed it with Finca la Torre’s organic and biodynamic Hojiblanca and some lemon and managed to get through an amount I thought would do us for days. Good job it’s so healthy..

Celery

And finally there’s celery which, while not my favourite has its charms. I’ve been juicing a couple of times a week with carrot, ginger and apple or pineapple. Then, we’ve been using it when making Dan Dan noodles from Hetty McKinnon’s To Asia with Love which uses tahini, mushrooms, leek and celery to recreate the Sichuan classic without the pork. So good!!! And don’t forget celery is a match made in heaven with blue cheese so get in the Cashel Blue or Young Buck

And of course, go get plenty of Wild Garlic!!!

It's in every park and there so much of it at this time of year. Make pesto, Chicken Kievs and through it into all your omelettes.