GREEN SHOOTS

Explore this month's bounty with vibrant recipes from Esther Clark

- Esther Clark

The days are warmer and with it, the vegetables fresher. Stars of the show are radishes, new potatoes and asparagus, especially as little needs doing to enhance their flavours and interesting textures.

Radishes have a refreshing crunch and peppery taste, which means they team well with creamy, dairy-based foods like butter, yogurt and cheese. In the recipe, we've paired them with a feta and Greek yogurt dip, which is topped with herbs and oil - raw radishes are perfect for dunking. Make the most of your homegrown crop throughout the year by pickling them - they're delicious piled into tacos or tossed through salads.

Small new potatoes are especially good boiled and tossed in salads, or served warm with salsa verde. They're also a great base for traditional potato salad with soured cream, mustard, mayonnaise and spring onions. Their firm, robust texture means they can also work well in curries, like the riff on a Thai yellow curry. They're a fantastic vehicle for soaking up all the spicy, aromatic flavours from the sauce.

The king of British springtime produce, of course, will always be asparagus. Look out for bunches of thicker English asparagus at this time of year. It's a vegetable that can be eaten simply, tossed in butter or dunked in vinaigrette. The acidy of vinaigrette works particularly well with the sweetness of tender asparagus spears, which is why they taste so good in the niçoise salad. This show-stopping revamp of the classic salad is the ideal way to show off some of the nation's best spring produce. Serve it for a special lunch or weekend gathering with friends and family.

Seared tuna & asparagus niçoise

Source your tuna from a good-quality fishmonger. It should be sashimi-grade, which means it can be safely eaten raw.

SERVES 4 PREP 20 mins COOK 25 mins MORE EFFORT

300g small new potatoes, halved