This week, give peas a chance! We’re seeing snow or snap peas for the first time! It’s easy to to confuse them-  snow peas are flat with tiny seeds that are barely visible through the pods. Sugar snap pods are plump, with visible peas. Low in calories and high in Vitamins A and C, both types have edible pods and are a great addition to your springtime diet! We also have two new fruits- mangoes and tomatoes! Get your summertime off to a colorful start with these flavorful recipes.

Breakfast: Honestly, it doesn’t get much better than fried egg and tomato sandwiches! If you are bored by fresh tomatoes, try roasting them for 20 minutes, drizzled with balsamic and olive oil. They get super sweet and mushy- perfect mashed on bread. I also prefer my egg sandwiches on the brunch side of breakfast, so I’ll add lettuce or sauteed onions and kale.  (If you really need a recipe, here’s one from Martha Stewart.)

Lunch: These radishes are just too pretty not to showcase on an open-faced sandwich. I remember my Mom making tea sandwiches sometimes for special occasions- simple cream cheese or goat cheese spread on soft bread and topped with sliced veggies. Keep it as simple as that- or add some chopped mint, maybe some spring onion greens from last week, or even freshly shelled and boiled peas.

Lunch: Our South Texas mangoes are (of course) delicious enough to eat raw, but I’m excited to use them in a spicy sauce for salad wraps! The First Mess’ recipe calls for raw chard, but you can use a lettuce leaf instead, or even a gently-boiled collard green leaf. I’ll kick it up a notch and add sliced sweet onions, and garnish with mint. Not sure how to slice a mango? Food 52 has got you covered.

Salad: Greens and citrus never go out of style! Kale and grapefruit (or orange) is a particularly delicious combination. Raw kale is massaged with dressing, which makes it soft yet still crunchy. Kale and citrus pack a powerful nutritional punch!

Dinner: New York Times food writer and general food defender Mark Bittman advocates for simple, delicious food preparations. His simple Asian snow peas are cooked quickly, and accented with sesame oil, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and a little half and half. Read the inspiration first, then try , the recipe. I’d add this to rice or noodles (with grilled chicken, beef, tofu, etc.) for a simple, healthy meal.

Dinner: Okay, since we live in Texas, you have to try classic Southern greens & tomatoes with onions! Use a ham hock for the real deal, and just take it out if you prefer vegetarian. Serve with rice  (and maybe baked “fried” chicken?)

If you have recipe ideas, please share them with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! We love the #LocalBox hashtag!

Look how much we’ve grown! Spring has sprung, and so has the Local Box! We’ve got tons of tall green things this week! For your Surprise Me! items, you might receive broccoli rabe (pictured),watermelon radish, baby beets, spinach, or cauliflower! Make a wonderful spring dish for Mom this weekend with beet greens, herbs, grapefruit, Spanish radishes, and more garlic scapes! If you didn’t see them last week, garlic scapes are simply offshoots of garlic, and can be eaten raw or cooked- or even put in a vase for a blooming centerpiece! Check out my blog post on 10 ways to use up these guys.

Juice: Lettuce help you use up those greens! Yes, yes, we know you’ve been eating a lot of salads lately- what with the beet greens, radish greens, and lettuce. These greens are so good for you- full of calcium, vitamin A, and protein too! So in honor of our Juicer giveaway, we’re going to help you get juicey (and smooth) with lettuce. When making green smoothies or juices, you’ll want to have some sweetness- that can come from almond milk, berries, bananas, honey, etc. Kathy over at Lunch Box Bunch has great green smoothie/juice inspirations!

Lunch: Sometimes, you come across beautiful blogs. Not only do they have beautiful, inspiring recipes, but beautiful stories too. Happy Yolks is one such blog. And her recipe for Roasted Spring Vegetable quinoa is the perfect light spring dinner or lunch! Serve it alongside meat or fish if you like. Use your lovely Spanish radishes, sweet onions + their greens, and even throw in some garlic scapes (shoots and leaves!) Did you get beets, broccoli rabe, or cauliflower? Throw those in too!

Lunch: Like I said before… we all know Local Boxes make excellent salads, but there are more uses for lettuce than salad! This week, try lettuce and sweet onion greens in this delicious springy soup. Just replace green garlic with garlic scapes! You could also use some beet greens, spinach, califlower leaves, broccoli rabe leaves… you get the idea. Serve with a sandwich for a filling dinner.

Appetizer: One of the Surprise Me items this week is broccoli rabe! Although it has broccoli in the name, this vegetable is actually more similar to turnips, which explains the flavorful green! They are especially good cooked with portabella mushrooms. Use this recipe as a basic guide, but feel free to add sweet onion greens and garlic scapes! I’d serve this over toast, with pasta, or with a fried egg on top!

Dinner: Have you ever made your own veggie burgers? I love trying handmade versions at restaurants, so this week I’ll use the giant portabellas, beet greens, broccoli rabe leaves, spinach, garlic scapes, and maybe parsley or mint to make a meatless protein-packed meal! As usual, we’ll swap out the listed greens for whatever is in the Local Box this week, like beet greens! Make the mixture ahead of time for fresh burgers anytime during the week.

Dessert: Feeling fancy and decadent? Try making your own grapefruit macarons! (What are macarons? You know, the little colorful French delicacies that cost you something like $3 a pop!) Not for the faint of heart, these require a bit of time, but the result will surely result in squeals of delight from friends and family

If you have recipe ideas, please share them with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! We love the #LocalBox hashtag!