Gardeners itch for spring weather to get outside and plant. Cooks like me prefer to stay inside and whip up foods loaded with classic spring ingredients and flavors: vegetables such as new potatoes, peas, and asparagus, tender chive stalks and mint sprigs as soon as they appear in the garden, followed by cilantro, on everything!
Tie all those harbingers of spring together with the bright, sunshiny lemon. Most lemons in this country come from California, where they are harvested nearly year-round—good news because this aromatic, tangy fruit can be used in abundance to lend its sweet-tart character to almost anything. Consider a tall glass of ice water with a squeeze of lemon and a gently crushed mint sprig while you cook.
