This afternoon I harvested the first green beans from the garden. Just the thing to add to the potato salad a planned to make for dinner with new potatoes I picked up from the CSA on Saturday. As I stood there watering the garden I decided it was time to finally open the can of smoked trout I bought at Trader Joe’s a few months ago and didn’t know what to do with. Next time you go to Trader Joe’s pick up a few cans of smoked trout. Then you can make this delicious (if not very photogenic) salad, which is the perfect thing to eat for dinner on a 90 degree day.

Boil some halved or quartered new potatoes. I was surprised to find that mine were bright pink all the way through. During the last minute or so of cooking throw in a handful or two of green beans.

While the potatoes are cooking make a little vinaigrette with some white wine vinegar, grainy mustard, olive oil and salt and pepper. And maybe a little squeeze of lemon.

When the potatoes are tender but not mushy and the green beans are bright green but still a little crunchy drain them and run them under cold water for a minute or two. Toss the potatoes and beans with the vinaigrette and put them in the fridge for a little while to cool off a bit.

Meanwhile, finely chop a handful of chives and parsley and little lemon zest. When the potatoes have cooled down to more or less room temperature, drain a can of smoked trout and add it to the salad. Sprinkle the chopped herbs and zest over the top.

One very cold Saturday morning back in March I stood outside in a long line to sign up for a community garden plot. In exchange for about twenty bucks and two hours of community service you get a 20 x 20 foot plot in which to grow whatever you want, and many friendly neighbors who will offer you extra seedlings they don’t have room for, water your garden when you go on vacation, and tell you how nicely your peas are coming along. Not a bad deal.

I’ve been spending most of my free time there lately spreading compost and watering and doing lots and lots of weeding. I woke up this morning to pouring rain and unseasonable cold so instead of heading over to the garden I went to the bookstore to look for a good vegetable cookbook. Between the garden and my CSA share, I know I’m going to be a little overwhelmed by the bounty and I figured a new cookbook couldn’t hurt. What I came home with is quite possibly the most beautiful cookbook ever printed, Tender by Nigel Slater. It’s an encyclopedia of the vegetables he grows in his backyard garden in London, how to grow them and how to eat them. The recipes all sound delicious, and it’s full of beautiful photographs. It’s a perfect cookbook to read on a rainy late spring day while you daydream about the wonderful vegetables you’ll be harvesting and eating in the coming weeks and months.

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday. It seems like most things have gotten off to a slow start, but all of a sudden everything seems to be doubling in size every couple of days, so I think before long there will be more green than brown in the pictures.

Radishes from the garden. Tomato plants are going in the ground today.

This pie is one of my favorite things to make in the spring. The leftovers are delicious straight out of the fridge for breakfast the next day. I started making this many years ago from a recipe in Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. But I don’t own the book and I haven’t looked at the original recipe in so long that I’m not sure if what I make is still the same recipe.

For the crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 scant tablespoon sugar
• about 4-6 tablespoons ice water, as needed

For the filling:

• 6 or 7 medium / large leeks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper
• a few glugs white wine
• about a 1/3 cup heavy cream + about a tablespoon to brush on the crust
• about 3 oz. chevre

To make the crust, follow the instructions (but not the proportions) here. Form the dough into one disc instead of two and chill it well.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thinly slice the leeks crosswise into rings. Separate the layers and drop them into a bowl of cold water. Swish them around to make sure they are nice and clean, and then lift them out of the water and into a colander. That way the dirt will stay at the bottom of the bowl.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the leeks and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until the leeks are very soft. Don’t let them brown. Meanwhile, roll out the dough into one large circle and transfer to a pie pan. It will be much bigger than the pan. When the leeks are soft add a few glugs of white wine and stir well, scraping up any bits that may have stuck to the pan. Cook a couple more minutes until the wine has mostly evaporated. Turn off the heat and stir in the 1/3 cup of cream. Scrape the leeks into the dough-lined pie pan. Crumble the chevre on top of the leeks. Fold the edges of the crust over the top of the pie, leaving the center of the pie open. It will be rather rustic looking. Brush the crust with the remaining cream.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned.