Add this fresh tortellini salad recipe to your weekend menu, stat! It features cheesy spinach tortellini tossed in my all-time favorite green goddess dressing, layered with lemony fresh greens and seasoned spring or summer vegetables.

This pasta dish manages to be light yet hearty at the same time, which is a real feat. It’s quick to make, but looks impressive. It’s versatile, too—you’ll see quite a few vegetable options below. Choose raw vegetables for the simplest preparation, as I did for these photos, or incorporate some quickly blanched vegetables, like asparagus, to expand your options.

My healthy homemade green goddess dressing comes together quickly in the blender or food processor. I suggest doubling the ingredients so you can serve the extra as a veggie dip or refrigerate it for upcoming green salads. It’s really delightful to have on hand.

Choose spinach tortellini over basic cheese tortellini to incorporate even more greens. I hope you’ll give this recipe a try. This vegetarian pasta salad is a real crowd pleaser!

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It’s asparagus season, and I can’t get enough of it. Roasting asparagus brings out its best flavor and texture, and yields asparagus that’s perfectly tender, not mushy. The tips get lightly and irresistibly crispy in the oven, and the flavor is more concentrated than it would be if steamed or sautéed.

Roasted asparagus is the perfect springtime side dish, whether for brunch or dinner. It’s simple to throw together while your main dish cooks on the stove and cooks quickly (about 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus spears).

For these photos, I decked out my asparagus with lemon, mint, red pepper flakes and the lightest shaving of Parmesan. You can keep your roasted asparagus as simple as you’d like.

The flavor of roasted asparagus is so versatile that it complements almost any meal. I’ve included the basic recipe below, along with ideas for changing up the seasonings to suit your dinner.

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I set out to create a more interesting take on greasy take-out vegetable fried rice. Here it is in full glory, and it’s as flavorful as it is colorful. Hooray!

I used brown rice, naturally, and even threw in a handful of greens, which offer even more health bonus points. (The greens are optional.)

I also played around with a variety of vegetables, and all of them worked well as long as they were cut into very small pieces.

This is exactly what you should make when you have leftover rice and some random raw vegetables in your fridge. You’re going to love it!

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Hello, it’s Kate of two weeks’ past. I wrote this post in advance of my vacation in Morocco. I day-dreamed of this trip while I was perpetually arms-deep in dishes last year. It’s official: My cookbook’s at the printer, and I’m finally getting a real vacation!

I should be practicing yoga and exploring Marrakech right now (you might be able to catch a glimpse on Instagram stories). I’m particularly excited about our trip into the markets.

I’m hoping to come back with an awesome Moroccan rug, which might be a challenge to get home since I’m already squeezing ten days’ worth of clothing into a carry-on. I can ship rugs over, right?

I’ll tell you all about my adventures when I get back. For now, I can offer you a vibrant springtime stir-fry that is both warming and fresh. Asian stir-fries were always a bit of a mystery to me, but it turns out they’re easy to make at home with the help of a little bit of arrowroot or cornstarch to thicken the sauce.

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Good morning! I’m feeling a little blinky after the three-day weekend, how about you? Like, today feels like Monday but it’s really Tuesday. Blink. Why is my to-do list so long? Blink. Blink. Need more coffee.

Blink. This risotto has been on my list since I figured out how to make baked brown rice risotto last fall. Risotto made with brown rice takes almost twice as long to cook (fact), but my method of baking it in a Dutch oven and stirring it for just a few minutes at the end seriously cuts down on effort.

For this springtime take on risotto, I kept it simple and steamed the peas in the pot during the last ten minutes of baking. I opted to roast the asparagus while the pot is in the oven, since roasted asparagus tastes best.

It all comes together painlessly and leaves plenty of time to clean up and sip some leftover white wine while the risotto bakes in the oven. Let me know how you like it!

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I’ve been on a vegetable-packed coconut curry kick lately—they’re just the perfect transition food for this time of year. This vegetarian Thai green curry recipe features fresh asparagus, carrots and spinach in a delicious green coconut sauce. It’s full of flavor and simple enough for weeknight dinners.

I used store-bought Thai curry paste instead of raw ingredients, because some (like galangal) are difficult to find and time-consuming to prepare. I’ve watched a chef prepare curry paste in Thailand, and he really worked up a sweat! So while this recipe is not perfectly authentic, it’s a lot easier to make.

This curry is based on an older Thai green curry recipe, which I’ve since deleted. I loved the base recipe for that dish (I learned how to make it at a fun cooking class), but I was never quite satisfied by my choice of mix-ins.

So here we are, three years later, with an improved, extra-green version. This time, I opted for asparagus (snow peas would also work), carrots and wilted spinach. I love it, and I think you will, too!

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This beautiful pasta recipe is designed for springtime produce: asparagus, peas, shallots and fresh herbs. It offers gorgeous green hues, and irresistible flavor courtesy of lemon, butter and Parmesan. This dish is a longtime favorite from one of the most comprehensive cookbooks in my collection, Aida Mollenkamp’s Keys to the Kitchen.

Be warned that this recipe requires some serious chopping work, but the end result is worth the effort (for a simpler recipe, try this pesto pasta with peas). The recipe yields a lot of food, enough for six to eight servings, so it may be best created with helpers and shared with a small crowd. Otherwise, it reheats well for leftovers.

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My first experience with crêpes was in high school. I took French back then, and joined the French Club for something to add to my college application. I even became the secretary of the French Club, meaning that I did, basically, rien. Nothing. It was the perfect role for my nerdy, lazy, 17-year-old self. Anyway, we had an annual French Club party, and Madame Gordy would bring in her crêpe maker so we could all enjoy sweet crêpes together.

A few years later, I spent a semester in Bordeaux, France. We visited Paris often, and we liked to stop at street vendors and order crêpes for a treat. I always admired the elegant swoop, swoop movement of the vendor’s hand as she spread the batter around the surface of the crêpe maker. She (or he) would hand us our crêpes, filled with Nutella and folded into quarters so they were easy to hold. I distinctly remember this day, when I was meandering through the Latin Quarter by myself. I sat on the edge of that fountain with a crêpe and watched families and tourists go by, and admired the old streets, the bookstores and the bridges across the Seine.

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This asparagus frittata is one of my favorite springtime brunch recipes! It’s perfect for a special Easter or Mother’s Day brunch or a simple weekend lunch.

This savory recipe is flavored with creamy goat cheese, fresh shallot, a touch of Dijon mustard (which offers subtle complexity), and a squeeze of lemon. This springtime take on my frittata recipe is as delicious as it is beautiful and deceptively simple to make, too.

I created this recipe thirteen years ago (!) and remade it recently to check the ingredients and instructions. It’s better than ever now, and I’m sharing it with updated photos and a new video today so you can see how it comes together.

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