Pamper those delicate babies

Long ago, back in the dawn of human prehistory (or so I imagine), people made the discovery that separates us from rabbits.

And if you, in this just-arrived season of sweet, tender, bursting-with-flavor baby vegetables, can be just a tiny bit patient, you can make this discovery too.

Sure, it’s tempting to eat every one of those little carrots as you pull them from the dirt, or gobble up all those petite green peas straight from the shell on the way home from the farmers market.

But there’s also a way to get them to the dinner table with their glorious color and freshness and newness intact. You just have to treat them right -- which in this case means gently. The result will be a very light, less-is-more, springtime vegetable ragout.

Just grasp the exceedingly easy technique, and you can present any combination of new-season vegetables that speak to you at the market or emerge from your garden. Fava beans, baby carrots in orange, yellow and red, baby turnips, baby fennel, baby beets and spring onions, as well as sweet young peas, pencil-thin asparagus and slim young parsnips all take well to the technique.

With recipes this simple, success lies in selecting the freshest, best-quality ingredients and carefully monitoring the cooking time. Use good unsalted butter for sauteing and have a good quality stock on hand for finishing.

First choose one, two or a combination of vegetables, pairing those that complement each other: Think not only of flavor but also of the colors and shapes of the vegetables, characteristics that affect both the dish’s appearance and cooking times.

Decide what vegetables need to be blanched (briefly precooked in boiling, salted water) and which should be cut up. Hard vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and potatoes need to be blanched in salted water just until they are tender, usually 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the vegetable. When they are precooked this way, they will finish cooking at the same time as the softer vegetables. Green vegetables such as peas and asparagus should also be blanched to preserve their bright color.

Even small, young carrots, parsnips and turnips should be cut in half before blanching for even cooking. The pencil-thin baby fennel you can occasionally find at farmers markets, on the other hand, can be left whole and blanched, but most baby fennel should be halved or quartered vertically, and perhaps cut in half horizontally too.

Use the same pot of boiling water -- salted enough to taste like the sea -- to blanch the vegetables one after another in quick succession, removing them as they’re done with a strainer or slotted spoon.

Next, saute them quickly (just 2 or 3 minutes) in butter.

The third and final step is a very brief moment of braising -- adding a bit of stock or water to the sauteed vegetables. Cover and steam the vegetables until they’re tender, usually a mere 5 to 7 minutes, depending on the vegetables. Choose a light stock -- vegetable stock, veal or chicken -- or water so the fresh vegetable flavors aren’t overwhelmed.

When the vegetables are tender, check the sauce to see if it is slightly syrupy. If the sauce looks too thin, remove the vegetables to a platter and reduce the sauce for a minute or so until it has thickened slightly, then spoon it over the cooked vegetables.

Don’t tarry in getting the ragout to the table -- it needs to be served immediately. After all, you’ve been waiting to eat those gorgeous vegetables since the moment they were picked.

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Spring ragout of asparagus and baby parsnips

Total time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

16 pencil-thin baby parsnips, peeled and trimmed

20(about 1/4 pound)

pencil-thin baby asparagus

16 pencil-thin baby white onions

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped chives (optional)

1. Blanch the parsnips in boiling salted water 1 to 2 minutes. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. Reserve the water.

2. Trim the lower third of the asparagus spears. Bring the water back to a boil; blanch the asparagus 1 minute. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon.

3. Trim the tops and root ends from the baby onions to make 3- to 4-inch pieces. Blanch them in the same

boiling water for 30 seconds and

remove.

4. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the blanched parsnips, asparagus and onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the water and simmer over medium-low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

6. Stir in the lemon juice and chives, if using, and serve.

Each serving: 134 calories; 2 grams protein; 20 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams fiber; 6 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 15 mg. cholesterol; 158 mg. sodium.

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Spring ragout of baby carrots

Total time: 25 minutes

Servings: 4

15 baby carrots (about 1/2 pound) in mixed varieties of different colors such as Cosmic Purple, Nantes and Solar Yellow

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pepper

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 teaspoons chopped chervil

1. Trim the tops and stems from the carrots, leaving about one-fourth inch of the stem. Wash the carrots under running water and scrub with a vegetable brush. Cut each in half lengthwise.

2. Blanch the carrot halves in a pot of boiling, salted water just until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain.

3. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add the chicken stock, cover and simmer over low heat until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the chervil and stir lightly before serving.

Each serving: 75 calories; 1 gram protein; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 6 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 15 mg. cholesterol; 200 mg. sodium.

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Mixed spring vegetable ragout

Total time: 50 minutes

Servings: 4 servings as a main dish, 6 to 8 as a side dish

1 pound fava beans

6 ounces English peas, shelled ( 1/2 cup shelled)

1/2 cup baby asparagus tips

8 baby carrots

8 baby turnips

16 baby fennel

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1 cup veal stock

1. Remove the fava beans from the pods. Blanch the beans in lightly salted boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain, reserving the water. Plunge the beans into cold water, then remove outer skins and set the beans aside.

2. Blanch the peas for 30 seconds in the same water. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain, again reserving the water. Plunge into cold water, drain and set aside.

3. Blanch the asparagus tips in the same water for 30 seconds; plunge into cold water, drain and set aside, reserving the cooking water.

4. Trim the tops and stems from the carrots, leaving about one-fourth inch of stem. Scrub the carrots with a brush. Cut them in half lengthwise and set aside. Trim the tops from the turnips. Quarter the turnips and set aside. Trim the tops from the fennel and set aside. Chop a portion of the frond to get 1 tablespoon chopped fennel for garnish. Reserve.

5. Blanch the carrot halves in the same pot of boiling salted water just until tender, about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Blanch the turnips in the same water just until tender, about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Blanch the fennel in the same water 3 minutes, or until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

6. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the blanched vegetables except for the asparagus tips. Season with salt and pepper and cook 2 to 3 minutes.

7. Add the veal stock, cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the aspargus tips during the last 2 to 3 minutes cooking time. Stir in the reserved chopped fennel and serve.

Each of 8 servings: 232 calories; 12 grams protein; 31 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams fiber; 10 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 23 mg. cholesterol; 362 mg. sodium.