Choose Your Sides

Can’t decide what to cook for Easter? We’ve got some ideas. In fact, you could say they’re not much more than that.

With spring produce flooding the markets, the best things you can fix are the simplest. So, rather than give long, involved recipes, we’re giving you descriptions of dishes and how they are made.

There’s a lot to choose from: six appetizers, six side dishes and six desserts. All use the best of spring produce in the simplest ways possible. When you’ve got good stuff to work with, the object is not to mess it up.

Here’s how this works: You pick a ham (any ham) and then you decide which appetizers and side dishes best complement it. Choose as many as you want. As far as desserts are concerned, we’ll leave that to you and your conscience.

Appetizers

1. Radish Butter on Toast: Cut one bunch of radishes in quarters. Beat 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter in a food processor until smooth. Add the quartered radishes and 1 teaspoon lemon juice and pulse until the radishes are coarsely ground and thoroughly mixed with the butter. Spread the butter on small bread slices and sprinkle with coarse salt.

2. Asparagus With Mustard Mayonnaise: Steam 1 bunch of asparagus until just tender, about 7 minutes. Chill thoroughly. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and stir until smooth. Arrange the asparagus on a platter and spoon the flavored mayonnaise over the middle of the spears.

3. Parmesan Crisps With Fresh Goat Cheese and Fresh Herbs: Beat together fresh goat cheese and minced fresh herbs (parsley or chives, preferably). For each Parmesan crisp, spoon about 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese into hot nonstick skillet brushed with olive oil. Spread cheese evenly into a 2-inch circle. Cook 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat until lightly browned, then carefully turn and brown other side. Remove from skillet. While Parmesan is still warm, put 1 teaspoon of goat cheese on one half of round, add pinch of herbs and immediately fold other half loosely over the goat cheese.

4. Celery Stuffed With Blue Cheese: Mash 2 ounces blue cheese with a fork. Stir in 1 teaspoon minced chives, a good grinding of black pepper and just enough cream to hold mixture together, about 1 tablespoon. Cut celery stalks in 3-inch sections and spread some blue cheese mixture into one end of each section.

5. Onion Sandwiches: Generously spread small bread slices with softened butter. Slice sweet onions, such as Vidalias, Mauis, Walla Wallas or Imperials, very thinly and press into butter. Sprinkle with minced parsley.

6. Tarragon Deviled Eggs: Shell 1 dozen hard-boiled eggs and cut them in half. Remove the yolks and place in a bowl. Add 1/3 cup mayonnaise, dash of tarragon vinegar and 1 teaspoon snipped tarragon leaves. Mash until smooth and season to taste. Fill each egg half with mayonnaise mixture and decorate each with 1 sprig tarragon.

Side Dishes

1. Asparagus With Browned Buttered Bread Crumbs: Melt 2 tablespoons butter over low heat in a small skillet. Stir in 1 cup fresh bread crumbs. You may want to raise the heat a bit. Cook, stirring frequently, until bread crumbs turn golden brown. Sprinkle buttered crumbs over 2 bunches steamed asparagus seasoned with salt and arranged on a serving platter. Toss together 2 chopped hard-cooked eggs and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley and scatter over crumbs.

2. Sugar Snap Peas: Blanch snap peas in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water until bright green, about 3 minutes. Remove to an ice water bath to stop the cooking. Pat dry on a kitchen towel and combine in a bowl with 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. Season to taste.

3. Glazed Carrots With Tarragon: Use baby carrots for this (the real kind, not the sanded-down carrot cores sold in bags in most produce sections), or slice large carrots about 1/4-inch thick on the bias. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet and add 1 whole clove garlic and 1 pound carrots. Stir until carrots are coated with butter and beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups white wine, cover and cook 5 minutes, shaking the pan frequently to keep the carrots from sticking. When carrots are tender (small sharp knife should just penetrate), raise heat to high and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Add tarragon and squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste with salt. Carrots should be covered with thin glaze.

4. Cucumbers With Sour Cream and Chives: Cut 2 cucumbers in half lengthwise and scrape out the seedy center. Slice the cucumbers about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Place the cucumbers in a mixing bowl and salt well; mix to make sure all the cucumbers are seasoned. Add 3/4 cup sour cream and 1 minced garlic clove and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill. Remove from refrigerator just before serving. Mixture will be thinner because of water drained from cucumbers. If necessary, stir again to combine water and sour cream mixture. Add 1/4 cup snipped chives and stir to combine. Season to taste.

5. Wilted Spring Onions: This is best made with young bulbing onions, but regular green onions will work, the thicker the better. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over high heat until butter fizzes and dies down. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until they soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

6. Mustard Greens: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 minced clove garlic and 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Wash 2 large bunches mustard greens well and, without drying them, chop them and add them to the skillet. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Remove lid and cook, stirring, until greens have wilted and softened, about 5 minutes more.

Desserts

1. Strawberries and Mint in Meringue Baskets: Buy meringue baskets at the bakery. Smash half the strawberries (the biggest ones) with a fork and add a tablespoon of sugar. Let them macerate for 1 hour. Add the remaining berries and 1 teaspoon coarsely chopped mint. Fill meringue baskets with strawberries.

2. Strawberries and Orange Liqueur on Vanilla Ice Cream: Quarter the strawberries and toss them with a little sugar and a dash of orange liqueur. Let sit for 1 hour before serving over vanilla ice cream.

3. Strawberry-Red Wine Soup: Heat a bottle of red or rose wine, a cup of sugar and a (3-inch) piece of vanilla bean in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add 2 pints of sliced strawberries. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream and almond cookies.

4. Strawberry Pie With Jam Glaze: Bake a frozen pie shell at 400 degrees until brown, about 20 minutes. Cool thoroughly. Mound strawberries in pie shell. Heat 2 cups strawberry jam and press through a sieve onto the mounded strawberries and pie shell.

5. Poundcake with Strawberry-Ricotta Filling: Coarsely chop 1 pint strawberries and combine with 1 tablespoon sugar and the juice of half of an orange. Let stand 1 hour. Drain the strawberries, reserving the liquid. Split a store-bought pound cake in half horizontally and moisten the bottom half with the reserved liquid. Combine the strawberries and 1 cup of ricotta and mix well. Spread half of the ricotta-strawberry mixture over the bottom layer of the pound cake, add the top layer and press together. Spread the remaining ricotta mixture over top of the cake and sprinkle with toasted almond sliced almonds.

6. Strawberries With Crumbled Amaretti: Mix together strawberries and a little sugar. Do not let stand. Immediately top with the crumbs from crushed amaretti.