40+ Healthy Spring Recipes to Celebrate The Season
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Super healthy recipes to make this spring featuring healthy seasonal produce and spring flavors. 12 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.
I am wholeheartedly in love with spring. Huge bushels of ramps, asparagus, rhubarb, and sugar snap peas overflowing at the local farmers market is enough to send me straight into a tearful fit of joy.
After a long cold winter, I cannot wait to dig into fresh vibrant produce. Nature is so infinitely wise, so dang smart. Springtime food is perfectly designed to help your body transition from winter to spring by supporting detoxification channels, increasing liver support, and providing an array of antioxidants and nutrients.
The liver is the primary organ responsible for detoxification and spring is the season of the liver! Just like the earth wants to shed its winter layer and produce gorgeous spring blooms so does our body want to shed unwanted toxicity and feel rejuvenated and renewed.
Although technically the markets here in New York are still sporting their winter wares, I know my spring produce is just around the corner. Here is a list of some of my all-time favorite spring recipes featuring the flavors of spring and the local seasonal produce of spring.
Let’s do this thing!
Breakfast
Springtime is all about putting lemon in everything (a solid 70% of these recipes are with lemon). That bright citrus kick just reminds me of sunshine and happiness.
This breakfast is a little twist on a yogurt parfait adding crumbled lemon chia seed muffins. If you are someone that happens to like delicious things than this will definitely be your jam ๐
Just layer with greek yogurt (or coconut yogurt for a vegan version), fresh fruit, a little superfood love, and you have the best way to start your spring morning.
A gorgeous and super nutritious smoothie bowl loaded with functional ingredients to help you combat seasonal allergies. Good AND crazy good for you. This fresh turmeric smoothie bowl is also banana free, the base is creamy cauliflower (don’t knock it till ya try it) and frozen mango. Go ahead and give this one a try ๐
Salads
If you want to make all of your office mates jealous than this is clearly your spring recipe for lunch. I would pair it with some veggies on the side (because half your plate is always vegetables, right?). This is a savory sweet recipe that is crazy town delicious. Roasted rhubarb is tart and pairs perfectly with creamy ricotta cheese and fresh mint.
I love eating it room temperature so just heat it up in the morning and by the time lunch rolls around it will be spring perfection. Rhubarb also happens to be a nutrition superstar; high in fiber, excellent for digestion, high in vitamin K (hello bone health), high in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and can be used therapeutically to relieve constipation.
This is my go-to lunch in springtime. Chocked full of healthy nutrient dense foods to support my body and make me feel fantastic! I specifically choose each and every ingredient in this bowl for maximum nutritional benefit, if you are into that kind of thing you can read all about it here ๐
Do you jump for joy when the first strawberries of the season hit the markets? Yeah, me too. I love this simple vegetarian salad featuring local fresh strawberries. This is easily vegan by ommiting the blue cheese, but the BLUE CHEESE OMG! So yummy ๐
Dinner
Of all the recipes on the blog, I have probably made this one the most. It never disappoints. I have my little sister hooked on it too, she makes it with Trader Joe’s frozen sole which is super inexpensive and defrosts in about 10 minutes! This entire recipe takes 30 minutes from start to finish. It is paleo, low carb, and keto friendly (if you are into that), and truly scrumptious.
The dinner section of this post should be called, “All Abra wants for dinner is lemon”. Lemon plus carbs is OMG my favorite. Creamy lemon pasta with spinach and fresh peas = drool. I want it right now.
Hey there, creamy lemon carb-ey recipe! This is the worlds best risotto and I don’t care if that sounds boastful ๐ Seriously the addition of a peppery arugula fennel salad on top is just perfection. Also, it doesn’t hurt that it comes together in 30 minutes!
This is a one-pan (plus one bowl) wonder and once you’ve had meyer lemon salsa your life is forever better. True story.
Side Dishes
Dandelion greens are a powerful vegetable, the nutrients packed into one little green leaf is quite astounding. Known primarily for their ability to support liver health, aid in detoxification, and prevent disease, dandelion greens should be much more popular than they are, IMHO.
Sauteed with bacon and a bit of maple syrup make these typically bitter greens much more palatable and dare I say delicious? Oh yes! I dare. I eat this for lunch quite often in the spring with a little addition of quinoa or brown rice for a complete meal.
Desserts
Not sure you need any additional nudging to try this recipe, I mean just look at it! All those fresh seasonal strawberries, coconut whipped cream, a simple and luscious almond cake. YUM!
When fresh chamomile shows up at the market I am all abuzz with excitement. I love the smell, the taste, the calming effect, I love everything about chamomile. I decided to try baking with fresh chamomile last spring and I will never be the same ๐ Seriously, the flavor of fresh chamomile is just heavenly. I also wrote a whole love song to chamomile (more of a post than a song) including 10 amazing things you can do with fresh chamomile.
Drinks
Meet Abra Pappa, MS, CNS, LDN
Abra is a licensed nutritionist, seasoned home cook, and forever flavor-chaser. Sheโs spent more than two decades exploring the connection between food and healthโand just as long obsessing over what makes something truly delicious. Abraโs Kitchen is where those two loves meet, with recipes that celebrate vegetables, follow the seasons, and make you excited to cook.
great. each recipe looks so good. i would love to try them all. thanks.