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Celebrate the best of early-season produce with this easy-to-prepare spring vegetable medley. It’s a simple dish but the fresh flavours really shine. Serve it as a vibrant side or turn it into a light lunch or supper with the addition of protein and carbs. It’s especially delicious piled onto wholemeal toast with egg mayo or soft scrambled eggs.

Bowl of spring vegetable medley with spoon and herbs.

The asparagus season is short, but wonderfully sweet. Don’t you just love it? This recipe is one of my favourite ways to enjoy those tender green spears. It lets you stretch that delicious flavour further without breaking the bank.

Dive Right In

Why You’ll Want To Make This Spring Vegetable Medley
Simple Medley of Spring Vegetables
Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
How To Make This Spring Vegetable Medley
How To Serve This Spring Vegetable Medley
Other Spring Vegetable Recipes You Might Like
Keep In Touch
Pin It
The Recipe

Why You’ll Want To Make My Spring Vegetable Medley

Celebrates seasonal produce – A lovely way to make the most of tender spring vegetables at their freshest and most flavoursome.
Flexible – Courgettes add bulk and texture, but you can swap them for another veg depending on what’s available. Or just use more of the asparagus, spring onions (scallions) and peas.
Fresh and vibrant – Mint, tarragon and lemon lift the whole dish, making it bright and full of spring energy.
Quick and easy – Ready in about fifteen minutes, with minimal prep and cooking time.
Simple ingredients, big flavour – No need for complex sauces, just a touch of butter, olive oil, herbs and lemon lets the vegetables shine.
Light yet satisfying – Gently sautéed veg with buttery herbs offers comfort without heaviness.
Versatile – Serve it as a side dish, or turn it into a meal with the addition of toast or grains and your favourite protein.

Simple Medley of Spring Vegetables

In order to appreciate the veg, this medley of spring vegetables is a simple dish. There’s not too much in the way of additional flavouring so those fresh spring flavours can leap out and delight.

I used a courgette in my spring vegetable medley. Courgettes are a summer crop here in the UK, but I’ve had a few in my veg box over the last few weeks and thought one would work well with asparagus and peas. It did.

Egg and asparagus go brilliantly together. And one of my favourite ways to eat this medley is with egg and wholemeal toast. I’ve had it with both scrambled egg and egg mayo and both are delicious.

As a side dish or light lunch, this recipe serves four people. However, if you want to turn it into a main dish where it’s the star of the show, it’s probably best for two to three people.

Ingredients, Substitutions And Additions

Other than the veg, you don’t need many additional ingredients to make this spring vegetable medley. Something to sauté the veg in, butter for richness and herbs and lemon for flavour and freshness.

Asparagus

The fresher your asparagus, the tastier it will be. Choose spears that are firm with tightly closed tips. The tips should be dark green or purple. Avoid anything that is either bendy or dry looking. Narrow spears are best for this recipe as they will cook faster, but if you have fat spears, just cut them a bit smaller.

Asparagus is a nutrient dense food, which means it has a high ratio of vitamins and minerals to calories. It’s high in vitamins A and C as well as folate and potassium. It’s said to be good for gut health, lowering blood pressure and decreasing inflammation. (Ref: BBC)

Courgette

Courgettes are not a spring crop here in the UK. However, they are just across the water in the South of France and Spain and they’re easily available at this time of year.

If you want to be true to spring, you might be able to find broad beans and you can use them instead. However, it’s a good idea to blanch them first before frying as they can be a little tough. You can also use frozen ones.

Alternatively, ditch the courgette and just use more asparagus, peas and spring onions (scallions).

Herbs

I’ve used mint and tarragon in this vegetarian recipe. Whilst I’d say mint is a must, you can use other herbs instead of or as well as the tarragon. Other herbs that are in season right now include: onion chives, garlic chives, dill, chervil and parsley. Any, or a mix of these work well.

Peas

Whilst fresh peas are in season by late spring here in the UK, they’re not always easy to get hold of. Unless you grow your own, of course. I use frozen peas, which always make me think of spring anyway.

How To Make This Spring Vegetable Medley

This vegetarian recipe is one of those delightful ones which only take fifteen minutes to prepare and cook from start to finish. A frying pan, spatula, knife and chopping board is all you need in terms of equipment.

Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking temperatures and quantities of ingredients used.

Step 1. Fry Courgette

Using a large sharp knife, dice the courgette into cubes measuring roughly one centimetre (just under half an inch).

Heat a large frying pan over a moderate heat. Add the oil, then toss in the courgette cubes. Fry, stirring occasionally, for three minutes until starting to soften.

Step 2. Add Asparagus

Whilst the courgette is frying, cut the asparagus into one to two centimetre lengths (about half an inch). But leave the tips whole, they are the best part after all. How long you make the lengths depends on how thick the stems are. You’ll need to cut thick stems shorter whilst narrow stems can go longer.

Add the lot to the pan and fry, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes.

Step 3. Add Spring Onions (Scallions) and Peas

Whilst the asparagus is frying, cut the spring onions, both white and green parts, into one to two centimetre lengths (half an inch). Again this will depend on how thick the stems are.

Add to the pan and stir-fry for a minute.

Add the peas to the pan. There’s no need to defrost them first if using frozen ones. Stir-fry these for two to three minutes. By this time, the veg should be cooked, but still have a bit of a bite.

Step 4. Finishing Touches

As soon as the veg is cooked, turn the heat off. Immediately add the butter and stir through to coat all of the veg.

Finely chop the herbs, taking out any tough stems if needed. Add these to the pan along with the pepper, finely grated lemon zest (if using) and a squeeze or two of lemon juice.

Stir well then taste test. If you think it needs it, add the salt. Serve immediately, whilst still warm.

How To Serve This Spring Vegetable Medley

This spring vegetable medley makes a versatile side dish that pairs well with all sorts of meals. It’s quick and easy to prepare, leaving you free to focus on the main event. Add some carbs and a source of protein and you can transform it into a light lunch or a satisfying main in its own right.

Here are some ideas on what to serve it with to make it that complete meal.

Egg On Toast – My favourite way to eat it is on toast with either egg mayonnaise or scrambled eggs. I use my egg mayo recipe minus the sweetcorn. It’s also good with vegan tofu scramble. I like my wholemeal bread made with my rye sourdough starter best for this. It makes the meal a little more robust.
Cream Cheese On Toast – Spring vegetable medley is also delicious over toast spread with cream cheese or my vegan cream cheese.
Hummus Topping – Serve on top of a bed of hummus or this roasted tomato bean dip and scoop up with flatbreads.
Couscous – Stir into couscous, with or without some chickpeas and maybe crumble some feta cheese over the top.
Pasta – Add some umami notes and a little protein. Finely grate some vegetarian Parmesan-type cheese into the veg along with the butter. Stir into cooked pasta with some more cheese grated over the top.
Polenta – Make some cheesy polenta and use it as a bed on which to serve this spring vegetable medley.

Other Spring Vegetable Recipes You Might Like

When it comes to spring in the UK, herbs and wild greens are your friend. Nettles, wild garlic and three-cornered leek are all up for grabs. Herbs such as chives, mint, dill, tarragon, parsley, sorrel and chervil are at their peek.

As for veg, it rather depends on the weather and growing conditions in any particular year. But you can generally expect: fresh fennel, artichokes, peas, broad beans, asparagus, baby carrots, watercress, spring onions (scallions), radishes, purple sprouting broccoli, spinach, spring greens and new potatoes. Take your pick.

Here are some of my spring vegetable recipes.

Keep in Touch

Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this spring vegetable medley, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for cooking with spring veg?

Please rate the recipe too. And do tag me @choclette8 on Instagram with your images, I love to see your take on my recipes.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more asparagus recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.

Choclette x

Spring Vegetable Medley. PIN IT.

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5 from 1 vote

Spring Vegetable Medley

Celebrate the best of early-season produce with this easy-to-prepare spring vegetable medley. It's a simple dish but the fresh flavours really shine. Serve it as a vibrant side or turn it into a light lunch or supper with the addition of protein and carbs. It’s especially delicious piled onto wholemeal toast with egg mayo or soft scrambled eggs.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Course: Lunch, Side Dish, Supper

Cuisine: British

Keyword: asparagus, courgettes, peas, quick, spring

Servings: people

Calories: 95kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium courgette (zucchini) diced into 1 cm cubes
250 g asparagus spears (1 bunch) preferably slim spears
4 spring onions (scallions)
80 g peas fresh or frozen
10 g salted butter
2 sprig mint finely chopped
2 sprig tarragon or dill – finely chopped
good grinding of black pepper
¼ lemon and optionally, finely grated zest
1 pinch fine sea or rock salt (optional)

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

Heat a large frying pan over a moderate heat. Add the oil, then toss in the courgette cubes. Fry, stirring occasionally for three minutes until starting to soften.
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 medium courgette (zucchini)
Whilst the courgette is frying, cut the asparagus into 1-2 cm lengths, depending on how thick the stems are, but leave the tips whole. Add the lot to the pan and stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
250 g asparagus spears
Cut the spring onions, both white and green parts into 1-2 cm lengths, again, depending on how thick the stems are. Add to the pan and stir-fry for a minute.
4 spring onions (scallions)
Add the peas, no need to defrost them if using frozen ones. Stir-fry these for two to three minutes. The veg should be cooked, but still have a bit of a bite.
80 g peas
Turn the heat off, add the butter and stir through.
10 g salted butter
Finally, add the herbs, pepper, lemon zest (if using) and a squeeze of lemon juice.
2 sprig mint, 2 sprig tarragon, good grinding of black pepper, ¼ lemon
Stir, taste test and if you think it needs it, add the salt. Serve whilst warm.
1 pinch fine sea or rock salt

Notes

Swap the herbs for other soft herbs such as chives, garlic chives, parsley or chervil, if liked. Or add them as extras.

There’s enough time, whilst the veg is cooking, to prepare the eggs and toast – if you want to serve my favourite way.

You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.

Nutrition Estimate

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.