Asparagus is one of our family's favourite vegetables. We eat it almost every night when it is in season. Luckily for us, the Butcher whanau on the other hill grow their own and always drop off a bundle at the start of the season. We love eating it simply with some butter, salt and pepper but if we want to get a little fancier we make this asparagus and watercress tart.
Watercress can be collected from all of the creeks in our area and it is at its sweetest at this time of year. This tart is a favourite because it uses two of our favourite spring vegetables. It is simple to make but always looks impressive when you serve it.
New potatoes are another staple during this season. We love to par boil them, slice them and then cook them on the barbecue with lots of garlic. Alternatively we boil them up and add butter and mint.
This recipe is for our new potato and smoked fish salad. Our other neighbours have built a huge smoker out of an old fridge and we get very excited when we can smell the woodchips beginning to be heated.
The sweet new potatoes are so good with the freshly smoked fish and we love adding lots of fresh parsley and lemon juice.
Mangoes are delicious this time of year as well. This dessert is super simple and perfect for a light after-dinner treat.
We love cooking the mango on the barbecue hotplate on a warm evening. The toasted coconut goes really well with the sweet mango flesh that gets deliciously caramelised.
Coconut icecream is perfect with this dessert but feel free to use vanilla if you cannot find coconut-flavoured icecream in your local supermarket.
Try Kasey and Karena's delicious recipes at bite.co.nz
• Smoked Kahawai and New Potato Salad
• Watercress and Asparagus Tart
• Grilled Mango
