On eating well, plus chive blossom butter

One of the greatest joys for anyone who loves to cook is getting their hands on really good ingredients. For me, that means food that’s fresh, seasonal, and as close to what Mother Nature intended as possible—vibrant, imperfect, and alive. There’s something so beautifully satisfying about letting the ingredients speak for themselves and building meals around what’s in season rather than trying to follow a rigid plan.

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Just yesterday, I made a hearty mushroom and walnut ragu with good Italian tomato sauce, a few spices, a dash of chili, and plenty of garlic. The mushrooms, blitzed with toasted walnuts, added incredible texture and depth to the deeply flavorful sauce. Stirred into some rigatoni, it was such a comforting meal. Next time, I might just top it with some plant-based cheese and turn it into an oven dish. If you’re cutting back on meat or just curious about eating more plants now and then, this kind of dish is such a rewarding place to start. Using real ingredients, in this case mushrooms and walnuts, is worlds better than resorting to store-bought meat substitutes (though I do use them from time to time too, I should say).

Since shifting to a plant-based diet, I’d say about 85% of our weekly groceries come from our local market. That’s where you find an abundance of color and flavor that serves as the foundation for wholesome dishes. I stock up on whatever fruits and vegetables are in season, along with a generous heap of greens—which, let’s be honest, most of us should be eating more of.

The incredible Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn—one of the pioneers in using nutrition to reverse heart disease—often emphasizes the importance of leafy greens. According to his research, eating greens several times a day helps heal the endothelium (the inner lining of our blood vessels), which is crucial for long-term cardiovascular health. His message is simple but powerful: food is medicine, and greens are some of the most potent healing tools we have. Think kale, collards, watercress, spinach, arugula, chard, beet greens, and even humble romaine. The more variety, the better. And enough reason for me to fill up my basket during every market trip.

Kale is wonderful massaged with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice for a sturdy salad or stirred into a hearty soup. Collards make excellent wraps when blanched—fill them with grains, beans, and a tahini drizzle. Watercress adds a peppery bite to sandwiches and salads, while baby spinach wilts beautifully into pasta dishes or tofu scrambles. Arugula is perfect tossed over pizza just before serving or blended into a zippy pesto. In fact, you can use carrot tops and radish greens, too. Try them in soups and pesto. Chard can be sautéed with garlic and olive oil or folded into pasta for added color and flavor. Even romaine or little gems aren’t just for salads. I love them grilled, topped with pine nuts, and drizzled with a chimichurri sauce.

Beyond fresh fruits and vegetables, the rest of our shopping haul, usually at our supermarket, includes whole grains, dried legumes, and pantry staples like good-quality canned tomatoes and beans, which are ideal for throwing together a comforting stew, soup, or quick pasta sauce on a busy weeknight. These ingredients are an integral part of a nourishing, flexible (and, above all, delicious) way of eating, but it all begins at the market for me.

I absolutely love these market trips. It’s so grounding to walk through stalls overflowing with color, talk to the growers, taste, experience. Over time, you start to recognize faces, know who grows the best herbs, or who always brings in the juiciest peaches.

To really make the most of your market trips, go early if you can, before the crowds arrive and the best produce is gone. Bring your own bags, a basket if you like, and maybe even a few containers if you’re picking up berries or delicate greens. Go with an open mind and let the seasonal produce guide your meal planning. Taste things you’ve never tried before. Ask the vendors what they recommend or how they like to cook something unfamiliar. You’ll often leave with a new idea or a family recipe.

(Side Note: For those interested, back in 2019, I wrote Market Fresh Cooking: A Taste of the French Countryside with more than 30 delicious and colorful recipes that were inspired by the bounty of French markets and are easy to make. From tasty starters such as Burgundy’s famous gougères, to perfect lunch dishes such as a crisp tomato tart, quiches, and vibrant soups. You’ll even find beautiful desserts, among them a delicate apricot tart and a classic flan parisien that tastes like it came straight out of a French bakery. The book is only available in eBook format: regular version and print replica version.)

This past Saturday, I came home with the most delightful haul: the sweetest strawberries we’ve tasted in a long time, ruby-red raspberries destined for another clafoutis (I’m obsessed with this recipe!), a bunch of cavolo nero that looks like it came straight out of a painting, and the usual carrots, leeks, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and a couple of fat aubergines for a pasta alla Norma I’ll be making today. But what really caught my eye was a bunch of vivid pink radishes.

Those radishes ended up inspiring a lunch so simple and so lovely I just had to share it: crusty slices of sourdough slathered with homemade chive blossom butter, topped with whisper-thin slices of radishes. If culinary perfection exists, this might be it.

Chive blossoms—those whimsical little purple pom-poms that bloom in late spring and early summer—are not only beautiful but incredibly underrated. They grow atop chive plants and have a mild, oniony flavor that’s perfect for adding just a hint of sharpness without overpowering a dish.

I mixed them into soft butter with a pinch of salt, and the result was floral, savory, and so delicious. The contrast of the cool, creamy butter, the crisp radishes, and the earthy sourdough is truly the taste of spring in every bite.

The beauty of chive blossoms is in their versatility. You can stir them into softened (plant-based) cheese, use them in dressings, scatter them over salads or soups, or steep them in vinegar for a subtly flavored infusion. But sadly, many people overlook them, not realizing they’re edible. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired to give them a try. And I promise—once you taste chive blossom butter on fresh bread with crisp radishes, you’ll never walk past those delicate little blooms again without imagining the possibilities.

Tartine with beurre fleur de ciboulette & pink radishes

Ingredients:
6 chive blossoms
50g (plant-based) butter, softened
½ tsp fleur de sel

Pluck the blooms apart, mash into the softened butter, and season with fleur de sel. C’est tout!