Friday Five - favorite spring foods

It is time for the Friday Five link up with Mar, Cynthia and Courtney and this week's theme has to do with one of my favorite things, food!  Specifically, our favorite spring foods.  I haven't really started busting out the Spring foods yet since the weather still feels a bit like soup weather.  But I am ready for Spring to start any day now.  And when the weather starts warming, I always begin craving fresh produce.  So here are some of my favorite ways that I've used fresh veggies and fruit.

1.  Okra Stew - This is a hot dish but it uses tons of fresh veggies and it tastes perfect for Spring evening when the weather may still be a little cool but you can taste the summer coming!

 

2.  Grilled Ratatouille -  Ratatouille is sort of a go to way to use up a bunch of vegetables, and can be made in a ton of different ways.  But one of the things we are itching to do by the time Spring weather rolls around again is fire up the grill.  This is a great vegetarian option for the grill.

3. Stone Fruits - I love peaches, especially the really ripe ones at the peak of Summer.  It's not quite time for that yet but I do get antsy for them and start eating them early in Spring.  I can't help myself! But one way to improve not yet in season peaches is to cook them up a bit.  And it can't hurt to pair them with ice cream :)

 

4.  Rice and grilled vegetable salad - Here is another option for the grill.  It can use whatever veggies are in season and is pretty easy to put together as either a side or vegetarian main dish.

5.  Homemade granola - And what about breakfast?  As the weather warms up I tend to want to move away from hot oatmeals and eggs.  I have this homemade granola (using a weight watchers recipe) that tastes great with greek yogurt and fresh fruit.  Hmm... I might need to make this one again this weekend.

So these are some of my Spring cravings.  Anything specific you start craving as the weather warms up?