The theme for a recent luncheon honoring my friend, Missy, was Spring Veggies. I was looking for light yet filling recipes that featured seasonal fruits and veggies in the starring role. We had four courses, but they weren't heavy...just delicious! I began with a Spring Pea with Mint Soup. I've made a similar soup before for St. Patrick's Day. You can see that recipe here. That version included ham croutons and was a littler heavier. A great soup for cooler weather. This soup also used frozen peas, but I omitted the ham and added lots of fresh mint as I pureed it. I made this the night before and just reheated it before serving. I set out some heavy cream and allowed it to come to room temp. I drizzled a little on the soup then gave each serving a generous amount of fresh cracked pepper. So yummy! And the color was perfect for Spring. There really was a fresh taste to this with the added mint. Next time I'll add more!
Our second course was a fresh berry green salad. I started with a bed of mixed greens, then added blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. I then added on some mixed honey roasted nuts and a sprinkling of feta cheese. Finally, I dressed it with a Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing. It was a mixture of champagne vinegar, fresh raspberries, honey, EVOO, salt and pepper. I made it the day before and put it in the fridge. Be sure to remove it about 20-30 minutes before serving so the ingredients can come to room temp and them be easily re-emulsified.
There's nothing better and more comforting that a homemade chicken pot pie! I love to make this dish year round. This time, I made it a little lighter (ha, ha!) by leaving off the crust. I baked it in individual dishes, and then "garnished" it with a small piece of puffed pastry that I baked while the pot pie was cooking. The pot pie featured spring carrots, celery, and yummy onion, plus a number of fresh herbs from my herb garden. You can see my recipe for rustic chicken pot pie here. It's so easy and soooooo much better than frozen!
Finally, we ended with what else? Carrot Cake! I will call carrot cake "healthy" until my dying day. Don't agree? Fight me! You can find my recipe for carrot cake here.
After our meal, I loaded the dishwasher, and we headed down the road to our favorite coffee shop, Restoration 49. We sat for another couple of hours enjoying the company...especially our time with Missy!
The boys had gone to Fox's Pizza in Prattville for lunch on their own, but you know Brack Jones is never going to turn down a coffee date!
As I said in the last post, two of the girls had class and couldn't make it. We really missed them! But these sweet girls sure enjoyed their time together. Missy, Holland, and Nash are back in Pennsylvania, and have had snow at least once more since then! We're already making plans for the next visit. We may be heading north soon!
I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!
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***All pictures are original and are the property of Missy Hilyer Jones. Please do not use without giving proper credit to me and the blog post they were originally used in. Thanks!
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