In season

Celebrate the warmer weather with this light, herby salad topped with goat's cheese and spiced almonds.

Feeding a family of big eaters is expensive! When I find a meat-free meal they enjoy, it helps the weekly budget. This risotto is the kind of dish that can be made if there are the very barest of essentials in the cupboard. It has light flavours to match the season. I do have to pay attention to the pot, but only for half an hour, so it’s no drama.

We used butter beans for this recipe, but you can use any white beans. Note

Celebrate spring with this beautiful salad of young asparagus, avocado and juicy grapefruit.

The ideal salad: delicious, healthy and filling.

Broad beans are also known as fava beans. They mash up beautifully and work well as a dip, or spread on warm crusty bread with a drizzle of olive oil.

Begin your day with this easy, fresh and nutritious meal.

Tender grilled teriyaki lamb skewers with a refreshing and crunchy carrot salad make a great lunch or light dinner. Serve with steamed rice or noodles if you need something slightly more substantial.

The astringent perfume of quince is the perfect counterbalance to the sweet honey in this fragrant lamb and couscous dish.

The barbecue is the perfect way to cook a butterflied leg of lamb. Have your butcher trim, split, and debone a whole leg for you.

Smoked salmon can be used instead of trout, if preferred. Note

Gnocchi with caramelised pumpkin & sage sauce

Serve slices of this moreish pizza at your next party and watch as they quickly disappear.

Star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sichuan pepper and fennel seeds are the spices that make these lamb shanks in five-spice with tamarind and ginger so fragrant.

Elegant and delicate without sacrificing flavour, this angel hair pasta with salmon roe and chervil is a great dinner party or lunch party recipe.

Tender and fragrant, these lamb racks with garlic, sage and red onion make a fabulous main dish for a dinner party. The rule of thumb is one rack per adult guest.

Light, fluffy and moist, this divine mandarin, polenta and macadamia cake is packed full of flavour and is beautiful served sliced as morning or afternoon tea.

This Mexican-style corn soup is delicately spiced with garlic, chilli and cumin. The crunchy tortilla strips and jalapeños sour cream are both moreish, so make sure to have plenty on hand.

Tender lamb cutlets are just fabulous with baby beetroot and a dollop tzatziki. You can boil, steam or roast the baby beets, but roasting them brings out the flavour best.

A cross between mandarins and grapefruit, tangelos make a jam that's sweeter than marmalade yet still tart, thanks to the fruit's natural acidity. This jam is particularly good spooned generously over rice pudding or served with tangelo cake.

Sweet and tart all at the same time.

Gruyère is a hard-rind Swiss cheese with small holes and a nutty, slightly salty, flavour. It is a popular cheese for soufflés as it melts easily. Like a traditional soufflé, this soufflé omelette should be eaten straight away to prevent it sinking. Note

A delicious soup full of seasonal spring vegetables.