Brunch on Sunday

We had a guest visiting us on Sunday. Since my sense of smell and taste was slowing coming back, I welcomed the chance to cook brunch for our vegetarian friend. I had most of the fresh produce from the farmer's market and garden. Dan and I wanted to try more recipes from the Herbal Kitchen mentioned in this post. I was happy to use many different herbs from our garden.
Summer roll with lettuce, basil, cilantro from our garden. I had 6 spears of asparagus left from a bunch I bought at the market and added to the rolls.

Potato Gratin. Dan thinks we sliced the potatoes too thin. We are going to try thicker slice next time and also make it with more liquid. I shouldn't pack down the potato layers next time. We used winter savory following the recipe and it tasted very good.
Gratin with grated zucchini, basil topped with bread crumbs (I used panko). This was so simple and surprisingly good.
I wanted peas to be the highlight of the meal, couldn't find a recipe I wanted to try, so went with impromptu salad. I blanched them in salt water and cooled in ice water. The dressing was made with olive oil (3), lemon juice (1), finely chopped garlic scapes (0.5), finely chopped pinch of rosemary , salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. I added green onions and baby yellow carrot from our garden. Peas, radish, and cucumber (which I added later and thus not on the photo) were from the farmer's market. Shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese were added on top.
I wanted to add hard-boiled eggs to my pea salad, but Dan wanted me to make egg salad. A scoop of egg salad on the side of pea salad was delicious, but I still think the wedges of hard-boiled eggs would have looked nicer.

It is very satisfying to work with the freshest ingredients in season. Peas are coming in abundance at the market. I am excited to see zucchini, cucumber, cabbages, potatoes, squash blossoms, and even tomatoes at the market. I need to make sure I pick them all up this Saturday.

Yeon