Spring Recipes: A Vegetarian’s Delight

A Potpourri of Spring Sips & Bites

Curated by Hailey Bethke

Spring is upon us, and with it comes the promise of warmer days and joyful gatherings. From graduations to Memorial Day celebrations, the season encourages a fresh approach to entertaining—with vibrant, shareable dishes at the center of every table. Whether serving light bites and playful cocktails or zero-proof sips, this curated lineup is sure to brighten any tablescape. Keeping in mind a plant-based and alcohol-free diet that can easily accommodate our friends and family, we collaborated with several incredible cookbook authors for their favorite snacks and drinks. We are thrilled to share their dishes with refreshing spring concoctions to enjoy guilt-free.

For years, Mamrie Hart, a New York Times bestselling author, comedian, podcast host, and longtime vegetarian, has created mouthwatering meat-free meals and snacks on her social media. Now, she’s sharing them with us in her new cookbook, All I Think About Is Food, which will be available in April! Meanwhile, award-winning author Ellen Kanner will bring Miami to your table with over eighty sun-drenched, tropical recipes in her new cookbook, Miami Vegan, set to release in May. London-based chef and supper club expert Lauren Lovatt recently released her second cookbook, Plant Academy, in January and is thrilled to share her delicious and visually stunning vegan recipes. We’re thrilled to showcase some of these authors’ dishes and drinks here as we look forward to spring events and family dinners.

Last but not least, nonalcoholic apéritif brand Ghia shared a few spring-forward mocktails so we can raise a glass to good health, longer days, vibrant flavors, and moments worth savoring!

—

Broccoli Salad Summer Rolls

By Mamrie Hart, author of All I Think About Is Food

AllIThinkAboutIsFood.com | @mametown

I love raw broccoli. I’ve been known to even bust into a bag of florets on the way home from the grocery store. Considering I like broccoli in its purest form, you better believe I have a soft spot for a classic broccoli salad, like the kind you’d find at a church potluck. Even then, it can be a bit too clunky. We elevate the eating experience here by rolling up a salad into dainty little summer rolls. Extra points if you add violets or other edible flowers. Trust me, these will have your Southern Soiree guests putting their hands to their chests and gasping at their beauty. You might want to have a fainting couch handy.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 cups diced broccoli

1 cup diced celery

1 cup dried cranberries, diced

1 cup fried onions (like French’s or other store-­bought)

1 cup shredded cheddar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Package of summer roll wrappers

Bowl of hot water

Tahini Sauce (See BYO Baba Ghanoush recipe)

Extra Credit: Fresh violets or other edible flowers to make them pretty.

Directions

This sturdy salad can easily retain its texture after a night in the fridge. So, if you feel like you made too much or your wrist goes on strike from rolling, simply refrigerate and eat tomorrow.

Just like a kale salad, raw broccoli needs a bit of a massage. So, in a bowl, drizzle olive oil over the broccoli and give it a little shiatsu! Combine the relaxed broccoli, celery, cranberries, fried onions, and cheddar with the red wine vinegar. Give a toss, and add salt and pepper to taste. At this point, you’ve got a mayo-­free broccoli salad, but we’ll make it pretty.

Lay out your rolling station. My setup is a cutting board with a tea towel spread out on it and a large bowl of hot water. You want it hot enough to soften the wrappers but not burn off your fingerprints. One by one, take a summer roll wrapper and dip it in water till it goes clear and pliable. You will want to hold it on either side to keep it spread. Like, if you’ve ever worn a sheet mask, hold it like you do when you’ve taken it off the plastic and are about to put it on your face. OK, your wrapper is ready. Place it on the tea towel flat, scoop on some of the broccoli salad mix (and flower, if using), spread it across the wrap, tuck in the side, and roll on up. Serve alongside your dipping sauce and feel bad that you are about to destroy your beautiful work.

—

BYO Baba Ghanoush

By Mamrie Hart, author of All I Think About Is Food

AllIThinkAboutIsFood.com | @mametown

Be careful, y’all. Baba ghanoush is a gateway dish for starting to like eggplant. Which is a fruit, by the way! The first time I dipped into some baba, I went in assuming it was a bowl of hummus. I was blown away. What was this earthy concoction? It was smoky. It was creamy. It was my new favorite dip. Before that, I thought eggplant was just an overrated sponge. Whenever I make my own, though, I hate throwing away the beautiful, charred skin just to puree everything. This open-­faced take is faster and better looking. Serve it with crackers, lavash, or crusty bread.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 large eggplant

Olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon sumac

½ cup chopped flat-­leaf parsley, more for garnish

4 tablespoons Tahini Sauce (See below)

For Serving

Pomegranate seeds

Hazelnut Salsa Macha (See below)

Pine nuts

Directions

Coat the eggplant in a healthy dose of olive oil and give it a few pokes of a fork so it doesn’t explode before putting it on the grill. Once on the grill, turn it every couple of minutes until it is blackened and tender to the touch of your tongs. If it’s charring up too fast but not done, move to the higher rack off the heat, or grab a cast iron, and let it continue to roast in the closed grill like an oven for 10 minutes or until fully tender. Take it off the heat to let it cool down till you are able to handle it.

Cut a slit down the center of the eggplant and open it up like you’re performing open heart surgery. Dump in your cumin, paprika, sumac, parsley, and half your tahini sauce. Then, take two forks to mix in and almost shred the inside like you would chicken or pulled pork. What you’re trying to do is make the inside creamy and dip-­like without breaking the outside skin. When it’s a good consistency, drizzle the rest of your tahini sauce, dust with sumac if you have it, and garnish with more parsley and whatever else sounds good!

Tahini Sauce

½ cup tahini

3–4 tablespoons water, more if needed

3 tablespoons lemon juice, more if needed

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil, more if needed

Salt

Pepper

Put everything in a blender or food processor. If you aren’t using one, mince the heck out of the garlic before whisking everything together. If it’s too thin, add more water or oil. Too bland? Perhaps more lemon or a little garlic. Taste and assess; you’ve got this!

Hazelnut Salsa Macha

4 garlic cloves

1 medium shallot

½ cup hazelnuts (but could use whichever nut you prefer)

3–4 dried guajillo chilies

1 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon coriander seeds (if you don’t have them, you can use ground)

2 tablespoons apple cider or white vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoon pepitas (optional)

First, give your garlic, shallot, and hazelnuts a rough chop. We want a little more surface area for toasting, but it’ll eventually go into a food processor, so don’t be too precious about it. Next, remove the stems from the chilies. Break them up a little and discard all the seeds. I break out the pandemic stash of plastic gloves for this!

In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium before adding the garlic, hazelnuts, and coriander. If you use ground coriander, wait to add it in the next step. You want to sweat the garlic and lightly toast the nuts and coriander seeds before adding the chilies. Stir for 2–3 minutes, then take off the heat and cool.

Dump all this goodness in a food processor along with the vinegar and sesame seeds. I prefer keeping my sesame seeds raw, but if you want them toasted, go for it. Give it some good blending pulses to get it all combined with still a little texture. You want a salsa, not a sauce. I like to add in some toasted whole pepitas at the end for extra texture. This will store in an airtight container for up to a month, but I doubt it’ll be there that long. Put it on breakfast tacos! Add a dollop to a creamy soup! Use it to make spicy bread crumbs!

—

Cowboy Caviar

By Ellen Kanner, author of Miami Vegan (coming May 2025)

SoulfulVegan.com | @ellenkanner

Cowboys started in Florida. So did cows. It’s a fact. The country’s first cows came to the New World from the Old World. Some credit Columbus, some credit Ponce de Leon, but either way, cows sailed over here from Spain. That must have been a tough trip for a bovine. Cowboy caviar, however, comes from Texas and was created, according to legend, by the director of Neiman Marcus restaurants.

Cowboy caviar contains no cow, no caviar. It’s vegan and always has been, with beans, corn, and peppers traditionally dressed with a little vinegar and sugar for a sweet-sour kind of deal. It’s sort of salad, sort of salsa, with a gentle joke of a name—not too many cows or cowboys shop at Neiman Marcus. Dialing up the lime juice and adding pigeon peas and allspice makes it Miami.

Serves 4–6

Ingredients

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon cane sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon allspice

For the caviar:

2 cups black-eyed peas, cooked and cooled

2 cups pigeon peas or black beans, cooked and cooled

2 ears corn (about 1 ½ cups)

1 red pepper, diced (about 1 cup)

1 jalapeño, minced

1 ripe tomato or ½ pint grape tomatoes, diced

½ cup mild onion, like Vidalia, sliced, or ½ cup thinly sliced scallions

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 handful cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions

In a small bowl, pour in the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, cane sugar, cumin, and allspice. Whisk together for a minute or two until sugar dissolves and the dressing emulsifies. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine black-eyed peas and pigeon peas (or black beans), corn, sweet pepper, jalapeño, tomato, and onion. Give a good stir so everything’s mixed together.

Pour the dressing over the beans and corn mixture and stir again. Season generously with sea salt and pepper. The recipe can be made up to a day ahead and kept covered and refrigerated at this point.

Just before serving, add the cilantro, taste again for salt, and toss again.

How to serve: Make cowboy caviar ahead and keep it covered and refrigerated, letting the dressing infuse the ingredients. Cowboy caviar is a happy addition to a picnic, potluck, buffet, or tailgate. It won’t wilt or turn soggy. Serve with flatbread. For a fun party presentation, just before serving, split a Florida avocado and remove the pit. Stuff the well with cowboy caviar. Sprinkle a little lime juice on the exposed avocado halves to keep them looking fresh.

—

Fermented Ginger Cheesecake

By Lauren Lovatt, author of Plant Academy: The Cookbook (Leaping Hare Press)

PlantAcademy.co.uk | @lauren_lovatt

Cashew cheesecakes are a classic in the world of plant-based desserts. Cashews make a fine cream and are one of the most effective ways to make a mascarpone-style cream. This tart uses the power of fermentation to give the dessert a more complex flavor (and also makes the nuts easier to digest). This cheesecake also has a cooked biscuit base to create an interesting, delicious tart that stands apart from the crowd!

Yields: One 20-centimeter (8-inch) round or square cake

Serves 12

Time: 1 hour, plus a minimum of 4 hours to set

Ingredients

For the fermented cashew base:

200 grams (7 ounces) cashews, soaked for 4 hours in filtered water, then drained and well-rinsed

150 milliliters (5 ½ ounces or ⅔ cup) filtered water

50 milliliters (1 ½ ounces or 3 ½ tablespoons) ginger or plain kombucha

For the chestnut biscuit base:

100 grams (3 ½ ounces or ⅔ cup) chestnut flour, plus extra

for dusting

150 grams (5 ½ ounces or 1 ¼ cups) gluten-free flour blend

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons coconut sugar

180 grams (6 ½ ounces) Vegan Butter or coconut oil, cut into small cubes

80 grams (2 ¾ ounces) thick coconut yogurt

For the ginger cream:

1 Fermented Cashew Base (above)

100 milliliters (3 ½ ounces or scant ½ cup) almond milk

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon

75 milliliters (2 ½ ounces or ⅓ cup) honey or agave

20 grams (¾ ounce) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground turmeric or 2 tablespoons fresh turmeric juice

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon sea salt

70 grams (2 ½ ounces) cacao butter, melted

150 milliliters (5 ½ ounces or ⅔ cup) coconut oil, melted

Equipment

High-powered blender

Clean muslin (cheesecloth)

Rubber band or string

20-centimeter (8-inch) round or square baking tin

Directions

Fermented Cashew Base: Blend the soaked and rinsed cashews with the water in a high-powered blender until silky smooth, scraping down the blender jug a few times with a spatula and blending until you have a smooth mix. Transfer to a sterilized large glass jar or bowl and make sure it is room temperature before stirring in the ginger bug or kombucha. Cover the jar or bowl with a loose lid or clean cloth, secure it with string or a rubber band, and leave it somewhere ambient in your kitchen to ferment overnight (do not put the mixture in the fridge). The next day, the mixture should be lightly aerated and ready for the next step.

Chestnut Biscuit Base: Combine the flours, salt, sugar, and cubed butter or oil in a large mixing bowl. Lightly rub the mixture between your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs, lightly shaking the bowl from side to side to bring any lumps to the surface and continuing to rub until there are none left. Add the coconut yogurt and mix well using a spoon, then start lightly kneading with your hands. It should form a smooth dough.

Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (fan) or 200 ºC or 400 ºF or Gas 6, and line the base and sides of a round or square baking tin with some baking parchment.

Dust a clean surface with flour and roll out the dough to a thickness of 5 millimeters (¼ inch). You can also press the dough into the base of the tin and use the back of the spoon to smooth it. Prick the pastry with a fork and bake for 15–20 minutes until golden.

Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin.

Ginger Cream: Blend the fermented cashew base with the almond milk, lemon juice, sweetener, and fresh ginger until silky smooth. Add the rest of the spices, the salt, and lemon zest, and blend again. Finally, stream in the melted cacao butter and coconut oil while the motor’s running and blend until well combined. Pour the ginger cream onto the baked and cooled chestnut pastry and set in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Once firm to touch, cut the cake into roughly 12 pieces and enjoy.

—

Stove-Top Flapjacks

By Lauren Lovatt, author of Plant Academy: The Cookbook (Leaping Hare Press)

PlantAcademy.co.uk | @lauren_lovatt

What happened to the good old-fashioned flapjack? This recipe is inspired by that forgotten classic: a mix of textured oats, fruits, and seeds bound together with honey, tahini, melted coconut oil, and cacao butter. These simple flapjacks are an ideal snack that you can spike with herbs, spices, or adaptogens. I love to make them for a week when I am on the go or if I need an offering for gathering with friends.

Yields 5 Medium Flapjacks

Time: 30 minutes, plus 2 hours to set

Ingredients

50 grams (1 ¾ ounces) pumpkin seeds

50 grams (1 ¾ ounces) sunflower seeds

150 grams (5 ½ ounces) gluten-free rolled oats

50 grams (1 ¾ ounces) dried fruits (I use cranberries here); larger dried fruits may need chopping

30 grams (1 ounce) cacao butter

50 grams (1 ¾ ounces) coconut oil

50 grams (1 ¾ ounces) light tahini

40 grams (1 ½ ounces) honey, coconut nectar, or maple syrup

10 grams (⅓ ounces) rosemary needles, finely chopped

½ teaspoon sea salt

Directions

Heat a large, deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the seeds and oats and toast for a few minutes until the seeds start to pop and the oats are lightly golden. Add the dried fruits and stir to combine. Then add the cacao butter and coconut oil and keep stirring the mixture while the oils melt. It is important that everything is very well combined.

Drizzle the tahini and honey over the mixture, sprinkle with the rosemary and salt, and mix well again. Turn off the heat. Line a tin or airtight plastic container (approximately 10 x 20 centimeters or 4 x 8 inches) with baking paper or cling film, being sure to cover the base and sides of the container.

Add the mixture to the lined container and press down firmly to ensure the flapjacks hold together. Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least 2 hours, until set. Cut, serve, and enjoy! These flapjacks will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for at least 1 week, if they aren’t eaten before then!

Tip: This recipe makes a great cheesecake base. You can swap the seeds for nuts or a different selection of seeds, or switch the sweetener if you prefer maple syrup or agave. You could even change the oats for rye, buckwheat, or spelt flakes.

—

The Hi-Life Mocktail

Recipe courtesy of Ghia | DrinkGhia.com

Warm florals. Sweet pine. A late afternoon garden party.

Ingredients

2 ½ ounces Ghia Apéritif

1 ounces tonic

Crushed rose petal

Fresh sage leaf

Directions

Pour Ghia Apéritif into a shaker. Add ice and shake. Add tonic and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with crushed rose petal and fresh sage leaf.

—

Melonial Mocktail

Recipe courtesy of Ghia | DrinkGhia.com

Ingredients

2 ounces melon juice (Honeydew or available equivalent to be prepared beforehand; simply remove skin & seeds, cut into large slices, blend until smooth, & fine strain for juice. A medium-sized, ripe melon yields around 25 ounces or 750 milliliters of strained juice)

1 ounce Ghia Berry Apéritif

150 milliliters of tonic water

Garnish with fresh herbs (rosemary or equivalent) and lemon wheel

Directions

Pour melon juice, Ghia Berry Apéritif, and tonic water into a glass. Top with ice and garnish with rosemary (or another herb) and a lemon wheel.

—

Whatever Floats Your Boat Mocktail

Recipe courtesy of Ghia | DrinkGhia.com

Ingredients

3 cucumber slices (plus more for garnish)

¾ ounce Honey syrup (1:1 ratio)

½ ounce Lemon juice

1 ½ Ghia Berry Apéritif

Fennel pollen for garnish

Directions

Muddle cucumber slices in a shaker tin. Add honey syrup and lemon juice and shake. Finely strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Float the Ghia Berry Apéritif and garnish with a cucumber slice and a pinch of fennel pollen.

Recipe Courtesy of Ghia

—

Goodbye Earl

By Mamrie Hart, author of All I Think About Is Food

AllIThinkAboutIsFood.com | @mametown

When I found out my beloved bergamot looked like a wrinkly lime, I was shocked. I don’t know what I was expecting. A spice? A leafy herb? As for my attraction to Earl Grey tea, it suddenly made sense. I’m a self-­proclaimed “citrus slut,” so it’s no wonder I gravitated toward the lemon and bitter orange flavorings of Earl Grey, which is scented with bergamot oil.

This drink was created when hanging out at a cooking retreat with one of my Southern chef heroes, Vivian Howard. I was making cocktails for all the ladies attending and had come up with this concoction, simply calling it an Earl Grey Old-­Fashioned or something basic like that. But after a night out on Bald Head Island where the whole gang scream-­sang “Goodbye Earl” by the Chicks at a karaoke bar, I had found a name.

This drink might look soft, but it’ll knock you on your ass like you’re drinking on rollerblades. So, if you want to temper it, top with club soda.

Makes 1 cocktail

For the Earl Grey Bourbon

Makes enough for 8 drinks

16 ounces bourbon

4 bags of Earl Grey tea

For the Cocktail

2 ounce Earl Grey Bourbon

1 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce honey simple syrup

Lemon and a really good maraschino cherry for garnish

Directions

Put your bourbon in a big mason jar and drop in the tea bags. I like to steep this for 2 ½ to 3 hours. Unlike some more floral teas, Earl Grey can turn bitter quickly if steeped too long. Once it’s tasting right, fish out the tea bags (with tongs, not your hands, you animal).

In a shaker full of ice, combine 2 ounces of the Earl Grey bourbon, lemon juice, and honey simple syrup. Shake until cold, then pour over a big ice cube. Garnish with a lemon, cherry, and the entirety of the Chicks music catalog.

Tip: If this drink hits the flavor notes for you but is a little too strong, you can always treat it like an Arnold Palmer. That is, make your Earl Grey bourbon and top it with lemonade.

—

Kombucha-Litas

By Lauren Lovatt, author of Plant Academy: The Cookbook (Leaping Hare Press)

PlantAcademy.co.uk | @lauren_lovatt

Serves 2

Ingredients

Juice of 1 large grapefruit

Juice of 1 lime

250 milliliter (8 ½ ounces or 1 cup) Kombucha

Icecubes, to serve

Rosemary spring or twist of lime, to garnish

For the rosemary syrup:

1 rosemary sprig

Grated zest of 1 grapefruit

100 grams (3 ½ ounces) agave syrup

100 milliliter (3 ½ ounces or scant ½ cup)

filtered water

For the spiced salt:

3 tablespoons smoked sea salt

1 teaspoon dried chili (pepper) flakes

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Rosemary Syrup: Put the rosemary, grapefruit zest, agave, and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Place a sieve over a small heatproof bowl, strain the mixture through the sieve, and leave to cool.

Spiced Salt: Mix the ingredients together on a small plate. Use the lime or grapefruit juice to kiss the rim of two glasses and then dip the rims in the spiced salt mixture, moving the glasses around gently to make sure enough of the mixture sticks to them.

Now, prepare the glasses with some ice; you can choose how much you like to use. Add half of the grapefruit and lime juice to each glass and top up with kombucha, then drizzle in 1–2 tablespoons of the rosemary syrup. Store the syrup in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Tips: You can use any citrus here; just think about which herbs may pair well with your choice: this could be orange and thyme, bergamot and sage, blood orange and oregano; the possibilities are endless.

The rosemary syrup can be used in many different drinks where sweetener is required or even served simply as 1 tablespoon in a glass of sparkling water over ice.

— V —

---