Before living in Seattle, I’d never experienced an impatience for spring quite as dramatically as we do here, waiting for the sun to return to the sky. The impatience for sun and warmth is mounting now that the trees have blossomed and the tolerance for grey and rain has diminished to zero. How I cope is, essentially, one part cozy food (what I crave in fall and winter) and one part fresh (what I crave in spring and summer) in a meal – as if my stomach and hands will lead the way to the new season through what I bring to the table to serve my family.

For me, fresh pasta is a prime example of this: sure, the making of it is a bit of a process for a weeknight perhaps, but it cooks quickly as a great pairing for all kinds of still-crunchy veggies. I’ve explored all the fresh pasta over the years on the Wright Recipes, so take your pick: traditional, grain-free, and even chickpea. A favorite method of mine is that while the pasta is cooking, I toss whatever vegetables I find in the refrigerator in the boiling pasta water: chopped kale, green beans cut into 1-inch lengths or so, small broccoli or cauliflower florets. In these improvised meals, I keep the sauce light with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice, finished with a small knob of butter if dairy is on the current menu. A quick pantry “sauce” like this (scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe), even with veggies thrown in, is delightful as well.

Crostini is another example of the fresh-meets-cozy vibe: a piece of toasted, chewy bread topped with a quick sauté of whatever veg you love most right now is better than simply the sum of its parts. I’ve made them with Escarole and Egg; with Fava, Mint + Ricotta; Beans + Tuna, but really they’re all just tasty messes of veggies that are well-seasoned and served on top of a piece of toast. After all, bruschetta season is just around the corner!

A puréed soup – which are categorically not the kind I make in my soup lady life, but they do have their moment, and I believe this is precisely it—is another flexible and tasty way to simultaneously celebrate coziness and freshness in a single bowl. Served alongside a quick salad of fresh greens, some crusty bread, some fruit, and a favorite low-key dinner is served. Some of my favorites over the years have been Roasted Fennel + Tomato, Celery Root (with Ricotta Crostino to boot!), Asparagus. Really, you don’t likely need one, but the recipe is: boil some vegetables (about 4 ounces per person) with an onion in salted water (about 1 cup per person) until they are soft. Herbs and cream are a bonus but not required. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender or blend in batches in blender jar. Best finished with a dash of acid – lemon juice is often best.

Other wildly adaptable recipes are risotto (sub almost any veggie, if sliced thinly enough—for the spring onion in this classic baked one, or for the radicchio in this orzo version). Pizza, too – I’ve written about pizza *too much* here, I know, but it’s so versatile and beloved it comes to mind and table a lot— but with your knowledge and my traditional, gluten and grain-free dough recipes, you can use pizza as platter on which to serve all kinds of veggies and flavor to make a whole meal that everyone loves. A small sampling of the sort of pizzas I’ve made in keeping with such a spirit are: Zucchini Pizza with Olive Vinaigrette, Three Onion Pizza, Summer Tomato + Fresh Chile Pizza, and Ricotta, Garlic + Asparagus Pizza.

Thanks for reading here, for bringing my recipes to the table in your mind, even if they don’t make it to your actual table. Us cooks have to stick together. I’m so grateful that you’ve found my work and it holds enough value to you for you to have read to the end of this letter. It really does mean a lot to me. I’ve always imagined the person I’m writing recipes for as a friend regardless of the platform I’ve been lucky enough to have them published in, but that you’re finding them here and now makes me feel like it’s always been you. A sweet thought to end this food love letter, and I hope it carries you through the month with a smile on your face as you make food for your loved ones.

If you are compelled to upgrade to a paid subscription here (hit the button below), or buy one of my books, I am extra grateful because, well, that’s how I can keep doing this. Even if you want to just connect in more ways that don’t cost a thing, follow me on Instagram and YouTube, and sign up for my monthly newsletter here in the Contact/Connect section. Each little connection feels like a hug, feels personal, because I get to finally meet you.

For those of you who already pay to subscribe, hang back for a new original recipe I made as a sincere token of my thanks for you. For the rest, I hope to meet you out there soon and see you here next month!