Spring Fare

California strawberries and asparagus are starting to crop up in grocery stores here, which put me in the mood for some spring fare this morning. (Though it will be a few weeks yet before we can get them locally grown.) I adapted some recipes from the Easy Easter Brunch menu in this month's Bon Appetit. It's a great brunch lineup for spring. Thanks to some shortcuts and major multitasking, I had everything ready in 45 minutes--no crack o' dawn cooking going on here.

This is a pretty simple menu, but there are a few things you can do to speed up the prep. Instead of following BA's lengthy directions for poaching eggs, I just left mine simmering in individual ramekins on the stove. (In a shallow pan of water.) Instead of the strawberry sorbet, I sliced some strawberries and sprinkled them with sugar. I also skipped the chive oil and used sea salt and black pepper to season the eggs, asparagus and prosciutto.

To make this menu healthier, I baked corn bread using part whole wheat flour in lieu of BA's corn muffin recipe. I loved the idea of having corn bread for brunch--I never would have thought of it otherwise. I used a recipe from my friends Jen and Matt, who made us a cookbook with their favorite recipes as a wedding gift. (Aw. So nice.) The cornbread tasted great slathered with the maple butter--it was a fantabulous way to start out the day. E-mail me if you'd like the recipe--tonight I'm on deadline and don't have time to type it out. Perhaps I should have spent more time writing today rather than making brunch. Ah, well--it was absolutely worth it.