Easter Dinner Menu – spring at its best!

Easter is way late this year, the end of April. And while we are the egg-hunt-and-champagne-brunch-type of celebrants, we look forward to Easter all the same. Mostly because it is one of the first big opportunities to bust out a first-of-spring feast.

BTW, I think the hypen is way underused in today’s writing. I am going to fix that with this post. In the first paragraph.

Anywho, as I think about Easter and dinner, I realize I will have a good opportunity to test drive a menu this weekend. On Friday, I am planning to pick up a whole lamb we ordered from Sierra Farms Lamb, and I think Saturday night would be an excellent time to delve into my stash. I think I will start with a Leg of Lamb. And I think I will grill it. Even in the rain, if necessary.

I am not sure what will make it to the Farmer’s Market this week, but I would love to find Asparagus. Fresh, spring Asparagus is the best. I like them nice and thick, so I can roast or grill them, or steam with a Dijon vinaigrette.

Usually, with a roast lamb, I like to have a baked potato dish of some sort, like a potato gallette or an au gratin potato. My favorite these days is a Potato Gratin with Parsnips from The Best Slow & Easy Recipes, an America’s Test Kitchen cookbook.

I will probably also make a quick salad with a light vinaigrette, nothing too fancy. It would be nice if I could throw some flower petals in, I will have to research which are safe to eat.

For dessert, I always gravitate towards lemon for a spring dinner. Not sure why, since most lemons in my neighborhood seem to be ripe in the winter. Lemon is so refreshing and I love a good lemon curd dessert – maybe a mousse or a tart. We will have to see.

In case you are trying to keep up with this menu, I put together My Family’s Easter Menu on Foodily (remember, I am working for them as an Ambassador? Means I get to introduce my friends to their site and show you all the cool stuff I have found). Turns out 3 of the recipes are from Simply Recipes, and the Lemon Mousse is an Ina Garten recipe I have made several times before. Looks like I am all set for this weekend!

What are your plans for Easter? Any special menus going on?

Photo courtesy of Benimoto on Flickr.