I always think of spring as the season of pale green. Little shoots coming up everywhere, buds on trees, and, of course, all of those beautiful spring vegetables, with all of those verdant jade and emerald and fern hues. This is a green spring salad recipe, but one without a leaf of lettuce.

In this recipe, the capers really add such a nice little briny punch to the dressing. I think capers are one of the best unsung hero ingredients in the kitchen. They can be added whole to the dish or chopped up so they almost blend into a dressing or sauce. And if you happen to be vegetarian (this is a vegetarian salad, by the way), they won’t rock the boat like anchovies would.

Serve this healthy salad alongside Poached Salmon with Cilantro Sauce, Simple Herbed Grilled Chicken, or, for a vegetarian dinner, Leek, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Quiche.

Spring Vegetable Salad: Simple, perfect, crisp-tender, goes with everything.

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Spring Vegetable Salad Ingredients

Feel free to change up the veggies depending on what you find at the market! And if your salad doesn’t end up all green, that’s ok, too!

• Haricots verts or green beans – Use either, trimming and slicing the beans in half.
• Sugar snap peas – Trim and remove the string from each pea. You can use snow peas instead if you like.
• Asparagus – Trim, then cut each asparagus spear into 2-inch pieces.
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Lemon juice – Fresh-squeezed lemon juice adds a citrus kick to the dressing.
• Rice vinegar – Readily available at markets, unseasoned rice vinegar is also available online.
• Dijon mustard – Adds a nice extra lift of flavor to the dressing.
• Honey – For just a touch of sweetness; switch to agave for a vegan salad.
• Capers – The salty, briny little bits make this salad dressing really special.
• Dill – The bright, fresh flavor of this herb is perfect for spring.
• Fennel – Sliced very thinly, the fennel is added to the salad uncooked along with the dressing.

Variations

You could add baby artichokes (canned, frozen, or fresh cooked), white asparagus, and thinly sliced white onions, or sub them in for any of the vegetables. Scallions would be nice as well. If you want to add lettuce to the mix, try spinach, arugula, or sorrel.

How to Make Spring Vegetable Salad

1. Blanch the vegetables: Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, and have a large bowl of ice water nearby. Add the green beans, sugar snap peas, and asparagus to the pot and cook for 2 minutes. Drain, then immediately plunge the vegetables into the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When cool, drain and shake off as much excess water as possible.
2. Make the dressing: In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, rice vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, capers, dill, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
3. Toss and serve: Add the drained vegetables and the fennel and toss to coat well with the dressing. Serve at room temperature.

Make-Ahead & Storage

You could make this a couple of hours ahead of time and keep it in the fridge or at room temp. It actually lasts and is delicious for days, but the lemon in the dressing starts to change up the bright green of the vegetables, making them a bit more army or khaki green in color. On the other hand, the vegetables soak up more of the tart dressing, so that’s nice flavor-wise. Just not as picture-perfect.

(You can actually see it here — my veggies sat in the dressing for a bit before we took the photo, and you can see where the edges of the asparagus started to get a little marinated. But, boy, was it good.)

What to Serve With Spring Vegetable Salad

Citrus Basil Shrimp Kebabs

Leek, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Quiche

Salmon with Polenta and Warm Tomato Vinaigrette

More Spring Vegetable Recipes

• Spring Ramp and Pea Risotto
• Sugar Snap Pea Salad
• Simple Sautéed Spring Greens
• Spring Vegetable Soup
• Simple Ramp Pasta