How to make salmon with wilted creamed spinach, radish leaves and pickled radishes

We may be a quarter of the way through the year, but the culinary calendar is only getting started. Sure, we had new season purple sprouting broccoli and blood oranges with their gorgeous garnet juice, but the year’s first few months are always slim pickings. With the arrival of April, things start to pick up quite nicely, thank you very much.

Rhubarb is in full swing and thick spears of British grown asparagus arrive on our plates later this month. Fields are full of wild garlic (you’ll smell it before you see it), and nettles, just waiting to be made into sauces or tossed into soup.

Sorrel is in season along with spinach, watercress and radishes. Meltingly tender new season lamb is at its best and Jersey royal potatoes make a welcome return.

It’s not the blousy abundance of summer – it’s more spare with bitter notes (think of sorrel and spinach) and sharpness, but all the better for it. For this dish, I’ve paired radish greens with spinach and wilted the two, moments before adding a slug of double cream and Dijon mustard.

The mustard theme continues in a quick radish pickle, laced with black and yellow mustard seeds. Using both the radish leaves and radishes is a nice touch but if you can’t find radishes with the greens attached then you could add another 50 grams of spinach to the recipe.

Spring has sprung: a little sharper than the blousy abundance of summer (Julia Platt Leonard)

Salmon with wilted creamed spinach and radish leaves and pickled radishes

Serves 2

2 salmon fillets
200g spinach
2 Tbsp heavy cream
½ tsp Dijon mustard
large bunch of radishes with leaves, about 275-300g
​200ml cider vinegar
2 Tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp yellow mustard seeds
½ tsp brown mustard seeds

Remove the leaves from the radishes and set the leaves aside. Trim them, leaving a bit of stem at the top. Wash thoroughly and slice thinly – about the depth of a pound coin. Place the sliced radishes in a jar. Mix the vinegar, sugar, salt and mustard seeds in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, making sure the sugar dissolves.

Pour the hot pickling liquid over the radishes. The liquid should come about ¾ of the way up the vegetable. Close the top and give it a good shake. Every 5 minutes or so give another shake. The radishes will be ready in about 30 minutes but you can make them ahead and store them in the refrigerator.

Remove the stalks from the spinach leaves and clean the spinach and radish leaves thoroughly. Spin briefly but leave a bit of water on the leaves.

Cook the salmon fillets either in the oven or on the hob. When cooked, remove the skin and place a fillet on each plate.

Heat a frying pan and add the cleaned spinach and radish leaves. As soon as the leaves begin to wilt add salt and pepper to season and the heavy cream and Dijon mustard. Stir, coating the leaves with the cream and Dijon. Divide between the plates and garnish with the pickled radishes.