Snack · Early Spring · Wood + Earth Element · Veg / Vegan / GF / DF · 20 min · Make-ahead
House-made spiced nut butter — almonds toasted in the oven until fragrant and just starting to release their oils, blended with peanuts, drizzled with honey that has been toasted in a dry pan until it deepens to a dark amber and takes on a complexity that raw honey does not have. Cinnamon, cardamom, and a pinch of flaky salt. Apple slices alongside.
Snack · Early Spring · Wood Element · Veg / GF / Make-ahead clusters · 30 min
Honey-toasted pumpkin seed clusters, cool pear slices, and a small bowl of whipped goat cheese with lemon zest and thyme.
Lunch · Early Spring · Wood + Earth Element · Warm grain / cool toppings · Veg / GF with quinoa / DF · 40 min
Warm pearled barley as the base. Roasted shiitake — torn into large, irregular pieces and roasted on a sheet tray until the edges are deeply golden and slightly crisp — arranged on top alongside sauteed maitake, pickled radish, bitter greens, and a white miso dressing.
Lunch · Early Spring · Wood Element · Meat / Veg with tofu / GF / DF · 30 min
Asparagus season and early spring arrive together for a reason.
Dessert · Early Spring · Wood Element · Moistening + Warming · Veg / Vegan with maple syrup / GF / DF · 35 min
Four whole pears — Bosc or Anjou, peeled with the stem left intact — poached upright in a liquid of honey, fresh ginger, star anise, lemon zest, and vanilla until they are just tender at the thickest point.
Dessert · Early Spring · Wood Element · Multi-use base · Veg / Vegan with maple syrup / GF / DF · 20 min · Refrigerates 5 days
The most versatile recipe on the entire spring menu. Rhubarb stalks simmered with honey, a strip of orange zest, cardamom, and vanilla until the pieces soften and collapse into a tart, jewel-coloured compote.
Dinner · Early Spring · Wood Element · Signature dish · Veg / GF with millet flour gnudi · Day-ahead ricotta drain required · 60 min active
This is the signature dish of the Early Spring menu.
Dinner · Early Spring · Wood Element · Veg / Meat / GF naturally / DF · 40 min
Stinging nettles are one of the most spring-aligned ingredients in the PNW — they arrive in March before almost anything else, growing in patches along roadsides and creek banks, and they are extraordinary in soup.
Breakfast · Early Spring · Wood + Earth Element · Veg / GF naturally / DF option · 25 min
Three components. Each one clinically grounded. Together, one of the most complete breakfast plates on the spring menu.
Breakfast · Early Spring · Wood Element · Room temperature — non-negotiable · Veg / Vegan / GF / DF · 10 min
Most green smoothies are cold, loaded with ice, and genuinely problematic for early spring in Oregon — where patients are still running cold and damp from winter and the last thing their digestive system needs is a shock of cold liquid at 7am.
Breakfast · Early Spring · Wood Element · Veg / GF naturally / DF with coconut oil · 25 min
This is the first breakfast of the spring menu — and it is built deliberately for where Oregon bodies are in early March.
Just rolled oats, chopped apple, and water — blended and left to ferment for 3–4 days until lightly tangy and bubbly, then cooked into golden pancakes.
A one-pan fall and winter staple — Brussels sprouts, four apple varietals, chicken sausage, and bacon baked together and finished with a honey-Dijon cream sauce. Serve it over millet, rice, or straight from the pan.
Dry-toasted millet — one of the Five Sacred Grains of ancient China — simmered until nutty and fluffy, then topped with walnuts and warm spiced pear compote.
Ground bison layered with coriander, mustard, chipotle in adobo, and lemon zest — all tucked under a savory root vegetable mash.
Delicata squash and roasted potatoes seasoned with coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes, finished with lemon and sherry vinegar, and topped with a perfectly runny egg.
Crimson pears slow-cooked with honey, fresh ginger, and a pinch of salt until caramelized and jammy.
Delicata squash and roasted potatoes seasoned with coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes, finished with lemon and sherry vinegar, and topped with a perfectly runny egg.
Sweet carrots and onions caramelized low and slow with garlic and fresh-grated ginger, simmered in coconut milk and chicken bone broth, then blended silky smooth and finished with rice wine vinegar.
Toasted sourdough slathered with Gray Poupon Dijon and orange marmalade, layered with Havarti, crispy bacon, and peppery arugula.
Stone-ground polenta cooked in half-and-half with butter and finished with goat cheese, served over shallot-wilted greens with apple cider vinegar and green peppercorns, topped with eggs.
Chickpea miso meets honey in a double-layered glaze over salmon, roasted alongside purple carrots and parsnips, then finished with fresh chives.
Corona beans and sautéed cabbage with thinly sliced onion, garlic, fennel seeds, thyme, and a touch of red pepper — braised in stock