Crab pancakes, noodles with greens, lemon sorbet – Nigel Slater’s spring recipes

A new freshness to everything in the market means making dishes to celebrate the season’s leafy greens, sprouting seeds and citruses

It is as if the light has been let in. The old culinary year has gone, something that doesn’t happen until April in the kitchen, and there is suddenly a freshness to everything in the market – spring greens, sprouting seeds, the first asparagus, radishes and garlic leaves are here.

This is a collection of light, simple recipes to celebrate the new season: a wasabi-spiked avocado paste for pan-fried chicken; filo rolls with a refreshing sweet-and-sour filling and a herb cream, and a quick stir-fry of spring greens with a hit of gochujang and coriander. To finish, a startling lemon sorbet with the fizz of sparkling wine.