With Easter coming up in just a few days, I’m reminded of how I used to spend soooooo much time thinking about and complicating holiday recipes. Like the one year I spent almost 7 hours making ONE intense, layered and meringued, Christmas cake. Never again.

Thankfully, my mom and aunts cook most of our holiday meals (thank God), but I always contribute a couple really good dishes or desserts. Thankfully, now, I keep them really simple and uncomplicated.

Easter is one of my favorites because it highlights the arrival of SPRING produce. Stuff like asparagus, artichokes, radishes, peas, new potatoes, onions/leeks, carrots, and so many more. This simple salad took me 15 minutes to make, and it requires a few simple, humble ingredients. I decided to blanch the veggies lightly first, so that they would be crunchy, but not toooo crunchy. Trust me, I love me some texture in my salads but desired the tiniest bit less. I didn’t include nuts here, but feel free to add ¼ cup toasted almonds or pistachios here for even more texture and flavor.

I’m also linking some of my other favorite Easter recipes, which don’t require too much fuss. Not all of them are Whole30 compliant, but they are all gluten free. See them below:

• Asparagus with mustard vinaigrette
• Peas with fried leeks & bacon (my FAVORITE – this is my mom’s recipes)
• Fennel, apple, & celery salad with tarragon
• Carrot, cucumber, & radish salad
• Simple roast chicken
• Crab salad with grapefruit, avocado, & mint
• Herbed salmon with red onion caper vinaigrette
• Whole grain mustard roasted potatoes
• Brown sugar pavlova with mixed berries & maple cream (I always make this for the spring & will be making tomorrow – sometimes I add lemon curd to the pavlova & it’s pure heaven)
• Strawberries & lemon curd (you can definitely make this tart, but you can also just get some really good ripe strawberries and dip them into the lemon curd, which is my favorite of all-time)

Wishing you a wonderful Easter, and more importantly, a relaxed day of eating.