Pick a handful of soft new spruce tips from your backyard tree to add a wonderfully interesting flavour to a spring salad – herby, resiny, and softly citrusy. (Skip to recipe.)
After a long winter, the spruce trees in my yard finally began to show their spring growth. I had been waiting for those tender, new tips — the little green ends of the branches that taste faintly of citrus and pine — and when I saw them I couldn’t wait to use them in fresh salads and other seasonal dishes.
On a recent trip through the Rocky Mountains to visit family in Prince George, British Columbia, spruce buds were popping everywhere. Even at higher elevations they were already feathery and about the length of a finger, still tender and bursting with that bright, herbal aroma. When we returned home the yard trees had also unfurled their soft apple-green tips and tiny brown nubbins, the perfect edible sign of spring.
If you haven’t cooked with spruce tips before, give them a try. Their flavour is piney with a clear citrus edge and a pleasant resinous note. They’re an unusual but delightful way to add spring brightness to salads, vegetables, proteins and even desserts. I’ve been chopping a few into my spring green salads for years and they’re always a conversation starter.
Start conservatively if you’re new to the flavour. The resinous notes can be strong for some palates, so use a few tablespoons at first and adjust next time. Spruce tips work well with light, crisp salad greens and a bright citrus vinaigrette that complements, rather than overwhelms, their delicate flavour.
Spruce tips can be used in many savoury and sweet preparations. They pair well with mushrooms, rhubarb, potatoes, asparagus, pork and more. They can also be pickled or made into syrups and salts to capture their flavour for later use.
Notes: If you forage spruce tips from a place away from traffic and road exhaust, they are often clean inside their papery casings and may not need washing. Check for any insects and rinse briefly only if needed. You can use tips from any needled tree but taste first — some varieties are more strongly piney than others and may require smaller amounts.
Light pruning of spruce tips is generally harmless and can encourage bushier growth. Avoid taking the very top leader of young trees to protect their future structure, and spread your picking around the tree rather than removing all the tips from one area.
Store spruce tips loosely covered in the refrigerator for up to a week. I’ve tried infusing dressings with spruce tips, but their flavor can be muted by acidic dressings; I prefer adding the chopped tips directly to the salad so their aroma and texture remain vibrant.
This salad can be partially assembled a few hours or a day ahead. Keep the salad components chilled and slightly damp under a paper towel, and refrigerate. Make the dressing separately and toss with the greens just before serving.
Green Salad with Spruce Tips and a Light Citrus Vinaigrette
- 1 head curly-leaved lettuce or butter lettuce
- about 6 large radishes (120 g)
- 2 stalks celery
- a 5–6 inch (13–15 cm) piece of cucumber
- 2 green onions (scallions)
- ¼ of a red pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped spruce tips (start with 3 tablespoons if you’re new to the flavour)
Citrus Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup (60 ml) mild-flavoured oil (grapeseed or avocado)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Wash and dry the lettuce. For extra crispness, shake off excess water, wrap the leaves in a clean tea towel and chill in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Tear the lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place in a salad bowl.
Slice the radishes and celery very thinly and add them to the bowl. If your cucumber has a firm skin, peel it; halve it lengthwise, then slice crosswise into thin half-moons and add to the salad. Thinly slice the green onions and the pepper, if using, and stir them in.
Finely chop the spruce tips and add them to the salad. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients and dress the salad just before serving so the spruce tips stay fresh and aromatic.
Serves 5 to 6.
Guten Appetit!
Meredith and some friends had fun helping pick the spruce tips