UNITED STATES – The craving for vibrant produce is intense this time of year, as the wait for asparagus, peas and tender greens drags on. So, here is a menu for anyone looking for those bright, fresh notes.

It begins with a colourful salad that takes cues from Vietnam. Made with reliable hothouse cucumbers, smaller and sweeter carrots, cabbage and herbs, it can even be slightly garish in appearance if you use purple cabbage. Ordinary cabbage is just fine, but if you can find napa, so much the better.

The dressing – a zippy mixture of garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime juice and chopped jalapeno – makes it all shine.

It is not the kind of salad that is best eaten separately. Instead, it is an ideal spicy accompaniment to roast chicken, grilled meat or fish, or baked sweet potatoes. For this meal, it pairs beautifully with chicken breasts baked in pastry, which sound impossibly fussy but are, in fact, quite simple to prepare.

I recommend using store-bought puff pastry, but if you want to make your own, any flaky pastry or pie dough works well.

The only tedious part is making sure the chicken breasts are the same size and thickness.

Season the breasts generously – I use five-spice powder – and coat with a mixture of creme fraiche and mustard. Then, wrap them in pastry, paint with egg wash and bake the packages until golden. This method, in addition to looking lovely, guarantees perfectly juicy chicken breasts, often not easy to achieve. They are a gorgeous sight alongside the spicy salad.

Cucumber-cabbage Salad With Sesame

Ingredients

For the dressing

• ¼ cup lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 Tbs fish sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp finely chopped jalapeno or serrano chilli
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• ½ tsp grated garlic

For the salad:

• 2 cups thinly sliced hothouse cucumber (lightly peeled)
• 2 cups chopped cabbage or napa cabbage
• 2 carrots, peeled and julienned (1 cup)
• Salt
• ½ cup tender cilantro sprigs
• 2 Tbs roughly chopped mint
• 2 Tbs roughly chopped dill
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Make the dressing: In a salad bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust seasoning.

2. To the bowl, add cucumber, cabbage and carrot. Sprinkle lightly with salt, and toss everything together. Let it sit for 10 to 15 m...