Kasey and Karena: Fresh is best (+recipes)

Kahawai and potato salad. Photo / Doug Sherring

Make your meals match the light, fresh spring air.

We think you can taste the fresh air in the produce this time of year. Fresh produce seems to have that sweet spring flavour and it's exciting to know it will only get better as the days warm up.

We love daylight saving and the extra hour of sunlight in the afternoon when alfresco dining becomes the norm.

Mum is getting ready to plant her kamokamo seeds in our sister's back yard when Michaela is out (they end up taking over half of the lawn), Dad is out in the afternoons spraying the prickles and we are thinking up new and tasty ways to use all of spring's best produce.

There is always a noticeable change in what is being served at dinnertime. The comforting, warm winter dishes we have been enjoying make way for lighter, fresh meals.

We love how fast you can get dinner ready when you keep it simple and let fresh spring produce shine.

Asparagus is one of our family's favourite vegetables. We eat it almost every night when it is in season. Luckily for us, the Butcher whanau on the other hill grow their own and always drop off a bundle at the start of the season. We love eating it simply with some butter, salt and pepper but if we want to get a little fancier we make this asparagus and watercress tart.

Watercress can be collected from all of the creeks in our area and it is at its sweetest at this time of year. This tart is a favourite because it uses two of our favourite spring vegetables. It is simple to make but always looks impressive when you serve it.

New potatoes are another staple during this season. We love to par boil them, slice them and then cook them on the barbecue with lots of garlic. Alternatively we boil them up and add butter and mint.

This recipe is for our new potato and smoked fish salad. Our other neighbours have built a huge smoker out of an old fridge and we get very excited when we can smell the woodchips beginning to be heated.

The sweet new potatoes are so good with the freshly smoked fish and we love adding lots of fresh parsley and lemon juice.

Mangoes are delicious this time of year as well. This dessert is super simple and perfect for a light after-dinner treat.

We love cooking the mango on the barbecue hotplate on a warm evening. The toasted coconut goes really well with the sweet mango flesh that gets deliciously caramelised.
Coconut icecream is perfect with this dessert but feel free to use vanilla if you cannot find coconut-flavoured icecream in your local supermarket.

Try Kasey and Karena's delicious recipes at bite.co.nz

• Smoked Kahawai and New Potato Salad
• Watercress and Asparagus Tart
• Grilled Mango