At home last weekend my mother’s magnolia had started to flower. Buds were coming up everywhere and her Christmas roses were resplendent. The daffodils my brother planted last year were out in scores, although not all were lucky enough to survive the tramplings of Homer, our black hound.

We took him for a walk in the woods and there were carpets of wild garlic every way you turned. We went back the next day with carrier bags and started picking fistfuls. There’s nothing quite like getting something for nothing, especially if it’s wild, full of vitamins and minerals from the soil. Omelettes, frittatas and salsa verde will benefit from this harvest and I plan to wrap a fish in the leaves and try baking it to see how it comes out.

As well as the wild garlic, we saw chives sprouting by the hedgerows and also masses of primroses in pinks, yellows and purples. A salad of leftover chicken was made beautiful with handfuls of the petals, chives and chopped garlic leaves.

The herbs in the garden here in Gloucestershire are looking perkier, too, with the warmer weather and more sunshine. I spied some wet garlic in the local farm shop a few days ago. Wet garlic is the new season’s garlic, fresh from the ground. You can distinguish it by the long shoot that sprouts from the bulb and it’s flavour is less pungent than the dried garlic we are more used to. You can normally find it at this time of year in good greengrocers or at farmers’ markets, or ask your local supermarket to start stocking it.

It reminded me of a recipe from Simon Hopkinson’s Roast Chicken and Other Stories, which bakes with wet garlic. I tried making a similar recipe, baking normal garlic with all the herbs I had found looking so cheerful in the garden, including a handful of bay leaves from the tree at the end of the road.

For me, bay leaves are an essential cooking ingredient, so to have access to fresh ones is a joy. I love them on skewers wedged around hunks of fish, vegetables or meat, or wrapped around potatoes drizzled in oil and salt and baked in foil.

Baking garlic with bay leaves is a treat. The baking softens the garlic’s pungency but loses none of the flavour. This bruschetta recipe (right) is a lovely weekend brunch dish, and although it takes a little time to cook, the effort involved is minimal: pop the beans in water overnight or open a couple of tins (two minutes); stick them on to boil the next day (two minutes); put the garlic and herbs in the oven (five minutes); make the toast (five minutes); all the other finishing bits (five minutes).

The only requisite is a really delicious olive oil to drizzle over the beans. Give it a go this weekend and put a spring in your step.

Baked garlic and bean bruschettas

Serves 4

2 heads of garlic
1 tbsp each of thyme, sage and rosemary
5 bay leaves
Juice and zest of a lemon
2 handfuls of watercress
300g cannellini beans
4 slices sourdough bread
150g goat’s cheese
Extra virgin olive oil

Soak the beans overnight in enough water to cover by four inches, with a teaspoon of baking soda. When ready to cook lunch, simmer the beans with two bay leaves and a garlic clove for 45 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200C (390F). Open the two heads of garlic and place in a baking tin with thyme, sage, bay, lemon zest and half the juice.

Sprinkle with five tablespoons of olive oil and wrap tightly with foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the garlic cloves are very soft.

When the beans are cooked, drain and reserve some of the water. Squeeze the cloves out of their skins into the beans and stir through any pan juices. Season and add cooking juice if dry.

Toast the bread, drizzle with oil and spread with the goat’s cheese. Pile the toast with the beans and drizzle on more oil. Dress the watercress with salt, pepper and lemon juice and oil and pile on plates next to the bruschettas.

Nutritionist’s verdict

AMANDA URSELL

Tuck In . . . if you want to boost energy levels

This dish is packed with potentially health-boosting supernutrients. Watercress, for instance, is full of isothiocyanates and has recently been proven to significantly reduce DNA damage in blood cells.

DNA damage is considered to be an important trigger in the development of cancer.

Herbs are especially rich in antioxidants, including carnosic acid in rosemary, which mops up double the number of damaging free radicals compared with other antioxidants. Cannellini beans and sourdough breads are both low-GI carbohydrates and are digested slowly to give long-lasting energy along with zinc to boost the immune system. Garlic may help to lower cholesterol in our blood and reduce risk of heart disease.

Steer clear . . . if you suffer from wind

Each serving gives 14g of fibre, which is almost your whole day’s intake. If beans and pulses tend to give you wind, it may be worth having a smaller portion.

The dish gives about 610 calories per person and 31g of fat (women’s maximum fat is 70g a day and men’s 90g). You can cut the calories by using less olive oil.

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