I always get excited this time of year when the early spring vegetables like carrots, spinach, green onions and lettuce begin to appear at my local farmer's market. Everything tastes so light and fresh. That's one of the reasons this recipe for vegetable spread has been one of my favorites. It tastes great on crackers or as a sandwich spread and it will give you a chance to make the most of some of your early vegetables - all without cooking.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped carrots

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 red sweet pepper, chopped

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1/2 cup medium cucumber, peeled, seeds removed

2 packages softened cream cheese (light optional)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

Simply fold the chopped vegetable ingredients together along with the cream cheese. I remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator and let it reach room temperature while I am chopping the vegetables, so that it's easy to combine. Add the lemon juice and you are done! The nice thing about this spread is that it will last several days in the refrigerator. I know this sounds too simple to be good but the combination of all the flavors of the fresh vegetables makes this a delicious no fat treat in any season.