One of my favorite food bloggers posted this non-recipe that I would not have normally given a second thought, except I was desperate for something quick and satisfying. The short ingredient list was truly underwhelming, until I realized it made me something so deeply satisfying. This is now my go-to quick lunch or dinner, perfect when you're sick or feel like you have nothing in the house to eat.
Read MoreA friend of the garden, Caroline, dared me to eat eggplant every day on my trip, a challenge I gladly accepted. The eggplant in both countries was staggeringly good and it tasted like something, like its own beautiful eggplant flavor, rather than the bland sponge it is often relegated to here. There, the eggplant is king, treated with respect, coaxed from its shiny skin into super stardom. We ate it rolled around chunks of feta and lightly braised in tomato sauce. In Tel Aviv they would split it down the middle, leaving the stem in tact to hold it together, and drizzled with a nutty tahini sauce.
Read MoreThis recipe highlights the creamy, mild flavor of fresh spring spuds and the addition of sharp lemon juice gives them additional depth and flavor. I served them with my favorite Kokkari feta dressing, but they are delicious and flavorful enough on their own.
Read MoreThis is a dessert - as in there is a hefty amount of good ol' white sugar and I'm gonna recommend you top this off with some softly whipped cream. While a piece of simple fruit or a wedge of dark chocolate at the end of a meal is great, I also feel strongly that a baked sweet dessert is an act of love.
Read MoreThis time of year I pull a few of my favorite cookbooks off the shelf and read them before bed, dreaming of what I'll grow this year. Every chef writes, "a dish is only as good as its ingredients", and plucking something from your ground into your kitchen is the freshest and best ingredient you can find.
Read MoreSince discovering this easy but really delicious feta dressing in mid-January, it has dressed a chop salad with lots of fresh dill, been smeared on grilled veggies and slabs of focaccia, dolloped over grain salad with lots of radish, and accompanied an oregano rubbed chicken as an ideal dipping sauce
Read MoreRicotta is smooth and slightly sweet from the heavy cream and you can even eat it when it's still warm. I love to mix olive oil, salt and pepper into it, then smear it across toast. It's also great mixed into hot pasta, layered onto lasagna, or turned into a dip for raw vegetables like radishes and carrots.
Read MoreAlong making spring rolls I made a fairly traditional noodle salad, but added some grilled eggplant to give it more heft. The sauce is similar to a spring roll dipping sauce - very tangy and bright, with lots of lime juice and fish sauce. The chopped, fresh herbs (and many of them) make this salad so flavorful and complex. I look forward to making this in the weeks and months to come, changing up things here and there, and making plenty of leftovers for a great lunch.
Read MoreIt was one of those perfect moments - a crisp fall day when the light is just right. That day, Get Up! student Leia brought this delicious roasted veggie dish that is the perfect embodiment of fall food. This would be a great addition to your holiday table, work lunches, or weeknight dinners. Enjoy and feel grateful for the bounty our gardens provide.
Read MoreThis is the best kind of picnic food, hearty and easy to transport. It's what I made when I took Get Up! and needed a healthy and satisfying lunch for a group. It's great for dinner at home with leftovers for lunch. It could even be a great side at Thanksgiving, especially if for whatever reason you had to, gasp, forgo the stuffing.
Read MoreSandy, an educator and cook with a group of volunteers we host from Access SFUSD, couldn't believe we considered composting our zucchini stems as we cleaned up our vegetable beds. Sauteed in olive oil and garlic, she says these stems make a perfect stir fry to go along with rice.
Read MoreThe GFE garden is bursting with our own summer crops - the classic lettuces, radishes and squash, but also basil (in the inner sunset! - we're pretty proud). Our bush & pole bean production is in overdrive and we have to harvest them diligently to encourage the plant to keep producing. I brought home a bag one day and found a recipe for blanched green beans with an almond pesto.
Read MoreWhile it almost looks like rose petals, this tea is cultivated from the Hibiscus sabdariffa flower, and is popular all over the world. I've been steeping some of the dried flowers in cold water, overnight in the fridge. What results is a deep red tea, the most beautiful color, that is slightly tart and really delicious. You can sweeten it to your taste, and I like to add some sparking water to make it extra refreshing.
Read MoreWe grabbed a bag of dry, red chiles of medium spice and were thrilled to find fresh green chiles - exactly what we were looking for. These chiles, grow in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, are the state vegetable as well as its signature crop. They grow both red and green varieties in the Hatch Valley, and the green chile it turns out is also called an Anaheim pepper, easily found at markets here in San Francisco.
Read MoreCabbages takes forever to grow, get huge, love to suck up nutrients and love extra worm castings. Bugs and slugs also love cabbage and can often take down starts before they've even had a change to grow. But a full grown cabbage is such an immense thing of beauty, with curled outer leaves and tight dense heads. With exceptional Harvest interns this spring, 2015 was going to be the year we grew a cabbage.
Read MoreOne of my favorites is carrot soup because it's sweet but easily balanced out with strong spices and a bit of tart yogurt. I usually do a more Indian spin on it, with tumeric and lots of cumin and coriander so that it's slightly spicy and deeply rich. I love those flavors in Fall but by this time of year I'm looking for something fresher and and brighter. I found this carrot soup, so simple but so good. It's the perfect, seasonal way to have my soup and eat it too.
Read MoreIt's sweet as good dessert should be, but the cranberries are left whole so they pop in your mouth with you bite into them. It is the most beautiful jewel toned color - bright, shiny and festive. It's perfect in a ribbed tart shell, and makes lovely thin slices. But it's adaptable too - for parties, she often presses the crust into a cookie sheet, later cutting out small bars to be picked up with sticky fingers.
Read MoreApple cakes are a fall favorite of mine, but I can't help it. I love cakes that can hold their own, that can be taken on a picnic and eaten with just a napkin. That make forks wholly unnecessary. And very importantly, cakes that make a perfect breakfast. A dessert like this, not too sweet or gooey, is filling and pairs well with hot drinks.
Read MoreCome January, when it's cold and all I want is grilled cheese and spicy tomato soup, I am forever grateful for the cans in my pantry. Home canned tomatoes are so beyond anything sold at the grocery store and make a great holiday gift, or impressive mid-winter dinner party addition.
Read MoreInsalata Caprese is one of my most favorite summer foods. It’s light, refreshing and involves fresh mozzarella (!). A few years ago I had it with sliced fresh peaches and it was outstanding.
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