Ricotta 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 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 MoreBull's blood beets live up to their name. They'll also stain anything, from your fingers to countertops - turning anything in its wake a nice, bright pink. The striking color makes them so fun to cook with, and I recently made a pasta stuffed with beets and goat cheese. A plin is similar to a ravioli, and when you bite through the pasta you are greeted with a ruby red filling.
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.
Read MoreIn celebration of this spring crop that is ideal for our SF environment, we’ve been cooking them all week – both large and small. Any way you eat them, artichokes are a bit of work to prepare; either by steaming them whole until finally those tough outer leaves become tender, or by trimming them up and focusing all your cooking (and eating!) attention to the tender and delicious heart.
Read MoreA couple months ago I discovered this miso dressing and it has taken my rice bowls (kale salads, and roasted vegetables and tofu bits…) to a whole new level. This dressing is tangy, sweet, rich and flavorful – it seems to satisfy any and all levels of cravings and is good with anything.
Read MoreThe humble cabbage never seems to get it’s due. But some may argue, is it ever the right time to praise a cabbage?
Read MoreMy sister had made this for me once before, and I’ve never forgotten the texture or flavor. It starts off almost like a bread pudding (minus the egg and milk) but after nearly 3 hours the bread and broth have become one, sinking into each other, and becoming the most extraordinary texture. It's soft and rich and smooth and almost otherworldly.
Read MoreAnd now I’m a bit of an eggplant junkie because of it. This method could not be easier. No salting, no blotting, no individual brushing of oil needed. Slice your eggplant. Cook dry. Season. DONE.
Read MoreThe most amazing part of this recipe is how the corn is truly the star here. The kernels pop in your mouth with each bite, and the flour really acts only to hold the whole thing together, not weigh it down. I am already imagining delicious variations, namely adding jalapeno to the fritters themselves, or a couple crumbles of cotija cheese. They are a great summer dinner, yummy with things from the grill or a large salad on the side.
Read MoreSo, my roommates and I decided to get chickens. When I tell people I have chickens, they are either happily shocked or look at me as if I’ve lost my cookies. While there are lots of folks in the city getting into raising chickens themselves, it’s still rare enough that most people are stunned by the idea. But, I feel we are in good company.
Read MoreAs I began embracing cauliflower, I discovered that I had ignored one of my most favorite vegetables of all. I started pureeing it in Indian spice soups, mashing it like potatoes and baking it with cream and cheese into a gratin. But by far my most favorite way to eat it is my favorite way to eat everything. Chopped into bits, drizzled with olive oil, and left to roast until it is incredibly crispy. Cauliflower (good, fresh cauliflower) sweetens as it’s roasted, and each little floret clings to the salt and oil, creating a caramel crunch that is positively addicting.
Read MoreRaw kale may be a big leap for people that don’t like it at all but I would argue that sometime soft leaves are a turn off for people, and that a salad of crisp fresh winter greens may be more appealing in the end. For me, preparing vegetables is all about the combination of flavors, and nothing holds more to true to this than kale salads. With a few basic techniques, the possibilities are endless.
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