While 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 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 MoreSquash is hearty, smooth and silky and a perfect staple for mid-winter diets. I love it blended with coconut milk and cayenne for soup, wedged and roasted with lime juice, baked until soft and mashed with butter and black pepper. But my favorite way to eat it has started with a less than pleasant experience. Dicing squash is an athletic event, one that involves holding down a round objet on slick countertops and large knives wielded dangerously. There tends to be lots of cursing, sweat on my brow and results in a bad mood.
Read MoreThis ginger-chicken soup recipe is my foolproof way of getting better, and fast. After one bowl, my stomach warms and I can feel my nose clearing and chest opening. The considerable amount of ginger makes the broth almost spicy and it cooks for so long the meat becomes tender and the soup takes on a beautiful rich color. It's warm and comforting and simple - just how I like my Januarys.
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 MoreJerusalem is just as it sounds, recipes from their hometown but based on the number of rich cultures that inhabit this one City, and the various (and often common) food traditions of each. There are beautiful pictures throughout the book, stories of their childhoods and food memories, and simple, incredibly perfect recipes. I've made a number of things from the book and am continually amazing by how all the flavors come together in the most balanced and bright way. This spinach salad is a perfect example; pretty brilliant in its simplicity. It also happens to make the perfect fall salad.
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 MoreThe recipe comes from my mom (who got it from her friends) and by the time the recipe got to me, it was whittled down to the very basics - not many measurements, next to no instructions. But these flavors are so good together, and the idea is simple enough, that a few extra slices of tomatoes here, a dollop of mustard there will only make it better.
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 MoreI tend to eat cherries fresh and plain, nothing to fuss with their perfect flavor and texture. Then I read about this crazy, simple cherry pitting technique while I planned a dinner party one June. With such a short season, a cherry dessert was essential. So, I wrapped the fruit in pastry dough and it tasted like pure summer.
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 MoreSliced apples created a pinwheel pattern on the top, and the milky batter had filled in the gaps around them, puffing then crisping up between the fruit. The batter was simple but the effect is pretty show stopping.
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 MoreOpen daily from dawn until dusk every day of the year!
Garden address: 1590 7th Avenue, San Francisco
info@gardenfortheenvironment.org
Mailing address: 2150 Allston Way, Suite 460, Berkeley, California 94704
Garden for the Environment is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute.
