A great cook needs flexibility, and this is why menus at farm-to-table restaurants change so quickly. Cooks adapt their dishes based on what beautiful things they see at the market. By rigidly sticking to a recipe, you often overlook the sensory and intuitive aspects of cooking that make it more than just a simple combination of ingredients.
Read MoreFor the longest time, I didn't bother to cook my own beans (and still often end up reaching for a can at times) despite people telling me how far superior home cooked beans are. I'm not great at planning meals ahead, and was always bound to have last minute plans come up the day after setting beans to soak on my counter. The notion that I had to remember to soak beans and then be sure I was home to cook them was more than I could deal with. And yet, everyone really was right. Home cooked beans are outrageously good.
Read MoreSomehow through the magic of soup alchemy, a few veggies, chopped onion and herbs turn into something so deeply delicious. I sautéed onion, carrot and lots of spices, then added a head of cauliflower, water and broth. After just 10 minutes of prep my dinner was simmering on the stove and I was advocating for our programs to a funder. After 40 minutes or so, dinner was ready - warm and satisfying. Cheap and easy. It was the perfect weeknight meal, with lots of leftover for lunches.
Read MoreI'm also craving my favorite smoothie. I'm not much of a juice person, or even a smoothie drinker (shocking for a Californian) but I often don't find them very satisfying. I don't love drinking that much sugar, I'd rather make a kale salad with my greens any day. But, my sister turned me onto this drink and I love it.
Read MoreThese cookies combine two holiday classics, chocolate and gingerbread, although I have never thought to put the two together. How is this possible? Why are we not adding chocolate ganache glazes to gingerbread bundt cakes, and why has it taken me so long in my life to realize this a most delicious combination?
Read MoreOne 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 MoreThis plum torte needs little introduction. It was so popular that the NY Times ran it for years every September, and when they tried to stop, were met with angry protests. Not all desserts inspire such furious devotion, especially a humble cake such as this.
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 MoreI love caprese salad in mid summer - so easy, incredibly seasonal and pairs well with nearly anything. While I could never tire of an in-season tomato, I mixed it up a few years ago with some friends and used ripe peaches instead. We served it with grilled lamb chops and a big green salad and it was perfect.
Read MoreI heard something recently about the emotional memory wrapped up in smell, and how through cooking we can bring emotions to the table simply through scent (this was in a recent episode of the excellent Netflix documentary Chef's Table). For me, basil immediately jogs memories of summer - grilled corn, deep joy, and warm lazy breezes. Even as gloomy Bay Area summer is upon us, sniffing a fresh bunch of basil transports me away from thick fog to somewhere warmer where the pace is slower.
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.
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Garden for the Environment is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute.
