Revealing where our food comes from
Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, and Oregano The fragrant oils of rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano turn up the volume in the kitchen. Rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano have fragrant oils that will keep in your pantry for several months after drying. Fresh or dry, these oils release when cooking and add fragrant aromas to slow-cooked soups and…
The Best Green Bean Recipe This is how I cook them at home every single time. Until recently, I thought green beans were all the same. But the more I grow them, I have learned that they have so much potential. It’s not that commercially produced beans are wrong, but they are boring, flavorless, and when they…
I love to educate people about an unfamiliar vegetable. Raw fennel tastes like licorice, which scares off most people right from the start. And even if you do love licorice, you probably don’t want it in your salad, so that’s not helpful. Then fennel grows with fibrous strings like celery, so you need to cut…
Lean into the creaminess. Eggplant would be a challenging vegetable if you didn’t grow up in a family that cooked it. I never ate eggplant until I was almost 30 years old, Fortunately, when I was exposed, I had trained chefs on hand to teach me the secrets. The most important one, don’t undercook it….
Cool Cucumber Recipes -Try an easy summer salad on these hot days. There are many more varieties of cucumbers than we see in the grocery store. One glance at a farmers’ market cucumber display might scare any budding foodie away. But the good news for us eaters is that they are sweet and crisp in the summer…
Oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and all of their varieties are included in the citrus family of fruit. Citrus trees grow in climates that don’t freeze. Different fruits are ready to eat through the cold months in the late fall, winter, and early spring. Their acidity gets the opportunity to balance out the rich, heavy…
Cilantro, Basil, Parsley, and Dill The culinary herbs we use have two categories, the tender, floral and green ones that we use raw and the woody and resinous ones with essential oils that we often dry and simmer in long slow cooking methods. The common fresh herbs are parsley, cilantro, basil, tarragon, and dill. Use…
One ancient wild cabbage became the entire family of cruciferous vegetables that we know today. The brassica family of vegetables, also called cruciferous or cole crops, includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kohlrabi, turnips, bok choy, and mustard greens among others. Ancient farmers selected each one for their leaves or their ability to form…
How to Cook Flowers I grouped broccoli and cauliflower because they are related. Both are the flowers of their respective plant and because I now cook them the same way. Broccoli isn’t a vegetable that gets much respect from the restaurant world. It makes its way onto plates because it’s easy. It’s a bright burst of color,…
If it weren’t for the combination of my culinary profession and my current job, selling vegetables, I would never have given beets a second glance beyond a pre-coronavirus salad bar. Instead, I have cooked and eaten more beets in more ways than most, and I can say now that I like them. If you Google…