Seasonal Recipes

Oatmeal Walnut Burgers

My husband loves Garden Burgers. I like the convenience of taking a few patties from the freezer and tossing them on the grill for a quick supper. But I they always seem too processed to me, and who knows how far they traveled to get to my table. So I have been experimenting with all types of burger recipes looking for one we all liked and would hold up to freezing and grilling without falling... Read more

Roasted Sunchokes and Carrots

This summer, I grew Sunchokes for the first time. It was amazing to watch one small tuber rapidly grow to a huge clump of sunflowers that towered over the garden shed. The best part, was knowing that this winter I could eat the fleshy tubers. So I have been experimenting. I sauteed them with mushrooms, made a soup, and last night I roasted them. They were great roasted.

The best place ... Read more

The Vinegar Project

I must confess that I don't always cook seasonally and locally. This time of year when the garden is almost barren and the stores are full of tropical fruits, I am often seduced by oranges, clementines, grapefruit and pineapples. But to ease my conscience, I only buy Florida oranges and grapefruit and only in the winter, when they are in season. And Florida isn't THAT far from Tennessee.
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Yellow Lentils

It has been a week now since we have seen temps above freezing. As a result we don't have any fresh veggies from the garden. So now we will be eating more dishes like this.

Saute the onions in the oil until tender. Add the lentils and water. Grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds and cardamon seeds in a spice grinder. Add to the pot along with the rest on the ingredients except salt. ... Read more

Buttercup Squash on Waffles

Winter squash can often be a hard sale at my house, so I was thrilled at how yummy this turned out. I had a little roasted winter squash puree left over from baking Thanksgiving pumpkin pecan pie. Not wanting to waste anything I grow, but knowing the puree would not keep another day, I whipped this up on a busy weekday morning between getting kids off to school. The waffles were left from Sunda... Read more

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Every year I try to make my Thanksgiving meal, more seasonal and more local than the year before. I accomplish this in two ways. One, by continuing to grow more and more of the ingredients I need, or by finding local farmers who grow them. The second way is to change what I serve. Since Thanksgiving is a meal full of tradition, this step is harder than trying to grow my own wheat, grinding it ... Read more

Crystallized Ginger

I love a challenge, maybe that is why, when my grocery store was out of crystallized ginger, I decided to make my own. And I am glad I did, because what I made was fresher, and better quality than what I would have purchased. And since it was so easy, I will not hesitate to make it again. Hopefully, by time I need to make more, the ginger plant sitting in a pot next to my desk, will finally be ... Read more

Fire Roasted Green Tomato Salsa

After the success of my fire roasted tomato soup, I decided that grilling green tomatoes might be a great way to use up some of what I harvested before the freeze.

Whenever I make salsa, I don't measure ingredients. I just toss what I have into the blender and then adjust to taste.

Pla... Read more

BBQ Wheat Meat

Nineteen years ago when we first became vegetarians, I found myself cooking a lot with tofu, gluten, and TVP in an attempt to make fake meats. Now stores are full of all kinds of fake meat products, but I find myself in the kitchen again with tofu and gluten, creating my own fake meats. This time it is out of my desire to lower the carbon footprint of our meals and to eat fewer processed foods.<... Read more

Coriander

They say herbs and spiced lose their flavor as they age. I never believed it until I made my own coriander.

You will be amazed at how much more flavor your homemade coriander has. But the flavor does deteriorate quickly, so plan on replacing it every year as your cilantro set seeds.
Coriander is easy to make. When your cilantro plant goes to seed, leave the plant in the garden until t... Read more

Quinoa Cakes on Swiss Chard

For years I have been trying to incorporated more quinoa into our family meals. I wanted us to eat it because I knew it was highly nutritious and quick cooking. And quinoa is an unusual grain in that it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. The problem was, that no mat... Read more

Weed Tacos

"What's for dinner?" My husband asks.
"Purslane tacos", I answer.
"We're having weeds for dinner," he says.

I have often read where a weed is defined as, any plant growing where it's not wanted. That means that the burning bush at the end of my drive is a weed. And while I did not plant the purslane, I was happy when is showed up along a garden path.

I first realized that pur... Read more

Tomatillo Salsa

I have grown both green and purple tomatillos, the purple are my favorite. They are more reliable and prolific in my garden. I also think the purple are sweeter. Grilling or roasting them also helps sweeten them.







Remove paper husks from the tomatillos and rinse. Cover the grate of a grill or griddle with foil and roast the tomatillos and garlic cloves, until the ... Read more

Quesadillas with Squash Blossom Flowers

I am growing large pumpkins this year, already I have one that we guess is about 40 pounds. One vine can only support one or two pumpkins this size, so I am not allowing any more pumpkins to develop on the vine. The easiest way to do this is to remove the flowers. Early in the day, I pick the flowers and put them in a vase of water. This keeps them fresh until dinner time when we eat them in ... Read more

Dill Pickles With a Crunch

Two years ago, I attempted to make dill pickle chips. They tasted good, but no one ate them because they were mushy. Last year, in order to insure a crispy pickle, I made soured refrigerator pickles. While they were crisp, my kids did not like the flavor. This year, I was determined to make a crispy pickle that my kids like. I think I succeeded, finally. No more grocery store pickles in our ... Read more