Recipes & Cookbook
Let's Bake Some Bread - Go All Out Herbal!
Many of us enjoy growing our own herbs. We can always use another recipe for using the herbs we have grown. Here are two seasonal breads you will enjoy making in your own thyme (along with marjoram, rosemary and oregano)! Baking bread can be a fun but long process if you make your bread from scratch. In this article, Liz Townley offers some delicious bread recipes made easy.
Pickling
From Garden Glut to Gut Garden
You know that feeling. It started in the springtime with two innocent-looking seedlings. But now it's August and your kitchen has the look of a staging ground for an Audrey's botanical invasion. You’ve given cucumbers to your neighbors, your mail carrier, and possibly a confused delivery driver. And yet, the vines keep producing. Welcome to the Gardener’s Dilemma and it’s something that humans have been facing since the dawn of civilization, just how do we preserve the fall harvest. Of course, one of the answers to that question is Pickling. Read on to learn all about the how-to’s and the benefits of pickling your harvest.
Peppers, Peppers, Peppers!
Unfortunately, we have reached the time of year when fresh vegetables from your own garden are not available. If you were a diligent vegetable gardener, like Joy Johnson, you will be rewarded with a freezer full of fall harvested vegetables like peppers and tomatoes. In this article, Joy offers two recipes – pepper steak and stuffed peppers – that will be delicious whether the vegetables came from your garden or the supermarket. Just enjoy!
Cooking with Native Plants
It’s just past harvest season in most of Minnesota, but depending on the weather in your area, you may still be harvesting brussels sprouts, potatoes or pumpkins. This time of year, Master Gardener Joy Johnson thought you might enjoy trying some recipes from two of Minnesota’s Native American cultures – Chippewa Blueberry Wild Rice Pudding, Ojibwa Baked Pumpkin, pumpkin seeds. Yum!
Summery Chicken Salad and Easy Swedish Dessert
If you grow vegetables in your garden or frequent farmers markets, you know that September can yield a bountiful crop. Yes, you might be thinking about canning, freezing, sharing or drying some of your harvest but this month’s recipes give you the opportunity to enjoy many of your fresh vegetables in a delicious, smokey chicken salad and traditional Swedish dessert. Yum!
Delectable Strawberry Shortcake
(and a Bonus Rosemary Recipe)
It’s August and our gardens are in full growth mode, what a delightful exciting growing time of year. One of the most popular fruits that are ripening now is strawberries. Joy Johnson offers a mouthwatering recipe for strawberry shortcake. And – a repeat of a former favorite rosemary recipe. What a great time of year for eating fresh food in Minnesota!
A Recipe for Your Early Vegetables
Warm weather, warm spice, warm dinner! It’s wonderfully warm out and Joy Johnson’s garden is in all its glory. Zucchini, yellow squash, early tomatoes, spinach and sweet peppers are starting to ripen. It’s time to cook up a delicious turkey curry, with a homemade blend of spices. The fragrance will whisk you away to far off India. It’s a warm way to include all your early vegetables or farmers market purchases in one dish. To cool off, add a minty fruit salad.
Bright, Fresh and Easy Spring Salad
There is nothing like a fresh salad made from ingredients grown in your own yard. If you were as ambitious as our author, Master Gardener Joy Johnson, and started your own lettuces earlier this year, you could enjoy this spring salad with your home-grown lettuce. Not to worry though, this salad can be enjoyed with grocery-bought, or perhaps, farmers markets ingredients also. This salad says – welcome spring!
Spring is the Time for Wedding Soup
Spring is the season for weddings which prompts Master Gardener Joy Johnson to think about Italian Wedding Soup. Myth buster: it’s not called Italian Wedding soup because it’s served at Italian weddings; it’s called wedding soup because the flavors in it marry so well together! Read and learn how to make this soup part of your soup rotation – any time of the year. And, as a bonus, learn how to make Apple Butter to enjoy with your soup!
Roasted Spiced Cauliflower
Cauliflower has taken the nation by storm. 40 years ago, no one had hardly heard of it, now it seems like everyone has their favorite way to eat it from crunchy and raw with dip or as pizza crust! Cauliflower is a mild flavored, versatile vegetable, so it adapts well to many recipes. It is easy to grow in your garden, but make sure you are diligent in watching and controlling for pests who love to enjoy it too. This recipe heats it up with a mind-blowing array of spices, serving it with cool and creamy Burrata cheese and a crunchy topping of browned nuts/seeds and herbs. It’s a real flavor explosion and impressive to serve as a side dish.
Garlic Butter Brussel Sprouts
It’s March and this month green vegetables may be top of mind (thanks to Saint Patrick, I’m sure). Garden seeds are sprouting under their grow lights and we are excited for warmer days to come when they’ve grown large enough to transplant outside into our gardens. In the meantime, here is a recipe for one green vegetable – brussels sprouts. According to the author, Joy Johnson, even the pickiest of brussels sprouts eaters will love this recipe!
