Baba Ghannouj (Baba Ganoush)
August 26, 2010 by Andrea 
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Filed under Appetizers, Featured, Grow Your Own, Middle Eastern, Vegetables
My first taste of baba ghannouj was at the cafeteria on the Saudi Aramco compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and I could easily make a lunch out of their hummus, baba ghannouj, and flatbread. Baba ghannouj is a traditional Middle Eastern dish made from eggplant that has been grilled or roasted, and the smoky flavor carries over to this simple dip that’s popular all over the Middle East. Depending on where you eat, it will probably have eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, and parsley, and may also have chopped tomatoes, cumin, mint, onions, yogurt, or mayonnaise. So consider this a base recipe, a jumping off point to play with and have fun experimenting with the flavors. Read more
Potato Salad with Summer Herbs and White Wine Vinaigrette
July 1, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Grow Your Own, Holidays, Salads, Vegetables
For us the Fourth of July is about celebrating our nation’s heritage as well as family, friends, parades, fireworks, and of course the annual Fourth of July cookout. Our cookouts vary somewhat from year to year, but we always have some kind of potato salad for the Fourth, and this potato salad recipe is particularly good for summer cookouts because it has no dairy, so you don’t have to worry about it spoiling in the summer heat. Read more
Pasta with Chicken, Garlic Scapes, Tomatoes, and Basil
June 28, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Grow Your Own, Main Course, Pasta, Poultry, Vegetables
The garlic only has a few more weeks in the ground, then it will be time to dig it up, and if the flavor of the scapes is any indication, we are in for some spicy garlic this year. We harvested the scapes over the weekend and made three different things with them: pesto, cannellini bean dip, this pasta with chicken, tomatoes, and basil. We saved the pretty flowers and curved parts for the pasta and use the stems for the pesto and bean dip. Read more
French Green Beans with Prosciutto and Pine Nuts
June 3, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Vegetables
Our nighttime temperatures settled into the 60s last week, so we could finally plant the basil, peppers, eggplant, and beans. My favorite kind of bean is the very thin French type, aka fillet beans, and we decided to try growing them last year. We planted the Maxibel variety of fillet beans and the plants sprouted just fine, then we agonized as two full rounds of bean seedlings were devoured by ravenous bunnies. We never got a single French bean (or snow pea or sugar snap pea or yellow bean), and the only bean plant they didn’t touch was the asparagus beans. This year we are better prepared after 99% bunny proofing the yard, but of course there’s always a flip side: the bunnies are now terrorizing our neighbors. Read more
Asparagus Quiche with Mushrooms and Shallots
April 12, 2010 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Breakfast, Vegetables
If I had to choose a favorite spring vegetable, it would be a tie between asparagus and snow peas. Pencil-thin asparagus stalks look so pretty on a plate and like snow peas it tastes delicious either fresh or cooked. Though we don’t yet grow our own asparagus, the thought has crossed our minds on several occasions. We keep looking around the yard trying to decide where we want to put everything we want to grow, and we just haven’t chosen a place yet for asparagus. Things are getting tight in some spots so we have to think carefully about how plants will work together before building more beds and putting in anything else. Read more
Green Beans with Caramelized Red Onions
November 30, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Vegetables
My grandmothers always made a big pot of Southern style green beans with a Virginia ham bone in it when we came to visit, and I would eat multiple helpings of those flavorful beans. The ham bone lent a smoky flavor to the beans that stuck in my memory and remains to this day. You could find them on the table amongst the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuits.
These vegan green beans, while not my grandmother’s, are full of flavor with caramelized red onions and a light balsamic vinegar sauce. Read more
