Cheese Torta with Basil, Olives, and Sundried Tomatoes and a Giveaway
July 16, 2010 by Andrea
Filed under Appetizers
We are very fortunate to live near DeBaggio’s, a truly wonderful herb farm and nursery that’s been growing beautiful healthy plants since 1975. One of the ladies in the neighborhood told me about them the first year we lived here, specifically mentioning their wonderful tomatoes, so I made a point to check it out and was amazed at the incredible variety of plants they grow onsite. With only a handful of dedicated workers, they manage to grow nearly 1,000 varieties of vegetables, herbs, perennials, and annuals. The quality of their plants is always top notch because they are knowledgeable and care for the plants so well. In the last few years I’ve been fortunate to have a few casual discussions with Francesco DeBaggio, son of the founder Thomas DeBaggio, about growing rhubarb, rosemary, basil, and bay laurel trees, and our garden always benefits from those discussions. Read more
Good Bite: Everyday Meals with a Twist (Orzo Salad with Pesto)
July 6, 2010 by Andrea
Filed under Announcements, Pasta, Salads
GoodBite.com has a new video series called Everyday Meals with a Twist sponsored by Heinz 57 sauce, and I shared one of our favorite easy recipes for the series. My dish with a twist is Orzo Salad with Pesto, a simple salad that you can serve warm or cold anytime of the year.
We make basic basil pesto and sun-dried tomato pesto with our homegrown basil, but you can also use purchased pesto. Just toss with the cooked orzo, tomatoes, and kalamata olives, sprinkle a little Parmesan on top, and it’s ready to serve.
Potato Salad with Summer Herbs and White Wine Vinaigrette
July 1, 2010 by Andrea
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
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
Thai Basil Chicken (Kai Kraphao)
September 22, 2009 by Andrea
Filed under Asian, Grow Your Own, Poultry
This dish is the main reason we grow Thai basil in our herb garden. We’ve grown many kinds of basil over the years and seem to have settled into a routine of Genovese, Lemon (Sweet Dani or similar), and Thai (Sweet Thai or Queen of Siam) basil because they cover the spectrum of our uses. The Sweet Thai variety we grew this year produces plants with purple stems and gorgeous purple flowers. Like most basils, the flowers are also edible and add a punch of anise flavor to Asian dishes. Our basils will last a few more weeks, then it will be time for the final harvest of the season and a marathon session making pesto (basic and sun-dried) and basil ice cubes. Read more
Zucchini Risotto
September 10, 2009 by Andrea
Filed under Grow Your Own, Italian foods, Vegetables
Zucchini season will soon come to an end, but there’s still time to enjoy this icon of the summer garden. We’ve made salads, pasta, bread, gratins, and all sorts of things with zucchini, even though it was a sad zucchini year for us after losing all our zucchini plants to garden pests.
Risotto is comfort food for me anytime of the year no matter what I put into it, and this one with zucchini and our fresh homegrown basil and garlic does not disappoint. The Grana Padano cheese adds a slightly nutty yet delicate flavor that is worth the search, but you can also substitute Parmigiano Reggiano if you can’t find Grana Padano. The recipe is adapted from My Italian Garden, by Viana La Place (in my personal collection), a lovely little book Read more
