GYO #1 - Grow Your Own Round-up

The first Grow Your Own event has yielded some lovely dishes from all over! I couldn't believe how fast some of you were with getting in your entries, and I started compiling the list the day after the GYO announcement. Many, many thanks to the 23 bloggers who participated, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your entries. I think there is enough interest that we could make this a monthly event! Woohoo! So check back next Wednesday for the announcement of Grow Your Own #2. (I’m busy this weekend with The Little Man’s first birthday and grandparents visiting for the ceremonial first taste—and subsequent wearing—of the birthday cake, so I’m not blogging again until then.)

If you wanted to participate but missed the deadline, you may add your dish to the round-up, just put all the required information in the Comments below.

Because this is an event that welcomes any type of dish, I organized the round-up according to the following categories:

• Appetizers
• Main Dishes
• Salads & Sides
• Dessert & Everything Else

So without any further babbling from me, here we go! Click the photos to go to the blog posts.

APPETIZERS

Caramelized cherry tomatoes and mozzarella top off a crispy polenta in this lovely appetizer from Anne of Anne's Food (Sweden).

Using some very nice cucumbers from her garden, Nic of Cherrapeno (UK) stuffed them with Boursin, basil, and semi-dried tomatoes, and then drizzled with the tomato-infused olive oil.

MAIN DISHES

Cara of Cara's Cravings (US, Massachusetts) celebrated her 100th post and a new grill pan with a delicious meal of Lamb Chops with Feta-Rosemary Pesto using herbs from her container garden.

With a garden that produces at least five pounds of tomatoes a week, Foodie Pam of Project Foodie comes up with several ways to use her tomatoes, including making her own ketchup and this delicious Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Sauce.

Using the cilantro (aka in Trinidad as chadon beni/shadow benny/bhandhani) that grows wild outside her home, Sarina of Trini Gourmet (Trinidad) made a beautiful and easy pan-fried snapper with fresh tomato salsa.

Though she doesn't have a garden of her own, Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey? (Germany) cooks up some tasty homemade gnocchi using fresh tomatoes from her hunky neighbor.

Alanna of A Veggie Venture (US, Missouri) made some cute Eight Ball Stuffed Zucchini with homemade Boursin, brown and wild rice, Kalamata olives, toasted pine nuts, and fresh basil and garlic from her garden.

Using the fresh thyme from her urban garden, Andreea of On Food and Wine (Belgium) made a tasty meal of grilled sardines and roasted cherry tomatoes.

Leann of Crunchy Culinary Capers (US, Texas) has been living off her garden for the last few weeks, and she has quite a variety of dishes to show for it. Her Tomato Jalapeno Pizza is very colorful!

Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi (US, Idaho) have kept themselves very busy growing potatoes, peas, spring onions, and other things in their garden. They have several dishes posted this month, including Potato Bhaji (pictured), Risi e Bisi, and Egg Fried Rice.

And my humble contribution to this terrific mix of dishes is a No-Cook Tomato Sauce using homegrown San Marzano tomatoes, Genoa basil, and thyme.

SALADS & SIDES

Dayna of Vegan Visitor (Canada) brings back one of her childhood favorites and uses up some of the abundance of zucchini from her garden in this lovely side dish with orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts.

From Chef Zadi (US, California), an instructor in the Cordon Bleu Program at CSCA, we have this colorful Algerian White Bean Salad using fresh tomatoes he received from a friend's garden.

Using fresh beans and potatoes she had received from friends, Abby of Eat the Right Stuff (UK) created this easy and delicious potato salad with a lemon and garlic vinaigrette and also cooked up some runner beans for the very first time.

Jocelyn of She Spills the Beans (US, California) put together a beautiful salad using lots of fresh basil from her garden and tossed it with plums and a fig-balsamic vinaigrette. (Update: No longer published.)

Chick peas, roasted cherry tomatoes, black olives, and fresh thyme, rosemary, and Italian parsley from her garden make up this colorful salad from Chris of Mele Cotte (US, Georgia).

Robert of Al Forno Charleston (US, South Carolina) noshes on his favorite tomato salad using tomatoes fresh from his father's garden, boiled eggs, and a honey mustard vinaigrette.

Lots of fresh sliced homegrown tomatoes go into this simple salad, along with balsamic vinegar, chopped basil, drizzled olive oil, and maybe some salt and pepper, brought to us by Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms (US, California).

Dessert & Everything Else:

Fresh, wild blackberries are paired with honey in a fabulous sorbet from Inge of Vanielje Kitchen (UK).

Marie of A Year From Oak Cottage and Marie's Muses (UK) made an Applesauce Spice Cake from the apples in the cottage orchard, and a lovely breakfast of toast with fresh raspberries, mascarpone, and fragrant honey.

Oven drying tomatoes is a great way to preserve them and intensify the flavor. Cris of From Our Home to Yours (Brazil) shows us how using some fresh thyme from her condo garden. She also includes directions for sun drying.

Quellia of All Things Edible (Canada) started her garden late so she doesn't have anything ready to cook with yet, but it looks like she'll have some nice pumpkins to work with soon.