Cookbooks for Organic Gardeners
Recipes from the Slow Food Movement
If you shop seasonal, organically grown foods at local farmers' markets and/or grow your own organic produce, you may be part of the Slow Food Movement, whether you realize it or not.
Led by chef Alice Waters, the Slow Food Movement began in the 1970s. In addition to using fresh and healthy local foods, Slow Food cooking means implementing simple preparation methods that enhance rather than mask the natural deliciousness of wholesome ingredients.
Vegetable gardeners who love to cook (and cooks who love to garden) will appreciate the following recipe collections, each in keeping with the tenets of Slow Food cooking. These cookbooks feature seasonal produce and provide easy recipes for making fresh, delicious meals year round.
60 Minutes Interview with Slow Food Revolutionary Alice Waters
The Art of Simple Food
The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters is a classic of the Slow Food Movement. If you're a constant gardener and a daily cook, you'll find yourself turning to it again and again.
The first section focuses on basic techniques (saucing, sauteeing, grilling, simmering, etc.) and basic recipes (herbed butter, vinaigrette, fresh salad, roast chicken, poached eggs, polenta, etc.). The second section consists of still more recipes, each suitable for everyday cooking.
Ingredients
3 medium carrots
1 small celery root
3 medium parsnips
olive oil
salt
The Art of Simple Food
SAMPLE RECIPE FOR FOUR
Roasted Root Vegetables
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Meanwhile, peel \carrots, celery root and parsnips, and then cut them into 1/2-inch slices. Coat them lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and spread them in a single layer on a jelly roll pan. Bake until tender, about 25 minutes.
Intro to Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
All New Square Foot Gardening Cookbook
Mel Bartholomew's All New Square Foot Gardening Cookbook contains more than 135 fresh recipes that focus on 17 (total) vegetables, fruits and herbs from the garden.
Beautifully illustrated with color photos, the cookbook is particularly useful for gardeners who want to save money by using homegrown produce. It includes lots of useful information, including how to
- create a planting schedule that ensures a continuous harvest of fresh produce,
- plant more in less space,
- pick and store specific produce, and
- cook and preserve large harvests.
Ingredients
8 asparagus stalks, trimmed
10 cherry tomatoes
8 fresh basil leaves
10 black olives, pitted
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled & sliced
salt & pepper
All New Square Foot Gardening Cookbook
SAMPLE RECIPE
Roasted Asparagus with Cherry Tomatoes for Two
Combine asparagus with tomatoes, basil, olives, oil, and clove. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan. Bake 12 minutes at 425 degrees F, stirring twice during cooking.
How to Plant a Salad Bowl
The Joy of Gardening Cookbook
The Joy of Gardening Cookbook by Janet Ballantyne is a recipe collection, not a gardening how-to book. However, it does contain tips on harvesting and storing vegetables.
Ballantyne devotes each chapter to a vegetable. Entire chapters, for instance, focus exclusively on tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and beans, to name a few. And each begins with an "At a Glance" section that provides details about vegetable cultivars as well as picking, storing, handling and preparation methods.
If you're looking for lots of recipes for your money, The Joy of Gardening Cookbook is a good choice. It contains over 350!
Ingredients
6 C. beets, cooked & diced
6-12 eggs, hard-boiled & peeled
2 C. water
1 1/2 C. vinegar
1 1/2 C. granulated sugar
1 stick of cinnamon
5 allspice berries, whole
20 cloves, whole
