New potatoes make for sweet, moist eating. You can serve them steamed, sautéed, boiled, baked, roasted, or grilled. They can be served tossed in butter or olive oil or as a dip with butter or sour cream or horseradish or served as a side dish with chicken, lamb, steaks or burgers, or grilled fish. New […] More
Turnips can be boiled, steamed, and stir-fried. Cook turnips until they are just tender-crunchy–less than seven minutes or so for a young turnip. The flavor will be mildly sweet and crisp. Turnips can be cooked in several ways. Roast turnips, braise turnips in butter, make turnip and potato purée, glaze turnips, or make a turnip […] More
The taste of arugula has been described as tangy, peppery, nutty, and mustard sharp. You get the picture: arugula is the “mild” transformer. In Italian salads, arugula is often contrasted against red chicory and paler lettuces. In the mesclun salads originating in Provence, arugula is one of the zestier greens mixed with baby lettuces and […] More
Radishes are commonly eaten raw but they are also quite delicious cooked in butter. Radishes can taste mild and sweet or peppery and pungent. Common round and oblong radishes can be bright pink to crimson red, purple, and white. Daikon radishes –common in Asian cooking–are ivory. Black radishes–a winter radish–are spicy hot. Also of interest: […] More
Spinach has just the right balance of flavor—sharp and hearty but not overpowering. It is equally versatile raw or cooked. There are two main types of spinach: flat-leafed and savoy or crinkle-leafed. The more tender and mild tasting of the two is flat-leafed especially the baby varieties. Savoy spinach has a stronger flavor with a […] More
Cooked cabbage can be crisp with a mild and sweet flavor. Cabbage also can be served raw in salads and slaws and on sandwiches and burgers. Cabbage comes to harvest during the cool and cold fall and winter months. There are three kinds of round-headed cabbage: white, red, and Savoy. The leaves of the white […] More
Cook kohlrabi or eat it raw. Kohlrabi is crunchy like radish and tastes like a mild, sweet turnip with a bit of radish tang. Young kohlrabi is juicy and crisp and delicate. The peak kohlrabi harvest season is mid-spring to mid-fall. In mild-winter regions, kohlrabi and can be grown and harvested through the winter. Favorite […] More
Beets have a sweet, earthy taste. They can be eaten raw or cooked. If you bake or roast beets in their skins, you can enjoy that flavor at its most intense. You can boil beets then peel and slice them and serve with a little oil and lemon. If you have any leftovers, put them […] More
Just out of the garden, soak broccoli for about 10 minutes in salty water. This ensures any tiny bugs still hiding out will be dispatched. Then I rinse each flower head under cold running water. You’ll want to cut away the tough lower stalk leaving just 3 inches or so below the base of the […] More
Brussels sprouts have a nutty, cabbage-like flavor that makes a delicious hot side dish dressed with butter or meat-roasting juices. Lightly steamed Brussels sprouts are perfect with a lemon-butter sauce, or you can simmer them with chopped celery until tender and then fold them into a cheese sauce. Cooked and cooled Brussels sprouts can be […] More
The perfect thing about cauliflower is that the size of the head is no indicator of quality. Big heads or small snack-sized heads–as long as they are fresh–will be equally tasty. Cauliflower is best harvested in late spring or fall when temperatures are moderate to cool. Fresh cauliflower should taste mildly sweet or nutty and […] More
Fresh chopped or shredded collards can add a little spice to salads. As well, collards can be steamed, boiled, sauteed, and added to soups and stews. Collards are a good match for smoked pork. Combine collards with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or beans and puree. Collards have a very strong cabbagey flavor and are considered […] More
Stephen Albert