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    Six Ways to Cook and Serve Spinach

    Spinach and strawberry salad

    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

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    Seven Ways to Prepare Horseradish

    Horseradish root

    The peak season for freshly harvested horseradish is early spring and late fall.  Horseradish is a long, knobby root—it’s an herb, not a vegetable–that has no aroma until you scratch, cut, or grate it. The pungent odor and the hot taste of horseradish are due to a volatile oil—similar to mustard oil—that is released when […] More

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    Tasty Ways to Serve and Cook Radishes

    Radish on lettuce

    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

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    Eight Ways to Cook and Serve Turnips

    Turnips in kitchen

    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

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    Three Ways to Cook Turnip Greens

    Turnip greens

    Turnip greens can be steamed, sautéed, boiled, and prepared much like spinach. The tenderest of turnip greens are those harvested before the swollen root we call a turnip ever develops. Young greens will have the least bite. Grow turnip greens for harvest in the cool time of the year, in early spring and autumn. How to […] More

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    How to Cook and Serve Belgian Endive

    Belgian endive1

    Belgian endive is commonly served raw added to winter salads or braised and served with a white sauce. Belgian endive can also be steamed, parboiled, and prepared in a gratin. The closely wrapped creamy white leaves of Belgian endive form a firm elongated, spear-shaped heart. The leaves are slightly pungent.  Belgian endive is harvested from […] More

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    Tasty Ways to Cook and Serve Shallots

    raw shallots

    Shallots have a sweet, delicate flavor and aroma. They are more subtle than onion and less pungent than garlic. Shallots can be served raw or cooked. Shallots are most often used as a condiment to enhance the flavor of other foods, but they can be cooked alone as a vegetable. Fresh green shallots with the […] More

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    Tasty Ways to Cook and Serve Tomatillos

    Tomatillos in bowl

    Tomatillo flavor is delicate but slightly tart in a green tomato sort of way, although it can sometimes border on sweet. Some say the flavor of the tomatillo is a combination of apple, lemon, and herbs. Tomatillo can be sliced raw into a salad or diced into salsa. Most often tomatillo is slowly simmered until […] More

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    Nine Ways to Cook and Serve Tomatoes

    Tomato bruschetta

    Ways to cook tomatoes, try: fry, sauté, roast, broil-grill, stew, and steam, also make tomato gratin, stuffed tomatoes, and tomato soup. The tomato is a fruit used as a vegetable in savory dishes for its juicy texture and mildly sweet, rich taste.  Tomatoes are at their absolute best vine-ripened towards the end of summer. The […] More

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    Tasty Ways to Serve Melons

    Melon Honeydew slices1

    There are two ways to eat melon: at the beginning of a meal as an hors d’oeuvre or starter for savory dishes or at the end as a dessert fruit. The high water content of melons makes them refreshing, especially during hot summer weather, but because they are so high in water content they are […] More

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    How to Cook and Serve Chickpeas

    Chickpea salad1

    Chickpeas can be boiled, sauteed, roasted, and baked. They can be added to stews and turned into hummus. Chickpeas can be used in appetizers, mixed salads, and soups. The nutty flavor and creamy texture of the chickpea make it a robust and hearty addition to many dishes. The chickpea is a staple in cookery throughout […] More