Recently In The Gardening Section
This is a bright fresh-tasting show-stopper of a salad. If you already have roasted beets, then the ease and speed of putting this salad together will be a delightful surprise. Leave out none of the ingredients, if at all possible. This is one of those combinations where all the parts sing in harmony. Leave one…
Do you find your mouth watering as you walk through the farmers market in early fall? The colors are glorious. The sugar is up. The flavors are outstanding. What to eat first? Here is a suggestion. Combine a number of those lovelies into a savory salad. There is a window of time when the late…
Glorious Summer! Wander out to the garden and gather some crunchy cucumbers, a ripe tomato or two, and a handful of purslane for the main ingredients of a memorable salad. Purslane? Yes, that weed you’ve been tossing into the compost is a wonderfully nutritious summer green – as well as tasty. Purslane is a bit…
When the garden bounty seems to have no end, many gardeners throw up their hands exclaiming, “It’s coming out my ears!” When you have this much of a veggie harvest, you can afford to make entire meals of that harvest. This simple dish is a prime example. This is a long instruction, but once you…
When the mayonnaise/yogurt broccoli salad swept the country years back, everyone wanted it. It was a treat with lots of interesting ingredients. At this point, however, it has been around so long that it is almost a cliche. If you have tired of the old stuff from the deli, consider this recipe a welcome change….
Fruit salsas are becoming a real favorite in this home. The burst of sweet fruit freshness with the salty and hot undertones is a delightful surprise. We had this peach salsa with grilled salmon and brown rice pilaf, both of which are standouts on their own. However, when combined with the peach salsa, the salsa…
You can hardly find a more delightful way to add fresh fruit or vegetables to your menus than with salsas. If you have not tried a fruit-based salsa before, strawberry salsa may strike you as being off the wall. Actually, it is a lovely mix of flavors. A splash of vinegar on freshly chopped strawberries…
Enjoy this beet salad and pretend you are dining in Russia or Central Europe with flavors indigenous to that cuisine. What may be a bit different is the preparation of both the beets and the potatoes. The beets are roasted whole in foil and then peeled and cubed. The potatoes are cubed, dressed, and roasted…
Having leftover bits of chicken or turkey is such a time-saver but you do not necessarily want them looking or tasting like tired leftovers. Here is a super-quick chicken salad renovation. The meat sautes with some freshly minced garlic to give the chicken a fresh-cooked quality. Adding the oil-soaked dried tomatoes lends a depth and…
Winter food preparation can be a challenge in attempting to serve something fresh and raw with every meal. I have a greater sense of vitality when I manage to eat that way on a regular basis. To achieve that, I take a lesson from the Moroccan cooks. In Moroccan winters you find an abundance of…
This delectable dish is more of a warm salad than a fully cooked entree. The cauliflower and broccoli are blanched for one minute — long enough to turn the broccoli bright green, but long enough to cook the vegetables. It takes a bit of time to get all the pieces together, but this dish is…
Put away any notion you might have of what a cabbage salad should be if you have only experienced mayonnaise-based coleslaw they offer in many restaurants. A traditional coleslaw is great and has its place, but there are many other ways to make non-traditional cabbage salad. The flavor of this cabbage salad is light, bright,…
Pomegranate is a fruit from antiquity but for as long as it has been under cultivation, most folks no nothing about what to do with it other than decorate the table at Thanksgiving. Follow the underwater method of removing the jewel-tones seeds from the shell and membrane that we outline in our pomegranate profile. It’s…
In cold months you tend to eat heavier food to help you deal with the weather. However, no matter how wonderful the main course tastes, it will taste so much better with a light, bright side dish to balance it off. This salad is one of those side dishes. As a bonus, it is quick,…
Traditionally tabouli is made with bulgur. Use quinoa as a substitute and most folks will not even notice. In doing so, you will have increased the protein and lowered the gluten in this refreshing Middle Eastern salad. This recipe also makes use of prolific summer garden produce — a slight tweak on tradition. (Read our…
This wonderful salad is so easy, the compliments it brings are almost embarrassing. Serves: #4 Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream Ingredients 5 cups of tender young cucumber slices Sour cream, about 1 cup of sour cream to 5 cups of cucumber Freshly minced garlic, 2-3 cloves per 1 cup of sour cream Dill weed, fresh…
It is just in the last ten years that I have been exposed to ethnic versions of cucumber salad. The familiar cucumber and red onion floating in vinegar is OK, but there is a whole world of flavors out there to try. This salad is inspired by Anita’s Mexican Restaurant in Bakersfield, California. Their authentic…
The first time I made this enchilada salad, a friend was coming to dinner. He loved Mexican food but was on a diet. There is no better way to enjoy the great flavors of enchiladas without the calories and corn than this green salad. You get the added benefit of adding more leafy greens to…
This tomato salad is may be our all-time favorite summer salad and is best when the vegetables are fresh, vine-ripened, and full of flavor. If you can manage a vine-ripened heirloom tomato, eating this salad may feel a little bit like Heaven. The first time I had this was 4th of July, sitting on a…
Amanda and I stopped for lunch at a small family-run Armenian restaurant. The meal was fine but what sticks in our memory was the first course — a grilled vegetable salad. The flavor of the grilled vegetables and the dressing blended perfectly. We could have made a meal on it that day. We came home…
The Traditional Foods site comes to you from the Sequoia National Forest in a house designed by Irving Gill. We are a mother-daughter team strong in both the science and the art of cooking. We chronicle our cooking here and our adventures in the forest at Gill on the Hill. Read more about our background and food philosophy.
