The possibilities are endless when it comes to recipes and there’s absolutely nothing better than cooking with the herbs, greens, fruits, and veggies that you’ve just harvested from your very own garden, grown from seed, straight to your supper table. Feast on your homegrown harvests!
Just in case you need some recipe inspiration, our Cookbook blog has nearly endless options and is continuously expanding!
Herbs:
Chop fresh herbs into mixed greens salads, Spiced Couscous Salads, or vegan White Bean Salads for added depth of flavor, pair fennel or dill with fish, or prepare a refreshing stack of juicy tomatoes, fresh basil, and mozzarella that you’ll want to devour every day.
Herbed sauces like chimichurri, gremolata, and pesto are staples in the modern refrigerator (or freezer), and are a perfect addition to any quick weeknight meal, be it pasta, cauliflower steaks, grilled veggies, or tacos.
Don’t forget about all the delicious dips you can whip up for a gorgeous party spread, be it cheesy, creamy, light and refreshing, or spicy.
To wash it all down, herbed cocktails like the Fennel Flannel, Tropical Thai Twist, and Basil Piña Colada are true thirst quenchers.
Herbs are so versatile they can and should be used for breakfast (try our Seedsheet Frittata), lunch (protein packed Green Machine Tuna Salad Sandwiches), appetizers (Fried Pickles with Dill Dip anyone?), dinner (like this Salsa Verde Chickpea Curry), sides (sample these Instagram-worthy Shortbread Biscuits, Scallion Pancakes, and Deviled Eggs), and even dessert (maybe some Basil Creme Brulee).
Greens:
The first thing you think of with greens are salads, but there are infinite salads to choose from! Simple mixed greens salads or garden salads are tasty, but the heartier main course salads like our Asian Kale and Noodle Salad, or protein-packed Arugula, Fennel and White Bean Salad can easily be an entire meal! Enjoy Seedsheet salads year round with a winter Citrus Arugula Salad with Miso Dressing.
Beyond salads, greens can be packed into smoothies, and into fresh takes on sandwiches, like our Strawberry and Garden Greens Grilled Sandwich, savory Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese, and Garden Greens Tartines. Or piled them on top of a Grilled Arugula Naan Pizza or Melon Prosciutto Flatbread. Greens can also be added into breakfast in filling omelets and frittatas.
Root Vegetables:
While a crudités platter is beautiful and totally snackable, root vegetables are also delicious when roasted, tossed into a green salad, chopped into slaws and salads, or made into juice and hot sauces.
Another tasty and versatile treat is Seedsheet Carrot Chutney, which is a perfect addition to a cheese board, spread onto a sandwich, or when topping curries.
Don’t forget about those carrot and beet tops! Use them for Carrot Top Pesto, or sautee them with some olive oil and garlic for a side green.
Tomatoes:
If you are super impatient, coming to the end of your growing season with green tomatoes on the vine, or if you’re just getting the itch for tomatoes, make yourself some crispy battered Fried Green Tomatoes with early season beefsteak tomatoes like Moskvitch.
There are tons of other ways to enjoy tomatoes, including topping a fresh green salad, dehydrating, freezing, canning, baking, saucing, and even as a Bloody Mary brunch cocktail! Don’t forget about Cheesy Dips, salsas, Caprese Salads, Grilled Flatbreads, and Caprese Chicken, lightly sauteed tomatoes in a Spiced Couscous Salad, or tossed into breakfast frittatas.
Peppers:
Use spicy peppers, green or mature, to make hot sauces, creamy Avocado Salsa Verde, cheese dip, dressings, curries, spicy cocktails, packed into Veggie Pockets, breakfast eggs, or make Hot Pepper Flakes for later use!
Sweet peppers are excellent in stir-fries, as fajita veggies, packed into samosas, stuffed with grains and cheese and baked, eaten fresh as crudites with hummus, or topping a crisp garden salad.
Vining Fruits & Veggies (Cukes, Melons, and Squashes):
Create delicious meals and snacks with your vining harvest! Can and pickle lemon cucumbers or quick-pickle traditional cukes, then fry up some crispy pickles.
Chop fresh zucchini or summer squash into frittatas or omelets.
Grill cucumbers into little slices of summer heaven, or grill zucchini and top it with fresh Chimichurri.
Toss together some fresh and sophisticated bites like Flatbread with Cantaloupe Melon and Prosciutto, and Smoked Salmon Cucumber Stacks.
Flowers:
Aside from gorgeous table-toppers, many flowers are both beautiful and edible. Light purple borage flowers taste like refreshing cucumber and are a delicious addition to cocktails and salads.
Thai basil and Tulsi (also known as Holy or Sacred Basil) flowers are aromatic and perfect for cocktails, stir fries (add them, uncooked, at the end), or rolled into fresh spring rolls.
Add peppery Nasturtium flowers to salads or stuff them with cream cheese for a beautiful hors d’oeuvre.
Little known Buzz Buttons, also called Spilanthes, Szechuan Buttons, or the “toothache plant,” cause a strange but delightful temporary mouth-watering, tingling, and numbing sensation in your mouth. Cover these compact blooms in chocolate, sprinkle the petals into salads, use them as cocktail garnishes, or dry them for later use.
Edible flowers can even be frozen into ice cubes for a long-lasting blossom display.
Leave a Comment