Is there anything more soul-soothing than going out into your garden to pick fresh peppers or tomatoes to wash and chop up for dinner? Garden-to-table dining is right at your fingertips when you become a food gardener and start making our easy healthy recipes.
Beyond the delicious benefits of growing your own food to make easy healthy recipes, you benefit from choosing what to grow and the unique varieties you can’t find in a grocery store, which can lift your culinary spirits. Take heirloom vegetables, for example. Even though they aren’t bred for it specifically, heirloom varieties are adaptable to their environment, meaning you can save seeds, and each year you’ll likely get healthier plants that are more resistant to disease and pests. The more you grow them, the better they get.
Even if you don’t have a lot of space to work with, you can start a kitchen garden (a smaller garden that mostly has herbs and a few choice veggies) or a container garden (great for growing indoors, on patios, and balconies). You’d be surprised how much you can grow in a small amount of square footage, especially with plants that climb.
If you love to cook easy healthy recipes, you’ll do well to plant an herb garden and even a spice garden so you can always harvest fresh herbs and spices on hand. Then, let your palate guide the rest of what you plant. Tomatoes become tomato sauces and catsups, cucumbers become pickles, lettuce becomes salads, onions and garlic go with just about everything, and a bounty of squashes will serve roasted squash all winter long!
We have lots of garden-fresh easy healthy recipes below, and we welcome you to also read our Recipes from Your Garden freebie. Enjoy!
As an avid tomato gardener, let me tell you—San Marzano tomatoes are nothing short of magical. These oblong, bright-red beauties are the not-so-secret ingredient behind some of the best pasta sauce you’ll ever taste. But what exactly makes them so special? Let’s dig in (pun fully intended). San Marzano tomatoes trace their roots to the […]
There’s something almost magical about growing edible flowers. I remember the first time I sprinkled bright nasturtium petals over a salad—the colors popped, the flavors surprised me, and honestly, it just felt fancy. But what I love most is that these pretty little blooms aren’t just for show. They feed pollinators, deter pests, and, when you […]
Before I tell you the best potatoes for home fries, let’s talk about what you want to do with them. Different strokes of potatoes for different folks, but the kind I like in my home fries are white potatoes and sometimes sweet potatoes added for complexity of the flavor, especially if I’m adding in something savory like bacon, or cooking with the bacon grease I’ve saved on my countertop.
As a kid, I played this game with my friend where we’d blindfold each other and take random food or condiments from the fridge and get the other person to guess what it was. It would always end in tears when one of us reached for the hot sauce. All of this by way of saying, I’ve always been interested in weird things you can actually eat.
I’ve always had a soft spot for paprika. It sneaks its way into my soups, stews, and rubs, adding warmth and depth to nearly everything I cook. But it wasn’t until a trip to Budapest a few years ago that I truly grasped just how central this vibrant spice is to Hungarian cuisine—and how little […]
No matter the season, I dream of sun-soaked afternoons by the grill, tongs in one hand and the smoky aroma of seasoned meats wafting through the air. That dream begins not on the patio, but in the garden with my homemade herb and spice blends. Whether you’re an experienced grower or just getting your hands […]
Welcome to a homegrown bread revolution! There’s something magical about baking bread at home – the warm yeasty aroma filling your kitchen, the golden crust crackling as it cools, and the first pillowy bite of a fresh loaf. In recent times, many of us have rediscovered the joys of homemade bread and backyard gardening, finding […]
If you think about it, the idea of surface sowing seeds isn’t that radical. I can guarantee there aren’t many gardeners carefully measuring out the perfect depth to plant dandelion seeds, and yet, they are everywhere. Blown randomly about by the wind, the seeds land in your yard, along well-trodden paths, and thrive in that […]
Check out a few garden-inspired potluck dishes that people love to serve. These recipes will surely make everyone ask for seconds. 1. Summer Squash Casserole Comfort food is a staple item at potlucks, but you can provide a healthy alternative to anyone who’s tired of mac and cheese. For this recipe, combine the yellow squash […]
I’m not usually an egg person, so when I first stumbled upon the concept of quiche, I was in college, hunting for meals that felt fancy but required the kind of effort you can put in between study breaks. Fast forward to life now—kids, work, all the busyness—and quiche has earned its place in my […]
