Pardon My Parsley

Pardon My Parsley

While it isn’t a true perennial, rather, biennial (meaning it dies after the second year when it flowers), parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a staple in my food forest. I actually never really used it in my cooking until a few years ago, when I started 

Devilish Jalapeno Eggs (Or What To Do With A Bumper Crop of Peppers)

Devilish Jalapeno Eggs (Or What To Do With A Bumper Crop of Peppers)

This past year I was given a bunch of miscellaneous peppers from our friends, which was great because for some reason my pepper plants failed to thrive so I had all but given up on them. However, the question then became “what do I do 

Garlic Mustard Breakfast Quiche

Garlic Mustard Breakfast Quiche

Garlic mustard is out in full force along my back fence, where I haven’t had the time to plant/cultivate anything just yet. Considered a highly invasive weed, this plant is also a wonderful foraged green in early spring, when it’s still tender and not very 

Creamy Cheesy Hosta Dip

Creamy Cheesy Hosta Dip

I’m on a hosta shoot binge because they’ve started to unfurl in my garden, and while you can eat them up until they reach about 7 – 8 inches and fully uncurl, they become progressively more bitter and tough, rather than sweet and tender. This 

Tempura Hosta Shoots

Tempura Hosta Shoots

It’s spring and my hostas are starting to come up. This means hosta shoots galore. With a flavor and texture like artichokes, they are absolutely delicious as tempura, which is what I made today for lunch. You might feel weird eating something you’d thought of 

Steamed Vegetable Dumpling (蔬蒸餃)

Steamed Vegetable Dumpling (蔬蒸餃)

I made this with hairy bittercress but you could potentially do it with a lot of different mild flavored greens (spinach, shepherd’s purse, edible chrysanthemum, goosefoot, stinging nettle). My particular version only has 3 main ingredients–egg, shiitake mushroom, and the greens, but other versions can include 

Hair Raising Bittercress

Hair Raising Bittercress

Along with dandelions and garlic mustard, hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) is one of the first greens to come out during the spring. Often viewed as a weed, it’s actually a delightful vegetable that, while a pain to collect, is quite tasty in that it can 

Fire Roasted Pepper Caponata

Fire Roasted Pepper Caponata

The wood stove is nearing the end of the season but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it for a last hurrah. Roasting peppers in it is especially fun and easy, as I can just nestle the peppers into the coals/wood, close the door, and 

Chivalrous Onion Chives

Chivalrous Onion Chives

Once my onion chives are out, I know spring is right around the corner. A wonderful substitute for scallions, onion chives are a staple in my kitchen. They’re often the first to appear after winter, and the last to leave after fall. Allium schoenoprasum, common 

Sesame Miso Shungiku Side Dish

Sesame Miso Shungiku Side Dish

It’s the season for shungiku (also called tong ho in Chinese, and edible chrysanthemum/garland daisy–not to be confused with Chrysanthemum nankingense) which means I can get a big bag of it for real cheap at the Asian supermarket. It has a distinctive herb taste but