We love to talk about growing fresh fruits and vegetables, but when it comes time to harvest, conversation quickly changes to eating! As I make my way around Decker's Nursery, I frequently hear customers and staff talking about their favorite ways to eat their garden.
Over the years, we have tried numerous recipes, but the best dishes we have ever enjoyed are simple by nature and bring out the wholesome goodness of the fruit or vegetable. Most of our customers agree to make your garden harvest the star of the recipe. The vegetables you’re using may be the sweetest, most ripe and most flavorful you’ve ever had. Embrace it and enjoy every bite. The best news is, all the recipes below are healthy so you can indulge guilt free.
Cucumber salad
What can we say about glorious cucumbers? Crisp texture, refreshing and tasty! We’re calling this a cucumber salad, but your peppers, parsley and tomatoes share the spotlight. Take our advice, make as much of this dish as you think you need and then double it!
- 2 cucumbers
- 4 tomatoes
- 1/2 small red onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1/4 bunch parsley
- 2 oz feta
- Kalamata olives
Drizzle with Red Wine Vinaigrette and serve.
Pesto Zucchini Pasta
Zucchini might be the most versatile vegetable from your garden. They are easy to grow and easy to work into just about any recipe from salads to muffins. What you may not know is that Zucchini can be a wonderful low-carb substitute for spaghetti. To make this dish we break out our spiralizer kitchen tool. Next, we combine pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, fresh basil and lemon juice into our food processor. Coat the zoodles with the fresh pesto and you’re done!
- 2 zucchini made into noodles (zoodles)
- 1 cup raw pine nuts
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 3 cups fresh basil
Summer rolls
Who doesn't like summer rolls? The strongest flavor in this dish is the bacon, but when you combine that with cold fresh lettuce and tomato, its an appetizer or snack you will love.
Just wrap bacon, lettuce and tomato in thin light rice paper and start dipping! This recipe makes six rolls.
- 6 rice paper rounds
- 12 baby lettuce leaves
- 6 slices of cooked bacon
- 1 large tomato, seeded and diced
Avocado dipping sauce
- ½ avocado
- ¼ cup creme fraiche
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 4 mint leaves
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Superfood carrot salad
Does it still count as a recipe if you don't cook it? Sure it does! Those are the best kind. It takes just about 15 minutes to prepare this dish. Serve chilled.
- 10 large shredded carrots
- 1 cup dried goji berries
- 4 green apples, chopped
- 1 cup pecans
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Steamed Edamame
Put the potato chips back in the pantry. Instead, try snacking on yummy Edamame Soybeans. They’re so simple to make, this barely qualifies as a recipe. Crunch, salty and fun to eat. Just like those potato chips, you can't eat just one!
Boil water, drop in the Edamame, let cook for 5 minutes, drain, sprinkle with sea salt, and enjoy. Told you it was easy!
Melon Sorbet
You didn't think we would put all this yummy food in front of you without offering dessert did you?
- 4 cups of chopped melon
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup of honey
Place the melon, lime juice, coconut milk, salt and honey into a blender and puree until smooth.
Process and freeze using an ice cream maker.
We would love to hear your favorite recipes might be for your garden. Have fun with these creations. If you ever need some taste testers, we’re ready at Decker's Nursery. Leave a comment below if you think we should try one of your recipes