Nothing is better than a home-cooked meal composed of ingredients from your very own vegetable garden. And, lucky for us, here in Fort Lauderdale, the winter harvest is bountiful! From bell peppers to radishes, tomatoes, squash, cucumber, celery, broccoli, and guava — there is a rainbow of opportunities at our fingertips when it comes to cooking with fresh ingredients straight from the garden.
While you are certainly welcome to pick and enjoy the fruits of your own labor straight from the vine, we are partial to bringing them all together into unique, easy-to-create dishes that we can enjoy with the ones we love around the dinner table.
Here’s a few of our favorite winter harvest recipes for you to choose from.
Thai Curry Coconut Soup Recipe
Like many soups, you can often include ‘everything, but the kitchen sink,’ and this plant-based Asian-inspired soup recipe is no different! For those of you who like growing your own veggies, herbs, and spices (yep, you can grow turmeric and ginger in your kitchen!), you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how much of your harvest you can actually include in this delectable soup.
You’ll start by sauteing the ultimate soup trifecta (onion, carrot, and celery) in about two tablespoons of coconut oil over medium to high heat in a large soup pot until they are tender and the onions are fragrant.
Then add a tablespoon of fresh, finely grated ginger, two garlic cloves, a tablespoon or two of curry paste, two cups of vegetable broth, a can of coconut milk — and your winter harvest veggies! Green beans, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, or green peppers would all taste delicious. Bring everything to a boil for a few moments, then reduce the heat, simmer and cover until you’re ready to serve. You can add green onions or cilantro as a garnish.
Chopped Tomato, Cucumber & Radish Salad Recipe
With celery, cucumbers, radishes, and tomatoes all ready to be picked in March, this creamy salad recipe is the perfect side dish to showcase some of your winter harvest at a potluck. And, as an added perk, it’s really, really easy to put together!
Ingredients include mayonnaise (½ cup), crumbled feta cheese (½ cup), fresh chives and dill (about a tablespoon each can go in the salad and add a bit more as garnish), lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper, one full cucumber, a bunch of radishes (diced), about a pint of cherry tomatoes and about half a red onion (diced).
Simply whisk the mayonnaise, feta, herbs, lemon juice, salt, and pepper together and then add all the remaining ingredients, toss to coat, and you’re done!
Eggplant & Cabbage Pita Recipe
Another winter harvest recipe that is packed full of flavor and super easy to execute.
You will need olive oil, an eggplant sliced into 1-inch rounds, two cups of green cabbage, one cucumber, a pinch of turmeric, paprika, pink Himalayan salt, a few mint leaves, and pitas. Then, for a sauce, you’ll need tahini, garlic cloves (minced), and a tablespoon or two of lemon or lime juice.
To prepare the bulk of the meal, start by heating your olive oil over medium heat. Add your eggplant and cook until softened, then stir in your cabbage and spices. Cook until the cabbage wilts.
For your sauce, simply toss all ingredients into a small food processor or use an immersion blender (whichever you have on hand). To serve, simply stuff your pitas with your eggplant/cabbage mixture, toss a few sprigs of mint leaves on top, and add your sauce to taste.
Now that you have sufficiently stuffed yourself with your winter harvest, be sure to stop by Living Color Garden Center to stock up on some new seedlings for the growing season ahead in Fort Lauderdale.