“A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins,” according to the writer Laurie Colwin. Of course she was talking about backyard garden and farmers’ market tomatoes–all those luscious local tomatoes that provide a bright symphony of flavors. And now is the time to seek out every theme and variation on tomatoes: hybrids, […]

If you like the circus act where a crowd of clowns emerges from a tiny car, then you’ll love spaghetti squash. It’s just plain fun to cook a vegetable the shape of a watermelon, open it up, and pull out yards of crisp-tender, golden strands. It only adds to the fun when you learn that […]

For many baby-boomers, the constant refrain of “Eat your spinach, it’s good for you!” and the olive green glop of canned vegetable that accompanied the words, led to life-long spinach avoidance. Well now is the time, if you haven’t already, to overcome your spinach phobia. One nibble of a local farmer’s sweet and vibrant fresh […]

Stop! When you get back from the market and are trying to find places for all of the beautiful produce you bought (or the ones that are fresh from your garden), don’t throw away those root tops. The tops of carrots, radishes, turnips, and beets, for example, are packed with nutrients (sometimes more than the root itself) […]