White Gazpacho

Gazpacho sounds fancy and intimidating, but it is actually as easy as making a smoothie. While the classic tomato gazpacho or the herbaceous gazpacho verde are delicioso, the creamy white gazpacho has a charm of its own. Traditionally, it evolved as a way for peasants to use their leftover bread, mixed with fruits and vegetables from the fields. Blanched almonds (almonds without their skins) make it feel substantial, with a supple, creamy texture. But the body of this chilled soup is cucumber and green grapes, juicy and refreshing.

Blackberry Squash

Summer Blackberries are one of life's greatest pleasures. Juicy, sweet and messy, they can dye my fingers and mouth purple with bliss because I just can't stop once I start! Squash is a fruit drink popular in the UK. It's pretty much a fruit flavored syrup mixed with sparkling water and tastes like a fruity soda made with real fruit juice. Back in the olden days, they made squash with whatever fruit was on hand, sugar to preserve it, and then medicinal herbs and spices.

Heirloom Tomato Chutney

The tomatoes are coming! As summer continues to heat up, the next couple months will bring us piles and piles of ripe tomatoes. The number of varieties of heirloom tomatoes is pretty staggering: there are bright yellow lemon boys, Paul Robeson black tomatoes, Cherokee purple tomatoes and pantano romanesco, a meaty Roman heirloom the color of blood. And these barely scrape the surface of different varieties.

Fried Green Tomatoes

If you're lucky enough to have tomato plants at home, and people seem to really love growing tomatoes pretty much everywhere I've been, you are now in the era of patience. In our greenhouse, we have so many tomato plants they are creating their own microclimate! I started buying tomatoes back in February, I was so excited about summer even though it was still months away. And now the vines are filled with fruit, staked and tied and growing taller by the day. But the fruit is green! Tomatoes love to ripen at the hottest time towards the end of summer, and in Northern California that means August, September, even October. 

So if you're hella impatient like we are, and you feel like a special treat worthy of the old South, slice, dredge and fry up those green tomatoes.

Grilled Artichokes

Eat more flowers! Springtime is a perfect time to celebrate with colorful, delicate petals and flowers. We love to garnish with the tender blossoms of herbs like rosemary, sage or basil. Bright and flavorful squash blossoms are another favorite this time of year. But one edible flower is not delicate at all, it is sharp, strong and knobby: the humble yet magnificent artichoke.

Green Pesto

Grilled Vegetable Platter with 3 sauces: Olive Tapenade, Green Pesto and Mushroom Pâté

Yes, it's fall! We love this time of year, with the leaves changing, the chimneys coming alive with smoke and a chill in the air. Wait a second... this is San Francisco, and October is feeling very different than your typical fall moment. Any month of the year, cold foggy nights and gray sweater weather can dominate. But for a few magical days, it is hot day and night, everyone is smiling and tan in their shorts and this metropolis by the bay actually feels like California.

Macaroni and Cheeze

Yes, this is cheese with a "z!" When I first decided to cut dairy products from my diet, I figured I would have to do without some of my favorite foods, namely ice cream and cheesy noodles. Well, it didn't take long for me to learn that vegans love to eat these things too! I can still remember reading about nutritional yeast for the first time, thinking it sounded like a weird supplement and definitely not a delicious condiment that was to become a staple of my diet.

Cinnamon Rolls

I am spending my days cooking for young people who want to change the world! Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Summer Camp is for kids who care about making our earth a better place. As part of the mission of the camp, vegan food is served to campers and staff. We explain that for people who want to eliminate injustices in our wold, the SAD Standard American Diet makes no sense. So not only do we want to educate them about helping others, but show them how delicious it can be!

Peanut Dressing

Peanut Butter, the miracle food. Ashley needs only a spoon and maybe some chocolate chips to enjoy the sticky stuff, which she does pretty much every day. I love chocolate and peanut butter like any red-blooded American, but the thick, greasy paste coats my mouth and leaves me thirsty. In our house, because I don't eat it by the spoonful every day, it sometimes seems like I am a PB hater. Not true! But I do prefer to thin the stickiness out of the PB and turn it into peanut sauce. And peanut sauce... that I can eat every day!

Avocado Salsa Verde

More salsa! In our world, there is never such a thing as too much salsa! At our neighborhood taqueria (Oh the joy of being in California...) they have a salsa bar, and our favorite is a spicy, tangy salsa verde. It is hot, but mellowed out by the creaminess of avocados. For taco night, we tried to whip up a batch ourselves.

Grilled Salsa

One day while I was in high school and watching Martha Stewart on TV with a friend, she opened her show with the following sentence: "The number one condiment in America isn't ketchup or mustard. It's salsa. Fresh, delicious, beautiful salsa." Her zealous use of adjectives made me laugh and anything that I liked for years was "fresh, delicious and beautiful." Martha and I may not agree on many things, like the distribution of wealth or eating animals and their secretions, but boy do we agree about salsa!