Recipes, techniques and more
You spent all spring and summer growing it. Now comes the fun part: Eating it!
With garden crops maturing and fruit ripening on the trees, we revisit a collection of ideas about what do with it all.
Whether you're looking to prepare a fresh dish for dinner tonight or set preserves aside for colder months to come, NAIT culinary experts can help. Happy harvesting!
7 ways to prepare zucchini
Your garden is generous – maybe a little too generous? From salad to stuffed flowers, chef Karl MacKinnon (Cooking '14) suggests six ways to manage that surplus zucchini. Baker Amy Mancor (Baking '08) rounds out the list with a classic muffin recipe.
Turn up the heat
If you have peppers, you have hot sauce. Follow these five "rules" from fermentation expert Roger Letourneau (Cook '10) to add a little zest to your dishes all winter long.
What to do with your tomatoes
Arguably NAIT's biggest tomato fan, Culinary Arts and Professional Food Studies associate dean Perry Michetti (Cooking '90) tells you everything you need to know about harvesting, cooking with, and preserving this kitchen staple.
Make crabapple-pepper jelly
When the garden gives you crabapples, make jelly! While you're at it, why not throw in some peppers? Check out this recipe from grad Leanne Kitagawa (Cooking ’88).
Blanch and freeze
Blanched, frozen vegetables are close to garden-fresh as you'll get once the snow falls. Check out these tips from Culinary Arts lab technician Linda Sutherland (Culinary Arts ’18) on locking in the flavours of summer.
Celebrate with sour cherries
As far as desserts go, this one is an oldie but a goodie. Have a fire extinguisher on hand (we're only half kidding) and give this recipe a try, adapted by NAIT culinary instructors.
Cut and dry
If you can't eat it now, and aren't in a position to preserve it right away, why not dry it? Friends of Ernest's Dining Room executive chef Rylan Krause (Cook '12) joke that he'll use his dehydrator to turn anything into a powder. You don't have to go that far, but these tips will help you enjoy flavourful garden produce for months to come, all of it shelf-stable.
Great ideas for cooking with veggies
Need some new approaches to transforming your garden produce into glorious meals?
Vegetables: A Love Story is the latest book from author Renée Kohlman (Culinary Arts ’99). Part memoir, part cookbook, Vegetables combines personal stories and roughly 90 recipes. Soon after its release, it received critical acclaim, including being listed among the Globe and Mail’s Top 100 books of 2021.
“This is what I wanted, for the book to be used and well-loved,” says Kohlman.
Learn more about Kohlman's book (and try one of her recipes)