Tzatziki Sauce

This Greek sauce is a must-make for our house, especially in mid-summer when the number of cucumbers coming off the vines means we’ve got to get creative in how to eat them. We slather it over falafel, serve it alongside tabbouli, sometimes even pour it atop a salad or a tomato sandwich. And when we do make tzatziki in winter, it’s like sneaking aContinue reading “Tzatziki Sauce”

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Condiments are the key to whipping up a healthful, from-scratch meal. Having homemade mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, jam, Asian peanut sauce or salad dressing in the fridge makes grain bowls, pasta, cookies and pork more nutritious — and more delicious. Often those same sauces purchased from the grocery store are full of sugars or other unpronounceableContinue reading “Sweet and Sour Sauce”

Horseradish Cream Sauce

  We’ve grown horseradish in our garden for a couple of years now and I’ve come to really love it. I typically harvest it after a few killing frosts in the fall, then grate it and mix it with vinegar to keep in the fridge for the year. (Read more of what I’ve written aboutContinue reading “Horseradish Cream Sauce”

Strawberry Balsamic Jam

I make and can strawberry jam most years. It’s a great way to preserve berries that all ripen at once. We eat the jam on peanut butter sandwiches, in jam bar cookies and sometimes just straight from the jar. We also give it as gifts. This year, for my first batch, I used my friend Laura Latham’sContinue reading “Strawberry Balsamic Jam”

Barbecue Sauce

  I hail from the North Carolina Piedmont, not far from barbecue capital, Lexington, N.C. If you’ve got an impressive BBQ IQ then you know that Lexington lovers take their smoked pork with a vinegar tomato sauce and their chopped slaw stirred with the same. In my home kitchen, I cook my locally-raised pork shoulderContinue reading “Barbecue Sauce”

Salsa Verde

We planted tomatillos in our garden for the first time this year and I loved them so much I hope we never have a garden again without them. The crisp, bright taste of fresh salsa verde has a lot to do with this love. This recipe earned me raves at the two potlucks where I shared it,Continue reading “Salsa Verde”

Mint Pesto

  Mint grows like a weed, so finding a tasty use for all that herb feels satisfying. Try this twist on traditional pesto alongside lamb kebobs or steak. Slather it on your baked potato or thin it with extra lemon juice and olive oil for a simple salad dressing. I brought my three favorite pestosContinue reading “Mint Pesto”

Traditional Basil Pesto

  If you grow basil in your garden, at some point in the summer you’ve got way more than you can eat in salads or on sandwiches or even steeped into tea. That’s when you know it’s time to make pesto. I made three pestos on my local TV mid-day show, Daytime Blue Ridge. For a step-by-step how-to, youContinue reading “Traditional Basil Pesto”

Carrot Top Pesto

Did you know you could make pesto out of just about anything? Like the tops of carrots or kale leaves or even a weed called purslane? I tried making three kinds of pesto this summer and this was my favorite. I liked it even more than basil pesto. It tastes bright and crisp and lemon-y. The perfectContinue reading “Carrot Top Pesto”