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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Aida Mollenkamp on Eating Seasonal: So Fresh, So Clean

Posted in Exhibitions, The Edible Garden on July 2 2009, by Plant Talk

Aida Mollenkamp is host of Food Network’s Ask Aida. She helped kick off The Edible Garden with a cooking demonstration in the Conservatory Kitchen.

I’m a self-proclaimed minimalist. I don’t really know how it happened (a result, most likely, of having moved 16 times in the past 10 years), but it has permeated all parts of my life, including my kitchen. Despite that, I’ve always made space for some homegrown produce in my life—or on my windowsill, to be more precise. And having a garden to eat from is the basis of how I learned to cook, a reality that’s not easy for anyone. (It helps that my home region of Southern California is an agricultural utopia where nearly anything will grow anytime of year). And while I’ve never had enough space to sow a full garden, the idea of eating as fresh and as in season as possible has stuck with me.

With green, sustainable, and local as the buzzwords du jour, it can become intimidating figuring out how, if at all, it can work for you. All that moving I’ve done and all the creative ways people have embraced those tenets in my current hometown of San Francisco has led me to this conclusion: Make sure whatever you do works with your lifestyle, and you’ll be more likely to stick with it in the long term. There are plenty of resources out there for the gung ho: you can get a subscription to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), get a plot in a community garden, or just support your local farmer or grocer who you think is doing it right.

And, there’s a huge upside for the food obsessed—you and your family start to learn a lot about ingredients you once may have considered mundane (like that Brussels sprouts grow on stalks, that chickpeas are tasty fresh, that freshly grown cucumbers actually have taste, or even that kids will eat freshly picked tomatoes like candy once they’ve experienced how sweet they actually are).

So, with summer in full swing, start thinking fresh and look for new ways to get seasonal ingredients into your meals, from making grilled whole fish stuffed to the brim with all the herbs you can get your hands on to making a vat of fresh tomato salsa and strawberry-and-basil popsicles, and it’ll soon become second nature to get back to nature.

Here is one of Aida’s recipes. For more of her creations, see our Edible Garden recipe section.

Crunchy Crouton, Summer Veggie, and Mozzarella Salad
Recipe courtesy Aida Mollenkamp

This simple, sweet summer salad is loaded with color and flavor and is the perfect way to celebrate the best of summer produce. Because it’s easy to throw together, tasty, and healthful, it’s a great way to get kids interested in veggies (spinach can be added for more adventurous eaters).

  • 8 ounces slightly stale loaf country-style bread
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for toasting bread
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
  • 3 tablespoons champagne vinegar or rice vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups halved grape or pear tomatoes (about 8 ounces)
  • 1 cup small dice mini sweet peppers
  • 1 cup sweet corn kernels (about 1 ear)
  • 8 ounces mozzarella, small dice
  • 1 handful baby spinach, carefully washed and dried (optional)
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh chives
  • 10 medium fresh basil leaves, town into small pieces (about 3 tablespoons)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and arrange a rack in the middle.

Tear or cut bread into bite-sized chunks and add to a medium bowl. Drizzle olive oil all over bread, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and toss to coat. Transfer the bread to a sheet pan, put in the oven and toast until crisp and golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. (You should have about 6 cups.)

Combine vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a large nonreactive serving bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add toasted bread and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and toss to coat. Add tomatoes, peppers, corn, mozzarella, and spinach, if using, and toss to thoroughly combine. Taste a piece of bread and season with more salt or pepper if needed. Let sit at least 15 minutes or up to 4 hours before serving. Just before serving, add chives and basil, toss to combine.
Note: Get the kids involved by having them help tear the bread and basil for this salad.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy