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Garden Grown Chef Seasonally Inspired Meals from My Garden to Your Table

I wouldn't exactly call this Thai curry traditional, but it does hit all the right notes that bring me back to my experi...
23/10/2025

I wouldn't exactly call this Thai curry traditional, but it does hit all the right notes that bring me back to my experiences with Thai street food circa 2006.

The veggies I use vary with the season, but the combination of garlic, ginger, scallions, Thai hot peppers, cilantro, Thai basil, coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice create that pungent, savory, umami aroma that is as familiar as it is exotic.

This curry is great with tofu, shrimp or chicken and is best served over steaming rice.

Some of my favorite Autumn veggies to use, in any combination, are mushrooms, peppers, winter squash, green beans, cauliflower, kale and spinach.

Curry is great for freezing, so make a big batch!

Enjoy 😋

It's no secret that my first step in creating seasonal menus is simply thinking about the foods that I've been craving. ...
17/10/2025

It's no secret that my first step in creating seasonal menus is simply thinking about the foods that I've been craving. What I make for my clients is often what I end up making for myself, so I love it when our tastes are aligned.

This week's combo of classic homemade chicken noodle soup and Orchard Harvest Salad have been the definition of comfort food, hitting just right as the temps have begun to dip and the leaves to turn.

📸Chicken Noodle soup
with 🍋 & fresh herbs
(chicken from RED STAR FARM )
📸Orchard Harvest Salad
with baby spinach, apples & pears
from Shaw Orchards, pecans, goat cheese, red onion, apple cider vinaigrette

Homemade chicken stock is liquid gold this time of year. It will become the base of so many soups, sauces, and sometimes...
15/10/2025

Homemade chicken stock is liquid gold this time of year. It will become the base of so many soups, sauces, and sometimes even just sipped from a mug with a hunk of sourdough for dipping.

Soup bones from RED STAR FARM seasoned and roasted in the oven for
~ an hour at 450 deg
(or a leftover carcass from whole roasted chicken)

Place bones and juices in a large stock pot with a few stalks of roughly chopped celery, carrots, quartered onions and halved garlic bulbs. Add a couple bay leaves, bunch of fresh thyme and pinch of peppercorns.

Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 4-8 hrs. Stop when reduced by ~ half, or add more cool water, return to a simmer, and reduce to 3/4 for additional collagen extraction for bone broth.

Strain through a colander (and then a fine mesh strainer if youd like). Cool to room temp before refrigerating or freezing in quart containers. Fat will solidify at the top once cold and can be removed before reheating, or included for a richer dish.

For a sipping broth, add sea salt, cracked pepper and a squeeze of 🍋 to suit your tastes.

Enjoy!

It finally feels like Autumn, so it might as well start tasting like it! I love everything about Fall salads and all of ...
08/10/2025

It finally feels like Autumn, so it might as well start tasting like it!

I love everything about Fall salads and all of the possible color, flavor and texture combinations.

One of my go-to dressings is a Tahini + Maple + Dijon vinaigrette. Easy to make and extremely versatile.

2 TBS tahini
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1 tsp Hot Honey
from Burning Hell Hot Sauce
2 tsp maple syrup
2 tsp Apple cider vinegar
(or 1/2 lemon)
1 clove garlic, minced
(or 1/2 tsp garlic granules)
cracked pepper & sea salt to taste
Water to thin to desired consistency

Whisk or blend together, adjust to your tastes, makes enough to serve 4

📸Autumn Harvest Salad with arugula, celery, dried cranberries, roasted butternut squash, toasted walnuts, red onion, Gorgonzola cheese, Tahini + Maple + Dijon vinaigrette

Easy Substitutions:

arugula ---> baby spinach
celery ---> fennel
cranberries ---> apples
butternut squash ---> sweet potatoes
walnuts ---> almonds
red onion ---> radish
Gorgonzola ---> goat cheese

New season, new client, new set of dietary needs. This is my first time working with a client struggling with a Mast Cel...
23/09/2025

New season, new client, new set of dietary needs.

This is my first time working with a client struggling with a Mast Cell disorder who requires a low-histamine diet. While it is interesting for me to research a new area of nutrition science, and how food can be used as medicine, and even fun for me to come up with custom weekly menu options for her, I know living with this kind of restrictive dietary need can be debilitating for people.

It's the sort of meal plan that our current food system just can't accommodate. The only way for this client to meet her nutritional needs is through a very specific, and freshly prepared, whole foods, plant based diet where even many "good for you" foods are off limits.

What I've discovered so far is that even restrictive diets can be satisfying and delicious.

Nature provides, we just have to focus on enjoying the ingredients that work with our bodies rather than concerning ourselves with the ones that don't.

📸 GF Grass-Fed Beef Meatballs from Iron Hill Farm of Maryland with Roasted Veggies & Sweet Potatoes
📸GF Buckwheat & Applesauce Pancakes with Blueberry Chia Compote
📸GF Buckwheat Muffins with Zucchini, Carrots, Apples and local honey

It wasn't necessarily the weather, the calendar or even the harvest that told me it was time to switch up my juice, it w...
18/09/2025

It wasn't necessarily the weather, the calendar or even the harvest that told me it was time to switch up my juice, it was my body.

As a family, we fully leaned into Summer this year, and it's made the first month back to school extra difficult.

Schedules, time constraints, sports, work...we're struggling to fit it all in and still carve out any time for each other, let alone ourselves. It's all been very taxing, both physically and mentally, in what is usually my favorite month, and I'm feeling a bit depleted.

Enter this season's red juice. It won't fix all my problems, or yours, but it feels like just what I need right now, and maybe you do too.

2 beets, skinned and chopped
2-3 apples, chopped
2" ginger
2 lemons, peeled
1 cucumber, chopped
1 TBS local, raw honey
1 tsp pink sea salt
40 oz filtered water

Blend, strain through cheese cloth or fine mesh strainer, enjoy over ice. I like mine topped off with a spritz of bubbly water.

Don't forget to take care of yourself in times of transition. Enjoy 😊

Simple pleasures always make rainy days a little brighter. Harissa Olive Oil from Gettysburg Olive Oil Co. helps too.
18/09/2025

Simple pleasures always make rainy days a little brighter.

Harissa Olive Oil from Gettysburg Olive Oil Co. helps too.

Teaching balanced, garden to table eating (and cooking) starts at home. My 9 yr old made dinner last night 95% by hersel...
15/09/2025

Teaching balanced, garden to table eating (and cooking) starts at home.

My 9 yr old made dinner last night 95% by herself, and I don't know who's more proud, me or her.

Meatloaf with Red Barn Farm Market at Harry C. Dehoff Farms ground beef and Stoney Lonesome Farm ground pork, topped with a Burning Hell Hot Sauce Crabby Hot Honey & ketchup glaze with sides of sweet potato coins, My Mother's Garden green beans and Flourish & Ferment Co. sourdough bread with a ☀️ punch of freshly squeezed orange juice, lemonade and bubbly water and followed up with Shaw Orchards apple strudel and homemade ice cream with Apple Valley Creamery dairy.

Taking a night off cooking has never tasted so good. 😊

September, one of my favorite months for growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating. Today is the perfect day to sow a few...
11/09/2025

September, one of my favorite months for growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating.

Today is the perfect day to sow a few winter greens, harvest lots of peppers, and enjoy a comforting soup made with a bounty of local ingredients.

📸Corn & potato chowder with poblano peppers, North Acres Farm bacon, RED STAR FARM fresh corn stock, Apple Valley Creamery cream, My Mother's Garden onions, celery, garlic, scallions, smoked paprika, cumin, thyme, bay leaf, and of course, a little OLD BAY® Seasoning

This also makes a great vegetarian dish if you omit the bacon, or try adding crab, shrimp or bay scallops for additional protein.

Best served with a crusty loaf of sourdough from Sweet and Savory Cottage Bakery and Homestead or your favorite cottage baker.

It's taken them forever to start ripening, but these heirloom tomatoes are hitting their stride.
09/09/2025

It's taken them forever to start ripening, but these heirloom tomatoes are hitting their stride.

Caprese meets Panzanella...with a side of salmon 😋 📸Salad greens, fresh mozzarella, heirloom cherry tomatoes, pesto sour...
07/09/2025

Caprese meets Panzanella...with a side of salmon 😋

📸Salad greens, fresh mozzarella, heirloom cherry tomatoes, pesto sourdough croutons (from Sweet and Savory Cottage Bakery and Homestead), torn basil, balsamic + shallot vinaigrette with pan roasted pesto rubbed organic salmon

New month, new menu items. I always have Falafel on my menu, but I like to switch up the preparation to match the season...
04/09/2025

New month, new menu items.

I always have Falafel on my menu, but I like to switch up the preparation to match the season.

I bake my falafel and use a combo of canned and (soaked) dried chickpeas along with red onion, garlic, lots of herbs, cumin, serrano, h**p hearts, flax meal and EVOO.

This late Summer version is paired with harissa, crunchy lettuce, tzatziki, red onion, feta and rolled in lavash.

The perfect balanced lunch on the go.

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