Giveaway: In the Green Kitchen
Alice Waters fan, rejoice! In fact, fans of David Chang, Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter, Lidia Bastianich, David Tanis, Thomas Keller, Dan Barber (and more!) go ahead and rejoice, too! In the Green Kitchen is a slim, pretty volume jam-packed with simple, sumptuous recipes that illustrate indispensable cooking techniques. Waters begins with a green kitchen manifesto (#4 “Cooking and shopping for food brings rhythm and meaning to our lives”), and a list of what to stock in your pantry, making this an especially great cookbook for a starstruck beginner. To enter to win, leave a comment about your favorite thing about spring cooking by Friday, April 9 at 12 midnight EST. Two commenters will be chosen at random; sorry, this one’s for US mailing addresses only. And if you don’t win but are still curious, bear in mind that all proceeds from the book go to support Edible Education, a national movement to change the way children eat and how they learn about food in the public schools.
Update 4/12: Congrats to Paige and Supermommie! And thanks to everyone for entering!
tina: My favorite thing about spring cooking are the strawberries! YUM. They taste so good!1 year ago
Katie @ cakes, tea and dreams: I’ll second Tina – I LOVE cooking with fresh fruits and berries after a long winter. Thanks for the chance to win!1 year ago
Paige: Right now I’m in a time of transition. I’m enjoying cooking some winter favorites for the last time, and looking forward to the produce and lighter fare to come.
That book looks great! Thanks for the giveaway.1 year ago
Truculence: Cooking with things that aren’t root vegetables! Haha. More seriously, I love hitting the mini-seasons of a huge variety of fruits and vegetables — it makes shopping every weekend an exciting event.1 year ago
bluejeangourmet: last night we made the simplest garden salad of sugar snaps, spinach, mint, & green onions–all from our backyard!–plus a simple vinaigrette. there was a locally-raised filet to throw on the grill, & a bottle of wine to enjoy with the windows open. *that* is what I love about spring cooking!1 year ago
Kelly: Salads! I’m looking forward to lighter, fresher meals overall, and fresh lettuce in particular. I want to keep the oven off for a while, and instead assemble my meals by using simple ingredients. I’m also excited to start my first CSA experience!1 year ago
Sara C.: Artichokes! Yum yum yum.1 year ago
Christina T.: Rhubarb, and the opportunity to haul out the grill.1 year ago
E.: Last night we had the first spring dinner out on the balcony. I love eating in the fresh air.1 year ago
Erin: Fresh, flavorful asparagus!!!! And lots of it.1 year ago
Karen: I love that I can start using asparagus (the good, fresh kind anyway!) again — it really has to be one of the best veggies.1 year ago
Lauren @ Eater not a runner: The reopening of farmers markets! Yay!1 year ago
jus: fresh HERBS please! also the idea of cold soup again… melon and mint for example!1 year ago
Kate: fresh fruit!!!!! chopped up on salads, in salsas, and, most importantly, in desserts
1 year ago
Shannon: ASPARAGUS!!!! And various other greens. Risotto is definitely on my to-do list.1 year ago
Julia Costa: I love Alice Waters! My favorite thing about spring cooking is all the colors. After a winter of dark greens and orange and yellow squash, it’s really cool to see the color choice change.
Thanks!1 year ago
Stephanie: My favorite thing about spring cooking is rhubarb!1 year ago
Haley: One word: ramps!1 year ago
Julie K: Eating outside!!! Everything tastes better while basking in the sun.1 year ago
Jackie: There are so many expectations for cooked winter creations — hearty, warming, elegant (especially for the holidays!) that spring cooking affords us the luxury of lightening up with fresh, crisp veggies and taking our meals outside!1 year ago
sarah: heirloom tomatoes. I know those arent spring but cant wait and the farmers markets opening up.1 year ago
Laura: Fresh spring veggies!1 year ago
Angie: Definitely cooking with the windows open, and a breeze coming through. And of course, eating outside afterwards!1 year ago
Ann: This book looks great. My favorite thing about spring cooking is that all the fresh produce is ready to go – for salads, bruschetta, anything!1 year ago
jj: COLOR is my favorite part of spring cooking! With all the fresh farmers’ market vegetables, I find it so much easier to incorporate healthy, affordable, and great-looking foods in a variety of colors. Light, refreshing meals — this I love about springtime cooking, itself a rejuvenation process.1 year ago
Anne: I love the natural shift in the seasons and how my body starts to crave things light and seasonal: asparagus, favas, salads, citrus, fresh cheeses. These are flavors that can be put together in endless simple meals to great delight!1 year ago
Misty: Tender, colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables. And grilling without an umbrella.1 year ago
Zannah: Not the first time it’s been said, but my favorite thing: asparagus.1 year ago
Jack: Strawberries, spring breezes wafting through the kitchen, and bread baking are among my favorite spring cooking things.1 year ago
Aline: I just started cooking seasonally about 5 months ago and I LOVE how great all my food tastes and how it forces me to try new veggies. In fall/winter I did made all kinds of squash, soups and green, leafy veggies.
Now it’s on to asparagus (I have been making asparagus dishes about twice a week), lot’s of spring salads and I hope I’ll find green garlic in the stores soon.1 year ago
Mary: Picking up my CSA box, making an amazingly simple but flavorful meal of locally-grown organic produce, and eating it on the front porch with a glass of white wine – Hooray for spring!1 year ago
Poppy: Opening the windows is actually possible — both for ventilation and for the outdoors to participate in the dining experience!1 year ago
Ming: I love going to the farmers markets!1 year ago
danielle: i’m late to the party so now i just sound like an echo – eating fresh, colorful food, outside in the sun and the fresh air. fresh, fresh, fresh. that’s what spring eating is in every aspect.1 year ago
Emily: My favorite thing about spring cooking is being able to go to our Northeastern farmer’s market without freezing- and finding a beautiful array of produce!1 year ago
Sarah: The thing I love most about spring cooking is getting back into fresh veggies! Frozen is fine, but there’s just something about corn on the cob or fresh steamed green beans NOT out of the freezer that makes me giddy.1 year ago
bethh: spring means asparagus!!! my addiction is raging right about now.1 year ago
Susan Wadle: The best part of spring cooking is the return of our Boulder Farmers Market and planning the herb garden I will outside of my kitchen1 year ago
Meg: Asparagus, rhubarb and strawberries! Having fresh, crisp produce is so delicious after frozen and root veggies all winter.1 year ago
Juliette: My favorite thing about spring cooking is fava beans. We plant them late in the fall/early winter (but in my case, this year in mid-January, due to the torrential rains) and their beautiful elegant stems are covered with huge pregnant pods come this time of year (and on through May/June).1 year ago
Anjali Bidani: while I love the hearty greens, and squash soups, and comforting stews of winter, spring brings to mind fresh flavors – new peas, ramps, wild arugula, rhubarb, pencil thin asparagus, radishes, cherries that clamor to be prepared minimally, if at all!1 year ago
Jennette: I love cooking with the windows opened. It makes everything seem fresh and alive.1 year ago
Kayduh: I love all the fresh vegetables, especially when they are cooked on the grill that has been covered in snow all winter!1 year ago
erinsuzanne: my favorite thing(s) about spring cooking- 1) the farmer’s market moves to its outdoor location and 2) all of those very crisp, very fresh, very spring tastes as all of the first round of fresh veggies make their appearance1 year ago
Molly R.: “One thing I know can revive a guy, and that is a piece of rhubarb pie. Serve it up, nice and hot. Maybe things are as bad as you thought.”
I love rhubarb, and we already have it in the Northwest!1 year ago
Caity: my favorite thing about spring cooking is that local vegetables become available again… we’re having a lovely spring rain right now!1 year ago
Kari: Spring means the farmers markets are opening and the CSAs are starting soon–it’s a great time to love to cook!1 year ago
Kasi: The kitchen in my apartment opens directly outside, so I love when spring comes and I can leave the doors wide open while I’m in the kitchen. There’s something so peaceful and hopeful about rolling out dough barefoot in the kitchen while listening to people play outside and feeling a breeze tickle my cheek. Perfection.1 year ago
Chris: My favorite thing about spring cooking is my -hopefully- new kitchen herb garden
1 year ago
brookstar: One of my favourite things about spring cooking is eagerly anticipating all the amazing fruits and vegetables coming soon, but on a cold day that is more winter than spring, cooking that last winter stew and really savouring how hearty and cosy it is, and knowing that warmer and longer days are just around the corner. Those days make me remember everything that is good about winter cooking, and also serves as a reminder about what is exciting that is coming soon. The best of both worlds!1 year ago
Cadi: The beginning of the return of a variety of local fruit!! Eating locally and seasonally has been a focus of ours for a while now, and while I do love all of the wonderful winter pears and citrus, get me some strawberries, please!1 year ago
Melissa: My favorite thing about spring cooking is all the wonderful fresh veggies, light cooking and STRAWBERRIES. I can’t wait to pick strawberries.1 year ago
Karen: Asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries…. and grilling while it is still light out!1 year ago
Clara: I love going to the Farmer’s Market when it opens in the spring and seeing all the beautiful flowers, baked goods, and baby veggies. It’s a sight for winter-weary eyes.1 year ago
ilana: everything just smells better in the springtime! i love learning new recipes and using fresh produce from the Farmer’s Market!1 year ago
Moll: Cooking with herbs and arugula straight from the garden! And the new veggies… yum.1 year ago
penny: I love rhubarb. Pie, crisp, cobbler, anything involving rhubarb I will happily eat.1 year ago
Kathryn: My favorite thing about spring cooking is the re-emergence of fresh food, specifically the eggs hatched by the new chickens at the local Mennonite farm. Every spring the Yoders bring new chicks to the farm, feed them organic food and let them free-roam the yard. The first eggs, while small, are incredible in flavor and firmness compared to the ones we’ve had to buy from the grocery store for the last couple of months. It’s hard to describe. This, of course, leads to excitement about what is to come as the farms start producing again after the long winter nap.1 year ago
Anna: Arugula, strawberries and asparagus are a few of my favorite things about cooking in springtime.
I usually listen to music while I cook but lately, with the longer days and still cool evenings (oh, please let the cool evenings last a while longer here in Atlanta!!), I find that keeping windows open to feel breezes and hear birds is especially nice.1 year ago
kara: I love rhubarb and strawberry sauce, either alone or on chicken. It’s so easy and so wonderful!1 year ago
Ellen: I love this time of year because the farmers’ markets are opening & fresh, local produce is even easier for me to find. Cooking anything with fresh ingredients is yum!1 year ago
Nina: My favorite thing about spring cooking is that our farmer’s market starts up again. I love eating fresh, seasonal, and local fruits and veggies!1 year ago
Carole: I love spring cooking because the flavors of fresh ingredients have a chance to sing! I love the bright and zippy radishes I pick up at the farmers market. Color!1 year ago
monica: cooking with the back door leading to the kitchen propped wide open!1 year ago
Michaela: I love all the green involved with spring cooking! I struggle all winter to get my husband to eat vegetables, but in the spring time when the spinach, string beans, sugar snap peas, and even the zucchini, cucumber and peppers are all so fresh he’s more willing to try out the vegetables
.1 year ago
Elisabeth: I love cooking with fresh greens like asparagus and interesting grains like quinoa and buckwheat. During the winter, the vegetables are so starchy I rarely cook additional grains.1 year ago
Meg: Ramps! And snap peas.1 year ago
Alyssa: Rhubarb and asparagus are what I always look forward to!1 year ago
supermommie: I love the planting of spring herbs. I always have basil and cilantro that grow like weeds. I love using both of them in everything i cook!1 year ago
Emmalinda: Asparagus!1 year ago
Amy C: The warm spring sun streaming through the kitchen window while I snap asparagus, steam artichokes, and eat fresh peas right out of the shell!1 year ago
Andi Murray: I absolutely love Farmers Markets and there seems to be a new energy come Spring time. With the beautiful new weather and fresh new veggies, everyone is excited to explore with culinary creativity! I am looking forward to making fresh salads with bright greens and various veggies and some homemade soups.1 year ago
Ann: I love it when asparagus comes into season. It’s one of my favorite veggies, so I occasionally buy it out of season, but nothing beats fresh, seasonal asparagus! It’s color and flavor are spring.1 year ago
Miss Petite Treat: Pink of Perfection’s recipe for spring risotto with asparagus and peas!1 year ago
elise: I love asparagus and berries, too! I also love starting to receive our CSA for the year. Yay, spring!
1 year ago
Sarah F: My favorite thing about spring is the early blooming lavender.1 year ago
Jenna: Rhubarb–in compotes, cobblers, crisps, pies, etc. The compotes don’t even make it out of the pot.1 year ago
Alisa: Strawberry dumplings and all the wonderful fruit tarts.
1 year ago
Julie: Cooking with fresh spring vegetables—-radishes, asparagus, fennel, fava beans, artichokes . . . .1 year ago
Gwen: Strawberries! They’re my favorite fruit (maybe my favorite food, period) and I just bought my first box of the seaon yesterday.1 year ago
Lisa: How to choose? Asparagus, rhubarb, fresh berries (finally!) The beautiful sprigs of lilac getting ready to bloom outside my kitchen window!1 year ago
OrangieBlue: My favorite thing about spring isn’t original, but it is heartfelt: fresh veggies instead of canned or frozen! And I love squash, but I’ll be glad to see the end of it.1 year ago
Jessica: I love using tomatoes from the garden. A close second is making fruit salsa to be served with cinnamon chips.1 year ago
Kelsey: How peas seem so much more appropriate! They’re great in stews and mashed up, yes, but come spring I feel so much happier to be putting them with pasta, or even buying snap peas and eating them cold on salad.1 year ago
Jules @ Lovely Las Vegas: What a cool book! I love the author’s comment about how cooking and gathering ingredients can bring meaning to our lives. My husband and I eat out a bit too much during the winter because of hectic schedules and not feeling there is enough time to create something warm and savoury, because the constant eating out state can feel cold, and a bit sad.
Somehow spring inspires a more leisurely take on life, and enjoyment in gathering fresh food, from the market or from my parent’s little desert garden. We are novice cooks, but love absorbing the culinary wisdom from great cookbooks like In the Green Kitchen.1 year ago
Amy I.: Asparagus, rhubarb, and farmers markets, oh my!!1 year ago
nickeline: Fresh backyard strawberries in yogurt, fresh strawberry jam on toast, strawberry smoothies, just plain freshly picked strawberries, strawberry jelly candies, sweet cloudy strawberry marshmallows —
Somehow, all my favorite things about spring involve strawberries!
1 year ago
Sarah: My favorite thing about spring cooking is the asparagus… Grilled with a little bit of olive oil salt and pepper… Yum!1 year ago
Mellisa: Grilled Vegetables!1 year ago
Krist: Mmmmmm asparagus! I’m glad I’m not alone!1 year ago
Amanda Jean: I’m looking forward to lighter, fresher meals. Yay fruits and veggies! Lunches are so much easier when you can throw together a fresh salad or sandwich.1 year ago
Samantha Angela @ Bikini Birthday: I’d have to say artichokes.
…and, of course, Easter dinner.1 year ago
amber: fresh vegetables from my garden, light, flavroful red wines, and eating outside in the twilight.1 year ago
Christy: I love fresh lettuces, spinach, asparagus and strawberries. And I love the anticipation of summer.1 year ago
Janice: Catching a nice bass from the creek, searching the roadside ditches for asparagus and eating it within hours.1 year ago
BethP: I have had my eye on this book… I love how the farmer’s market comes alive again and I can stuff my tote bag full of fresh delicious produce: ASPARAGUS, strawberries, spinach, baby lettuces, new potatoes, sugarsnap peas… cannot wait!1 year ago
Brooke: Fresh, green veggies cooked any which way as long as they can be topped with goat cheese. Yum.1 year ago
Kimberly: Fresh vegetables and fruit at the farmer’s markets!1 year ago
Becca Smith Hill: I love cooking with herbs and veggies that I grew myself! Would LOVE to have this cookbook–great giveaway!1 year ago
Jennifer: My favorite thing about spring cooking is the fact that Strawberries are in season. I can make fresh strawberry cupcakes without having to pay a fortune for a carton!1 year ago
michella: being able to cook on the grill again! quick and simple but so good.1 year ago
Kathleen: Strawberries. By far. When they are in season they are absolutely mouth watering!1 year ago
Debbie: I love the asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb…..all of it!1 year ago
Emily: Spring cooking for me is getting back to “fresh” food. Trying to get out of my cans of food from the pantry, and no more frozen soups! Fresh salads, fresh ingredients, everything perfect for a picnic!1 year ago
lauren: My favorite thing about spring cooking is the refreshing-ness in the air and sunshine…and the refreshing-ness of the ingredients!! Strawberries, light and bursting with flavor, asparagus and artichokes, fluffy and flavorful desserts, bright wines, juicy proteins — all of it just inspires joy and creativity in my kitchen and reminds of us to play. I just love it.1 year ago
Anne: My favorite thing is that farmers markets are about to start here in Chicago and I am already enjoying fresh spring salads with lettuce and green garlic!1 year ago
Jesswest: After what feels like years of waiting, we are finally harvesting asparagus from the garden this year! It is beyond exciting to see their little heads poke up, stretch their necks, straighten up, and then – snap!- ready for the kitchen.1 year ago
Katie: My favourite thing about spring cooking is SIMPLICITY! With all of the delicious vegetables that are just starting to appear, you don’t need to spend all that time in the kitchen that you might in the winter months. You just add in some fresh vegetables and fresh herbs, and Viola! Simple, elegant, de-lish, and always a hit!1 year ago
Elizabeth: i love that my neighborhood farmer’s market becomes more and more abundant each week… such a welcome change after a long winter of root vegetables!1 year ago
Erin: One word – asparagus!1 year ago
muglinka: SALAD.1 year ago
Jen: Spring cooking. Well, it just happened to me for the first time this year a few days ago as the rain stopped, the sun came out, and it was WARM.
For the first time in many days I wasn’t planning on going home to bake something creamy or cheesy or oozy. I was actually thinking of a great salad and little bit of grilled sausage.
YUM.1 year ago
Christina: Mmmm, it’s so hard to choose! I’m going to go with fresh fruit salad on the back porch since I’ve already had it twice this weekend.
1 year ago
Lisa: Farmers Markets are back! Eating meals outdoors! Spring is the best!1 year ago
Christi: My favorite thing about spring cooking is fresh lettuce from the garden and sneaking in a few meals in the backyard when the sun peeks out.1 year ago
Cheryl: Morel mushrooms, freshy picked from the forest floor, dipped in egg and finely crushed saltine crackers and fried to perfection. A mouthful of spring!1 year ago
Alexandra: I love that after-dinner walks in the neighborhood are now possible thanks to the slow-to-set sun.1 year ago
Nadia: I love all the new fresh produce that the warmer weather brings. Cooking in the spring is light and flavorful and fresh!1 year ago
Lauren: Fresh strawberries, farmer’s markets and cooking with the windows and doors open!1 year ago
CJ: Fresh ingredients after the long winter, herbs from my garden, and easier preparations1 year ago
rachael: I am the BIGGEST alice waters fan. I am such a big fan of the edible schoolyard and watch her 60min interview over and over.
My favorite thing is seasonal produce and getting to know the vendors at the local farmers market.
xoxoxoxoxo1 year ago
Crystal: My favorite thing about spring cooking is asparagus and farmer’s markets!!1 year ago
Michelle: The opening of my local farmer’s market!1 year ago
Julie: Asparagus!!! Yummy!1 year ago
julia: ooh, i love starting to get delicious tomatoes again. i hate those gross, mealy winter tomatoes! i love me a fresh baby greens salad sprinkled with delicious in-season tomatoes!
i also love asparagus and rhubarb!1 year ago
Yvette: Cooking with the-sun-is-still-up evening sunlight streaming in the kitchen windows; asparagus; fresh young greens; farmers market opening soon!1 year ago
Katherine: It’s hard to choose a favorite – but asparagus is definitely near the top of the list, and when I lived in NH I loved fiddlehead ferns. It’s impossible to get good looking ones down here in TX, but I guess the strawberries in February and March make up for it.1 year ago
Kira: My favorite thing is asparagus!1 year ago
Rez: watercress and artichokes, oh my!1 year ago
Erin: I love harvesting the first herbs and spring greens from my garden! And the fact that asparagus is readily available and affordable!1 year ago
Jessica: My favorite thing about spring cooking is the opening of the farmer’s markets and having fresh veggies, fruits, and herbs on hand.
Well, and grilling. But that is really the boyfriend’s area, not mine. But I do love eating it!1 year ago
Kathy: I love that strawberries are appearing. The world is in boom and everything is turning green. You know that fresh produce is just around the corner.1 year ago
kelly o: The farmers markets start warming up and we get to plant our garden!1 year ago
Tori: growing my own fresh herbs! i can’t wait to pile basil on EVERYTHING–yummm.1 year ago
Alex: My favourite thing about cooking this Spring is my CSA (first year to do it) starts in 2 weeks!!1 year ago
Stephanie: I can’t wait for farmer’s markets to open. There’s nothing better than fresh, local ingredients!!!1 year ago
dana: That first bite into a sweet strawberry. Asparagus from the farmers market. Sweet peas from the vine shucked and added to a cold pasta salad. SPRING! Oh how I love the taste of your harvest.1 year ago
Kate: Favorite thing about spring cooking? Being able to use the produce that comes with the season, jumping out of the root vegetable and soup rut that winter brings!1 year ago
Jackie: definitely my CSA starting and trips to the farmers’ markets, as well as cooking for picnics!!!
and cooking with the windows open!
and springy asparagus, rhubarb, peas, and artichokes! yum.1 year ago
Marianne: My favorite thing about spring cooking is using all the fresh, local ingredients from the farmers markets. I can’t wait for them to open!1 year ago
Kim: Best thing about spring cooking for me is the transition from heavy root vegetables to light lettuces and herbs and foods that grow above the ground like asparagus and rhubarb. Yum!1 year ago
Melissa: Cooking in shorts with the windows open.1 year ago
Deena: Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard project is pretty great.1 year ago
fran: Roasted asparagus.
And planting my garden for future yummies.1 year ago
Starlene: Sitting outside on my patio under the bougainvillea. Smelling jasmine and eating grilled artichokes!!!1 year ago
Kristi: I’m lucky enough to harvest food from the garden. All of the spring lettuces, onions and goodies are my favorite party of spring cooking.1 year ago
Carly: Longer days, exciting new ingredients and leaving the windows open—every time spring comes around I’m surprised to realize how much I’ve missed it.1 year ago
Michelle: asparagus and strawberries!1 year ago
N James: Ramps from the Farmers Market….1 year ago
Beth: When spring rolls around everything feels fresh and new again. Salads are my favorite thing to make so adding all sorts of delicious vegetables to them makes preparing them a delight. I like to add different dressings of my own creation and beautiful garnishes. If it’s not colorful then why bother!1 year ago
DesignDiva: Fragrant fresh herbs and all the beautiful springtime colors of fresh produce, right from the farmer’s market!1 year ago
Liz Brewer: Spring cooking to me: Kids outside playing, Husband Grilling, Fresh local Fruits and Veggies. Makes for a Happy well fed Family! Oh….and a cold frosty beer.:)1 year ago
Margaret: Favorite thing about spring cooking… how it’s outside? How it comes with the new flowers? How more and more people are likely to be able to use produce from a garden to DO their spring cooking? There are so many things…
1 year ago
melanie: To me spring cooking means lots of color and freshness. This year we’ve experienced a few 90 degree days here in VA, so spring cooking also means grilling out!1 year ago
Serita: Spring is, for me, as much about the return of fresh, local produce as it is about possibility and self-reliance… We spent stolen moments over the last couple of week/ends planning out and planting our Brooklyn rooftop garden, an 8′x3′ box of hope. And while spring will have tiptoed in to early summer by the time most of our seeds become herbs and hops and brussel sprouts, it is now that I feel another cycle of joyful growing/cooking/eating most powerfully… And am most filled with gratitude.1 year ago
Heather Baumbach: Nothing beats fresh fruits and veggies from the local farmer’s market!1 year ago
Teresa: My favorite thing about Spring is opening the windows and getting some fresh air. Also, getting a pedicure and sporting the flip flops. I just saw this cookbook in the bookstore today. I would love to add this to my collection! Thanks!1 year ago
krista (urbanite jewelry): how much do i love alice waters? so so so much! i would love to win this!1 year ago
Tricia K: My favorite thing about Spring cooking is seeing all the seasonal fruits and veggies appearing in the market. I get inspired for light and fresh meals. I love having the windows open for fresh air with sunshine streaming through while cooking : )1 year ago