These Vegetable-Forward Dishes Are Perfect for Summer Parties
Rosie Daykin’s new cookbook proves that bountiful harvests can come from any sized plot and that freshly picked produce is the most important ingredient.
Excerpted from The Side Gardener by Rosie Daykin. Copyright © 2024 Rosie Daykin. Photographs by Andrew Montgomery. Published by Appetite an imprint of Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
Rosie Daykin is an award-winning cookbook author who also happens to be an amazing gardener on the side—literally. She turned a languishing patch of land beside her Vancouver home into a swoon-worthy English-inspired garden that is just as beautiful as the food that she harvests and cooks from it. In her latest cookbook, The Side Gardener: Recipes and Notes from My Garden, she shares effortless vegetable-forward recipes and tending tips straight from her pretty plot that will convince anyone of the importance of nourishing our bodies and the land that provides for us—no green thumb required.
Excerpted from ‘The Side Gardener’ by Rosie Daykin. Copyright © 2024 Rosie Daykin. Photographs by Andrew Montgomery. Published by Appetite an imprint of Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
Enthusiastically embracing the extended gardening seasons living in the West, Rosie praises the lengthened warm climate which allows her to get a head start planting must-have favorites like greens, English peas, radish, tomatoes, and herbs. Admittedly prone to impulse buying from seed catalogs, she is a true stylist at heart, always experimenting with new vegetable varieties that will pop boldly upon her plate. Rosie’s current plant palette consists of blush-colored beauties including the highly aromatic Chinese pink celery, a beautifully vining Japanese cherry tomato called “Pinky,” and a sweet-tasting Pea ‘Shiraz’ (Mangetout) with a deep burgundy shell. Her approach to gardening is about being open-minded and unafraid of a little trial and error. She encourages her readers to not give up or feel intimidated. She explains that after “that first ripe tomato you pluck off the vine or handful of radish you pull from the earth… it will all make sense.”
Excerpted from ‘The Side Gardener’ by Rosie Daykin. Copyright © 2024 Rosie Daykin. Photographs by Andrew Montgomery. Published by Appetite an imprint of Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
Rosie’s passion for creating these recipes straight from the garden is apparent throughout The Side Gardener. Her enthusiasm shines in this lovely testament to freshly picked produce—be it from your own garden or the local farmers market. Rosie hopes this book proves that a bountiful harvest can come from the smallest of spaces and shows how even a patio planter of herbs on a balcony or windowsill can bring much satisfaction and peace of mind. Here she shares a few recipes from the book that will not only celebrate the flavors of your summer garden, but also all the joy it brought while taking care of it.
Veggie-Forward Dishes You Can Try at Home
Beet, Blackberry Buckwheat Salad
A gorgeous dish for a summer table—the nutty flavors of the buckwheat paired with the crunch of the hazelnuts give the salad an extra punch alongside the creamy labneh and roasted beets.
Side Garden Panzanella Salad
A dish where swaps are encouraged; use any leafy green of your choice and whatever is fresh from the garden, be it raw beets in place of the radishes or chunks of zucchini in lieu of cucumber. Rosie insists on using a lovely sourdough bread to make the croutons and says not to skimp on the olive oil when toasting them, advising that croutons that are too dry won’t soak up the dressing in the same delicious way.
Rhubarb Panna Cotta
While rhubarb might not be the easiest to grow in some areas of the West, this recipe could not be easier to make! Scout your local farmers market for ruby stalks that are firm, unbent, and bruise-free. Rosie suggests the addition of a graham sprinkle, which adds that extra little bit of texture to all that creamy goodness.
Get the Book
Excerpted from ‘The Side Gardener’ by Rosie Daykin. Copyright © 2024 Rosie Daykin. Photographs by Andrew Montgomery. Published by Appetite an imprint of Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
For more recipes from Rosie Daykin, get a copy of The Side Gardener: Recipes and Notes from My Garden.
