Better Homes - Better Homes and Gardens® Garden fresh meals

CONTENTS

Copyright 2011 by Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, Iowa. All rights reserved.

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Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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ISBN 978-0-470-93750-1 (pbk); 978-0-470-94692-3 (ebk); 978-0-470-94693-0 (ebk); 978-0-470-94694-7 (ebk)

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Better Homes and Gardens Garden Fresh Meals

Editor: Jan Miller

Project Editor: Lisa Kingsley, Waterbury Publications, Inc.

Contributing Editors: Tricia Laning, Mary Williams, Waterbury Publications, Inc.

Contributing Writer: Deborah Vickers Wagman

Recipe Development and Testing: Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen

Contributing Photographers: Quentin Bacon, Jason Donnelly, Scott Little, Kritsada Panichgul, Jay Wilde

Contributing Stylists: Sue Mitchell, Annie Peterson, Jennifer Peterson, Charles Worthington

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Publisher: Natalie Chapman

Associate Publisher: Jessica Goodman

Executive Editor: Anne Ficklen

Editor: Charleen Barila

Production Director: Diana Cisek

Senior Production Editor: Amy Zarkos

Manufacturing Manager: Tom Hyland

Design Director: Ken Carlson, Waterbury Publications, Inc.

Associate Design Director: Doug Samuelson, Waterbury Publications, Inc.

Production Assistants: Kim Hopkins, Mindy Samuelson, Waterbury Publications, Inc.

Recipes on pages 220 and 242 courtesy of Hugo Matheson, The Kitchen, Boulder, Colorado.

Our seal assures you that every recipe in Better Homes and Gardens Garden Fresh Meals has been tested in the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen. This means that each recipe is practical and reliable and meets our high standards of taste appeal. We guarantee your satisfaction with this book for as long as you own it.

Eat Fresh!

Anyone whose interest is piqued by eating more healthfully, locally, and sustainably will use this book as a go-to guide to accomplish all these objectivesand do so deliciously.

Garden Fresh Meals offers more than 200 recipes that call for fresh fruits and vegetables at the height of their fresh, in-season peak, plus it provides a buying guide for finding bountiful foodsfresh, fabulous, flavorful, and ready to transform everyday meals into seasonal celebrations.

Whether you grow fruits and vegetables in your own backyard; forage at farmers markets, supermarkets, and roadside stands; pick them in farmers fields; or receive weekly boxes of handpicked produce from Community Supported Agriculture programs, this book shows you how to make recipes with the freshest, best-tasting, and most nutritious fruits and vegetables.

Just Picked

SEASONAL PRODUCE GUIDE

Whether you pick your produce from your own garden, a farmers market, or supermarket, heres how to get the best that each season has to offerand how to keep it as fresh as possible.

SPRING

Lettuces and Salad Greens

PEAK SEASON FROM MARCH TO APRIL

Not long ago, iceberg lettuce ruled the lettuce world. Today lettuce textures range from butter-tender to crisp and crunchy, and the pale leaves have been painted over with deep, verdant shades of green, crimson, and aubergine.

HEAD LETTUCES As these lettuces grow, leaves clasp together to form heads. Buttery texture and loosely clasped leaves characterize butterhead lettucessuch as Boston, Bibb, and Buttercrunch. The crisphead familyfathered by iceberg lettuceis known for its crisp, cold, and clean personality.

ROMAINE Sturdy romaine grows in tall, loosely packed heads. The ribs contain a milky fluid that lends the greens a refreshing yet bitter herb flavor.

LOOSELEAF Like its ancestors, this family of greens develops in leaves. Each boasts refreshing flavor with a hint of bitterness.

• ARUGULA Peppery and slightly bitter.
• BELGIAN ENDIVE A chicory, with crunchy, slightly bitter leaves.
• CRESS Possesses a potent, peppery punch.
• CURLY ENDIVE Also called frise, it is crisp and quite bitter.
• ESCAROLE Use its sturdy leaves in salads when they are young.
• LEAF LETTUCE Mild and pliable, the leaves have ruffled surfaces that add layers of texture to salads.
• MCHE Also known as corn salad or lambs tongue, the miniature leaves have tender texture and milk flavor.
• MESCLUN A mix of various young salad greens.
• MIZUNA Popular in Japanese cuisine, it has tender leaves that are pleasantly peppery.
• OAKLEAF Delicate and tender.
• RADICCHIO Enlivens with color and slightly bitter notes.