Small Space, Big Appetite? Even a Tiny Garden Can Enhance These Recipes
No matter the size of your space, you can use homegrown herbs and produce to cook up healthy, delicious dishes.
Della Chen ©2022 by Amy Pennington. Excerpted from Tiny Space Gardening by permission of Sasquatch Books
Lemon Trout with Dandelion Greens
No matter where you live, no matter how small of your space, it’s possible to garden.
This is the driving force behind Amy Pennington‘s new book Tiny Space Gardening: Growing Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in Small Outdoor Spaces. The Washington urban farmer wants to empower others to use what they have to grow the things they want to eat. Pennington, in fact, doesn’t even own what one might call a “garden.”
“I live in a small apartment in Seattle with no access to a backyard, a lawn, or even green space,” Pennington writes in the book. “And though I often dream of tearing up my assigned parking spot and building a raised vegetable bed in its place, I don’t think my landlord would appreciate the effort. So like most city people in search of greener pastures, I make do with what I have: in my case, an east-facing deck that gets the first rays of morning sun.”
©2022 by Amy Pennington. Excerpted from ‘Tiny Space Gardening’ by permission of Sasquatch Books
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Thanks to an array of pots and baskets, window sills, and all sorts of containers, Pennington has “overcrowded this tiny 75-square-foot space” for more than a decade to grow an array of herbs and produce, from tomatoes to potatoes and berries. (The author also cultivates container beds on a shared rooftop garden.) Tiny Space Gardening is a revised edition of Pennington’s 2011 book Apartment Gardening. In it, you’ll find an array of garden-to-table recipes, countertop garden projects, and more.
Pennington follows a “few basic principles” when putting together garden recipes. “I like to keep it fresh and let flavors shine through,” the author writes. “For me, the simpler the recipe, the better. My guess is that most people don’t like overly complicated food, and when you’re cooking with herbs and flowers you needn’t do much to highlight their flavor.” You’ll also find tricks for using every part of the plant, from stems to leaves and flowers, when cooking. “Make it your goal to leverage all the energy you’ve put into keeping the plant alive and well,” Pennington writes. “You can do this by using every last bit to your advantage.”
If you’re curious about how to put together a bountiful garden that will keep your kitchen stocked with fresh herbs and produce all year long, grab a copy of Tiny Space Gardening to discover even more tips and recipes for growing your own food—no matter the size of your space. We’ve excerpted a few recipes here to get you started.
Garden-to-Table Recipes
Chive Butter and Radish Toasts
“This appetizer is a simple way to pull together a little nosh for guests if you’re in a pinch for time,” writes urban gardener Amy Pennington in Tiny Space Gardening: Growing Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in Small Outdoor Spaces. “Chives and radishes are among the first vegetables available in spring. Garnish with some edible flowers if desired.”
Smoky Chickpeas with Greens
“Arugula is one of the first greens to pop up in late winter or early spring, so it is perfect for a garden salad after months of no fresh greens,” Pennington writes in Tiny Space Gardening. “The greens are strong tasting and bitter—an excellent addition to legume salads. In this recipe, the acid from a lemon cuts the bite from the raw onion. The addition of chickpeas makes for a light lunch. This is an easy recipe to multiply for guests.”
Lemon Trout with Dandelion Greens
“Whole fish can sometimes be intimidating, but trout cooks quickly and tastes great. No need to clean anything—commercial trout comes already scaled and gutted,” Pennington writes. “I learned this wholesome and healthy recipe from my friend Jaime years ago; it has been a standard of mine ever since. Whole trout is cooked quickly under the broiler and served topped with a salad of dandelion greens and almonds. The dandelion greens are quite bitter, but work well with the subtle fish. They are also very healthy for you; ounce for ounce, they have more vitamin A, iron, and calcium than broccoli. Harvest new dandelion growth in spring; older, bigger leaves are too tough and woody, and their flavor is harsh.”
Rosy Strawberries with Buttermilk Cake
“Rose geranium is an easy-to-grow flower that is best used in sweet recipes and desserts,” according to Pennington. “It imparts a distinctive flavor to a dish, and I love its floral scent with strawberries. In this recipe, ripe berries are simply macerated with some sugar and finely chopped rose geranium leaves. On the side, I like to serve this easy buttermilk cake. The sweet rosy sauce can also be eaten spooned over vanilla ice cream, or on its own, maybe with a splash of cream on top.”
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