When you flip through a copy of Kimberly Cataldo Thompson’s new cookbook, her passion for gardening, food, family and tradition radiates from every page.
The cookbook, titled “Amen to the Garden: Dandelions to Dinner,” is a labor of love a lifetime in the making. The book shares recipes for dips, salads, dinners, juices, hot sauces and more, which can be made using fresh ingredients you grow in your own garden. It also contains gardening tips, such as how to preserve plants and save seeds for the next season. The debut cookbook won the NYC Big Book Award and Independent Press Award.
Thompson inherited her love of gardening and cooking from her family during her childhood in Massachusetts. “Growing up, I always gardened with my mom and my grandparents on both sides of the family so when I got married and moved, it was the natural thing to do. So it started small with herbs and things like that and it just grew year after year.” Thompson explained. She shared the experience with her three children who enjoyed working alongside her in the garden.
Writing a cookbook was a lifelong dream for Thompson, but the theme of the book changed over time. “The cookbook, interestingly, is something that I’ve always wanted to write. Having grown up in a huge Italian family and then my mom’s side is German, there was just always family around and everyone always cooked for their families,” said Thompson. She originally planned to compile her family recipes and traditions into a cookbook.
Thompson’s opportunity to write a cookbook finally came in 2016 when she went from stay-at-home-mom to empty nester. She found herself struggling with the transition so she decided to become a certified nutrition health coach and take a book-writing course.
It was Thompson’s over 3,500 Instagram followers that encouraged her to write a cookbook that combined her love of gardening and cooking. On her account @organicgardengirl, Thompson shares stunning photos of her garden in the backyard of her Seminary Hill home and dishes that feature herbs and produce she grows herself. She also recently began sharing a recipe of the week from one of the 450 cookbooks she has collected over the years.
Because of this, she chose to create a more accessible and eclectic cookbook using ingredients that people can easily grow in their own gardens – including weeds. “I eat weeds, we eat weeds, I get the kids to eat weeds. They’re some of the healthiest things out there... It goes back to my Italian grandparents who would send my grandparents out to pick dandelions for dinner, the greens,” Thompson explained with a laugh. Check out her recipe for pan-fried dandelion flowers on page 303 of her cookbook.
Many of the recipes can be vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free but Thompson says she didn’t want to be limited to one diet or genre. While the book may have some unexpected recipes it also contains many foods that Thompson and her family regularly enjoy including the classic favorite chicken parmigiana (p. 98).
You don’t have to be an experienced gardener or have a big backyard in order to grow your own fresh ingredients. Thompson offered her advice to those with limited space or experience.
“Any window you have that has some light coming through, if it’s sunny – great. What I would also do is move things around from window to window…my daughter has tons of stuff on her balcony. That’s where pots are great because you can bring them in during the winter. I just say go small because even in your kitchen you can have a small planter where you can have a variety of herbs.” She also suggests that people grow sprouts or try growing a vegetable like celery which can be grown simply by sticking the leftover base in a container of water.
One of Thompson’s favorite things to grow are hot peppers. She has 80 to 100 varieties in her garden and has been nicknamed “Hot Pepper Queen” by her friends and family. She uses the peppers to make hot sauce, chili powders and vinegars.
Thompson admitted that writing a book was much more of a challenge than she originally thought, but she hopes to write another cookbook at some point in the future.
You can order a copy of “Amen to the Garden: Dandelions to Dinner” through Made in ALX and follow Thompson on Instagram @organicgardengirl for tips, recipes and updates.
** Kimberly Cataldo Thompson will be signing cookbooks at the Four Mile Run Farmers' Market on Sunday, June 13, from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. The market is at 4109 Mt. Vernon Ave., just north of Del Ray. **
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