Sweet Basil (also known as Italian Basil) is the most used herb nowadays. That’s why I have it in the garden so I can readily pick the leaves if I need to make pesto or just plain use the leaves in pasta. I particularly like it in Penne Pasta Alfredo with Shrimp or Chicken. Sweet Basil has many varieties. It is easy to grow from seeds or from cuttings. The rain we had in the past week or so helped the plants to be vigorous and green.
Long beans or sitaw as we call them is in the member of the family of legume except they are eaten as green pods unlike other beans like navy beans or azuki beans. They are also called yard long beans or asparagus beans. I remember eating these beans cooked as adobo. It taste good and…
Last January I featured Malunggay/Moringa leaves as one of the best green vegetables. This time it is the fruit. Malunggay fruit is green in color about 10 to 12 inches long and about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter. When you open the fruit, it would have three sides with white meat and tender seeds….
Artichoke is perennial vegetable that belongs to the thistle family of plants. The edible part of the plant is the bud before it opens into a flower. The immature florets in the center of the bud is called the “choke” but its not edible. You have to remove it from the base called the heart,…
Bixa Orellana Achuete is probably the most important ingredient in the Filipino cuisine. The bright red color that imparts in the food makes the food more palatable and presentable. It is most used in recipes that we inherited from the Spaniards like the dish we call “menudo” or the famous “paella”. Achuete is an evergreen,…
Papaya (Carica) can be eaten as a fruit or vegetable. If you wait till papaya turns yellow then it can be eaten as a fruit. It is smooth and sweet and have this enzyme papain which is good for digestive functions in your body. The green ones on the other hand can be prepared as…
Bataw or Lablab is a relative of the purple-hyacinth bean. It is a very versatile bean because you can use it in almost all type of cooking that requires beans. I particularly like to cook it stirfry with pork and shrimp. It takes a while before the seeds germinate after sowing but when it does…