Digging In

A collection of rooted recipes

Words by Britt Mattie + Natalie Zisa

There's no doubt that food is a powerful thing. From its literal purpose of keeping us alive to the magical way it brings people together. While we tend to focus on the root ingredients involved in cooking, it's important to prioritize the other ways food can ground us. Some of the most notable chefs speak of their cooking practices as a way to stay connected to the earth, the systems, and the people that operate them. We caught up with a few chefs to gather recipes rooted in the earth's landscape and learn about their passion behind their purpose.

By Britt Mattie

Brad Leone

Well, it’s official — root veggies and celeb chef/outdoorsman Brad Leone have at least two things in common: They’re both often labeled as “humble” and certainly don’t mind getting a little dirty. In Brad’s case, he’ll be the first to brush off his wildly popular YouTube channel shows, his New York Times bestselling debut book Field Notes for Food Adventure, and his big-name collabs. In veggies’ case, the self-effacing stereotype likely came from its readily available nature, grown underground, hidden from sight, and typically not as flashy or visually appealing as aboveground vegetables. But dig down deep enough, and some real nutrient-dense goodness is happening there. No one puts ginger in the corner.

Flow Trip: Why do you think root veggies are sort of undersung or outshined, even though they’re a staple of a lot of diets and dishes? 

Brad Leone: Root vegetables are like the drummer of a band, right? And, you know, ribeye is the flashy frontman or lead singer. But at the foundation, there’s the drummer. Even in a beef stew, root vegetables build depth and hold everything together. I'm a big believer in a good meat diet, but when you can geek out and treat your beet or your potato or butternut squash with the same excitement as the process of butchering, say, a tuna, I think that's pretty awesome. It all just comes down to, like anything, the quality and freshness of the ingredient. You can hate on turnips, but the turnip you had was probably old or not in season.

FT: As a bona fide garlic lover, what other root veggies do you like to use as the backbone of a great dish? 

BL: I really enjoy a rutabaga. It’s like this weird little love child of a turnip — kind of fibrous but juicy. Rutabagas are cool. It’s easy to forget how many root vegetables exist. Man, radishes alone — there are like a thousand different types of radishes. I could just fucking eat radishes for the rest of my life. Sweet potatoes, I mean, talk about a powerhouse of nutrients and flavor and also varieties. They’re like a little candy, just such a treat. Most of my favorite vegetables are root vegetables. 

FT: Speaking of roots, you grew up in northern New Jersey, the Garden State, where you’ve said you learned to respect ingredients and forage what’s in season. What homegrown foods or traditions have stuck with you? 

BL: It’s more of an influence of my folks having a garden and growing and cooking good food. At a young age, being able to experience supersweet corn, a green bean, or a tomato that isn’t from a supermarket. The flavor, the smells, and the textures are a pretty huge difference. It’s so good that you can just eat it raw. We’ve got a nice little garden here (at home on nine acres in coastal Connecticut, where he and his family live in a renovated 1750s farmhouse oasis). We grow a lot of our vegetables — about 200 heads of garlic, plus carrots, onions, and pretty much anything that can thrive here. You don’t need a ton of space to grow a decent amount. 

FT: If we walked into your childhood kitchen, what’s cooking on the stovetop?

BL: Mom cooking Sunday gravy — a big pot of tomato sauce that sits and simmers all day, the smell filling up the house. That’s a really nice thing. And maybe chicken noodle soup — same kind of vibe. Mom would make it all from scratch, make her own stock, get the carrots and celery in there. However, looking back, I don’t think she used enough chicken bones in the stock. Kidding, Ma! It was really good, she did a great job. Call your mom!

Charred Radishes with Herby Ramp Yogurt

Recipe 1 of 4

As seen in Field Notes for Food Adventure: Recipes and Stories from the Woods to the Ocean

Radishes are one of my favorite foods — a gift from Mother Nature that needs no correction. Salt ‘em, butter ‘em, you know the classics. I eat them by the bushel. But I never thought of just grilling them until recently. Just think: Tender, rooty things like radishes, allspice and snap, with their beautiful edible greens dressed in salt and olive oil — hell yeah, grill ‘em up! It becomes like a really beautiful warm salad of itself. Then put those grilled radishes over a yogurt spoon sauce like the one below and you’re in really good shape. 

Ingredients

Ramp Yogurt

• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to coat the ramps and drizzle
• 1 lemon, halved
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black and pink peppercorn ("pepper mix"), to taste
• 2 cups of full-fat Greek yogurt 
• 3 ramps, whole 
• 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves only, or 1/2 cup of finely chopped mixed herbs 
• 1.2 tsp ground sumac 

Radishes

• 4 bunches of radishes with greens
  Left whole if small and halved if large
• Extra virgin olive oil 
• Kosher salt and black pepper 
• 2 tbsp lemon juice 
• Pepper mix to taste
• Shaved Pecorino Toscano cheese, for garnish 

Instructions

Ramp Yogurt

1. Coat the ramps and lemon halves with a little oil.
2. Grill the ramps until soft and take on a little color. Meanwhile, sear the cut faces of the lemon on the grill to get a little caramelization of the fruit. 
3. Remove everything and let cool, then mince the ramps. 
4. Add the minced ramps to a medium bowl with the yogurt. 
5. Squeeze the lemon juice in as well, and pour in half of the olive oil.
6. Stir well and taste, seasoning with salt and pepper mix, and adding the thyme leaves (or mixed herbs) and sumac. 
7. Stir again and adjust the acid and salt. Hell, adjust everything! 
8. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top. 

Radishes

1. Toss the radishes with some olive oil and salt and pepper and grill over high heat. (A cast-iron skillet, or any way you'd cook a steak will also work.) You want to sear the sides of the radishes hot and fast to get some tasty color on them without cooking them through so they get mushy ... although I kinda like a few like that too. 
2. Serve the radishes on top of the herby yogurt or serve it alongside as a dip. 
3. Top with shaved cheese.

This dish is an open book, so play around with it and have at it. 

If you dig this recipe, you might want to check out The Roost Festival 2025. Pop by to celebrate farm-to-table food, music, and community with Brad and friends at Stone Acres Farm in Stonington, Connecticut.  

Follow along with Brad on YouTube and Instagram

By Natalie Zisa 

Ana Shellem | Shell'em Seafood Co.

Ana Shellem of Shell'em Seafood Co. is a one-woman operation harvesting and delivering wild shellfish to restaurants throughout North Carolina. Having spent 13 years in the restaurant industry, she takes great pride in working with chefs, bartenders, and brewers to deliver a tide-to-table experience. With respect for the Earth at the forefront of her business, Ana runs a zero-waste operation via wholesale orders. She says her connection to nature has only increased as she's learned more about the marsh, the soil, the grass, and all that grows in between. Her days are spent harvesting at low tide between the hours of sunrise and sunset and she monitors the wind and the moon for optimal conditions. 

"That knowledge is so empowering to me. And the connection with nature is therapeutic," she says. "It's fascinating and a really humbling way to live." 

Ana's passionated about embracing seasonality, educating consumers on underutilized species, and ultimately, being able to expand what we can consume. 

North Carolina Mussels with Toasted Baguette

Recipe 2 of 4

Ingredients

• 24 to 48 North Carolina wild  Mussels
  If you don't have access to North Carolina wild mussels (Atlantic ribbed mussels), you can use the more commonly accessible PEI mussels, but you'll want to use salted butter or add salt. 
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 cup white wine (preferably chardonnay)
• 1 cup water
• Black pepper to taste
• Handful of fresh parsley leaves for garnish
• Toasted baguette

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan or wok, add unsalted butter, water, and wine. Note: It's important to use unsalted butter because North Carolina mussels have very high salinity. Their liquor will supply the perfect salt content as you steam them in the garlic, butter, and wine.
2. While your butter is melting and the wine begins to cook down, mince garlic and chop up your shallot. Then add it to the wok/pan. 
3. Add a dozen or so mussels to the wok at at time, but don't overcrowd the pan. Mussels are done when they open. Note: Smaller mussels open quicker then larger mussels. If a mussel never opens, toss it in a compost or use it as fishing bait. 
4. Add desired number of cooked mussels to a bowl. Pour some of the garlic butter mixture on top, crack fresh black pepper if desired, and garnish with parsley leaves. Continue this process until all mussels are cooked. Note: The more mussels you cook, the saltier the garlic and white wine mixture will become. Feel free to add more water, wine, or a splash of cream if you need to tone it down. 

Serve with a toasty baguette to soak up all the goodness. 

Dean Orfas & Jodi Sardanis | Roots Café

Based in Closter, New Jersey, Roots Café is the brainchild of Dean Orfas and Jodi Sardanis. They operate on the philosophy that food is naturally made the way you're supposed to eat it. They don't use any processed ingredients, including oils and sugars, and they think outside the box when it comes to recipe creation. Think wraps made from flaxseed and plantains, and cinnamon bread made from juice pulp. 

Their mission has always been to help individuals live healthy and active lives as they age. For grandparents in their 70s and 80s to be able to play with their grandchildren. 

"When it comes to health, there are three things you have to think about: being physically active outside, what you eat, and how you manage stress. And if you get all three of those, you'll have a wonderful life," says Dean. 

Viola Brownies

Recipe 3 of 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups dates, whole
• 2 cups walnuts, whole
• 1 cup cacao
  Note: Cacao refers to the raw, unprocessed form of cocoa beans that have not undergone any roasting or Dutch processing.
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes 
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Blend the cacao into a powder. Then add and blend the rest of the ingredients. 
2. Form the resulting mixture in any mold of choice. 
3. Place in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours and enjoy. 

Luke & Linda Black Elk | North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems

Luke and Linda Black Elk are food sovereignty activists and teachers of traditional plant use, gardening, food preservation, and foraging. They spend their time collecting and preparing traditional foods and medicines for Indigenous peoples and communities in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and beyond. They also involve their three sons in this work, so that together they learn about the land, plants, and all that grows in conjunction with each other. For Linda and her family, exploring these relationships is a deliberate way of living. It deepens their appreciation for the Earth, the food that nourishes them, and the communities that they take part in.

"Food shouldn't just feed us physically. Food should also feed us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually," says Linda. 

Wild Onion Pancakes 

Recipe 4 of 4

Linda grew up eating these savory pancakes as an after-school snack. Her mom would cook them in a searingly hot cast-iron skillet, using the bacon grease she had carefully saved. Dipped in a sauce made of soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil, and a splash of vinegar, these pancakes make a delicious appetizer or a filling dinner when served alongside some kimchi stew.

Note: If you can't kind Korean soybean paste, miso will work fine. 

Ingredients

Sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp gochuharu (Korean red pepper flakes)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sesame oil 
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Pancakes

• 1/2 pound cleaned and trimmed wild onions, cut into 4-inch pieces and dried very well 
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 1 tsp doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
• 1 tbsp oil or fat of choice (i.e. bacon grease, olive oil, butter, etc.)

Instructions

Sauce

1. Add ingredients to a small bowl and mix well. 

Pancakes

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, ice water, and doenjang until it forms a thin, smooth batter.
2. Lay the wild onions in a single layer in a well-seasoned cast iron or nonstick skillet. Pour the batter evening over the wild onions. 
3. When the pancake is golden brown and crisp, carefully flip it, press flat with a spatula, and let the other side cook until golden brown and crisp. 
4. When both sides are crisp to the desired degree, remove them from the pan and serve hot with the sauce.