The best starting place? Your garden. Whether you tend a pot of herbs or manage a farm, you’re likely growing something edible. Incorporating homegrown ingredients into meals is not only sustainable, the result can often taste just as good as anything commercially grown or prepared. 

And while the distance your backyard produce travels to your kitchen is short, the dishes they create can hail from every pocket of the world. 

For inspiration, we asked chefs who’ve brought delicious international cooking to Asheville to share recipes. Give these dishes a try and find yourself transported from your garden to faraway lands. 

Grilled Greens with Asian Roots and Carolina Kick

Recipe by Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse

With a history tracing back 6,000 years to the Yangtze River Delta in China, bok choy is beloved by cultures around the world. Locally, one place to find these tasty greens is UKIAH Japanese Smokehouse, which has offered their version below. 

Grilled Bok Choy

Yields: 4 servings 

Dressing

1¾ cups chopped white onion

¼ cup chopped carrots

3 tablespoons chopped celery

¾ of an Asian pear, peeled and grated

1½ teaspoons peeled and grated ginger

6 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

¾ cup soy sauce

¼ cup grapeseed oil or any neutral oil

4 teaspoons sesame oil

In a food processor, purée onion, carrots and celery. Combine with pear and ginger; set aside.

Add sugar to vinegar, whisking to dissolve. In a bowl, add soy sauce, grapeseed oil and sesame oil. Stir, adding puréed vegetables and sugared vinegar. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate. 

Grilled Bok Choy

4 bok choy, whole 

Kosher salt, 4 tablespoons plus more to taste

Grapeseed oil or any neutral oil

4 teaspoons soy sauce

2 lemons, halved

½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Turn on the grill. In a pot, bring 8 cups of water to boil, along with 4 tablespoons kosher salt. Using tongs, blanch each bok choy for 15 seconds, cooling them briefly in an ice bath. 

Place greens on a towel to absorb excess moisture. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt, then add to grill and cook 2 minutes each side. Brush with soy sauce and cook 1 additional minute.

Simultaneously, add lemon halves to the grill. 

Place finished bok choy on a serving dish and spoon dressing over top. Add sesame seeds and a squeeze of lemon. Garnish with charred lemon. 

Fresh and Fiery West Indies Fare

Recipe provided by The Nine Mile 

As the namesake dish of local Caribbean restaurant Nine Mile, this zingy medley conjures island vibes while maximizing garden bounty. 

The Nine Mile

Yields: 4 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup quartered and sliced zucchini

1 cup quartered and sliced yellow squash

1 small tomato, deseeded and chopped

¼ jalapeño, cut into half moons

1 garlic clove, diced

1-2 tablespoons minced ginger

¼ cup white wine

1 cup water with a teaspoon of vegetable base

1 teaspoon tamari or salt

2 tablespoons butter 

Warm sauté pan over medium heat. Add oil and vegetables. Sauté 10–20 seconds. Using wine, deglaze pan. Add water with veggie base, followed by either salt or tamari. 

Cook 3 –5 minutes, until vegetables are al dente. Turn off heat. Add butter, letting it melt with wine and ginger to form sauce. Serve over rice and garnish with lime and spring onions.

Raise Your Glass, Havana Style

Recipe provided by Hemingway’s Cuba

Hemingway’s Cuba, downtown Asheville’s popular rooftop bar and restaurant, offers an incredible, easy-to-make-nonalcoholic blackberry mojito, and you can incorporate native ingredients like the Appalachian Blackberry. 

Blackberry No-jito

Serves 1 

1 ounce lime juice

1 ounce simple syrup

½ ounce blackberry syrup*

8 mint leaves

Mix the cocktail: In a shaker, muddle 6 mint leaves with lime juice and both syrups. Add ice and shake until chilled. Pour into a glass and add soda filled to top. Finish with a squeeze of lime and a sprig of mint.

*To make the blackberry syrup:

3 cup blackberries

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a saucepan, combine blackberries, sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain mixture into a glass container.