The founding director of the nonprofit Promise of Peace Gardens has shared three seasonal dishes that are simple and nutritious, just weeks before her annual food and music festival returns to East Texas.
Elizabeth Dry, who is also the organizer of Okrapalooza, will host this year’s event on Sunday, September 7, at The Venue at Cope Ranch in Mineola. The gathering, titled “Harvest Moon, because I still love you so…”, will feature live music, community cooking, and what organizers describe as “good vibes.” Doors open at 10:45 a.m. and the festival runs until 2 p.m.
In the run-up, Dry shared recipes she says reflect her philosophy of eating local, fresh, and family-style. These recipes are among some of the most popular from previous year’s Okrapalooza festivals:
| Recipe | Ingredients | Directions |
|---|---|---|
| P.O.P.’s Hibiscus Tea | 12 cups water; ½ inch fresh ginger, finely grated; 1 ½ cups dried hibiscus flowers; ½ cup honey (to taste); 2 tablespoons lime juice (from 1 large lime) | 1. Boil water and ginger. 2. Remove from heat, stir in hibiscus and honey, steep 10 minutes. 3. Strain, stir in lime juice, cool and refrigerate. 4. Serve over ice. |
| P.O.P.’s White Pizza | Pizza dough (12” recommended); 2 tbsp olive oil; 3 garlic cloves; 8 oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced; ⅓ cup ricotta; ½ tsp salt; ¼ tsp pepper; ¼ tsp oregano; ¼ tsp thyme; ⅓ cup parmesan; optional: 2 cups baby arugula with lemon juice and salt | 1. Prebake dough at 425°F for 5 minutes. 2. Brush with olive oil and garlic. 3. Mix ricotta with seasonings, spread thinly, layer mozzarella and half parmesan. 4. Bake 10–15 minutes. 5. Top with remaining cheese and optional arugula. |
| P.O.P.’s Spaghetti Squash Parmesan | 1 small–medium spaghetti squash; 2–3 garlic cloves, minced; ½ cup flat-leaf parsley; 1 cup olive oil (Texas Olive Oil Ranch’s Meyer Lemon); ½ cup shredded parmesan | 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Halve and deseed squash. 2. Bake until fork-tender, let cool. 3. Fork out strands, mix with garlic, parsley, olive oil, parmesan. 4. Serve as side or entrée; optional protein or microgreens. |
Dry, who began her work in Dallas before relocating to East Texas, has long connected gardening to health and education. In a 2024 interview with KETK, she said her Promise of Peace Gardens has helped families move away from food insecurity by teaching them to grow and cook their own produce.
“Generations go to food pantries. We teach people how to become self-sufficient, and how to access locally grown fresh food and how to prepare that food as a family,” Dry said.
Her gardens, she added, were about more than vegetables. “We built 15 food farms in Dallas. At each one, crime decreased around that garden by over 50%.”
Dry has since planted roots in Mineola, where she maintains a community garden at the Mineola Nature Preserve and hosts cooking and growing classes. Friends and colleagues say her work has ripple effects.
“I think her way of uniting people is by doing a garden, and having that relationship, not just with food, but with people,” Katie Little, a co-worker, told KETK.
For Dry, recipes like hibiscus tea, white pizza, and spaghetti squash parmesan are less about culinary complexity and more about making local food accessible. “Now, you’re ready to create a delicious and nutritious dish,” one recipe concludes.