As a horticulturist and educator for the Scranton-based company EarthBox, a big part of John Romanaskas' job is getting people to grow and eat their own vegetables.
The job would be a relative cinch if he ever decided to make them a big pot of his Eggplant and Beef Soup.
Mr. Romanaskas' soup was the winning entry in this week's Local Flavor: Recipes We Love contest, earning the West Scranton resident a $75 gift certificate from Rossi's ShurSave Market in Old Forge.
Cheryl Dando, also of West Scranton, received the $25 runner-up prize for her Zucchini Pancakes recipe, which can be found online at www.thetimes-tribune.com/localflavor.
Gardening has been one of Mr. Romanaskas' passions since his grandparents introduced him to it as a young boy. Back then, though, he had little to no interest in eating the garden's bounty.
"I was the kid who shoved his peas under the mashed potatoes," he said with a laugh.
Over time, though, he got over his veggie phobia by incorporating them into soups. By doing that, he eventually acquired a taste for a slew of different vegetables, and today they're a huge part of his diet.
Among Mr. Romanaskas' favorites is white eggplant, which he prefers to the purple variety because of its sweeter taste. He grows them every summer in an EarthBox container out in his backyard.
They're now among the centerpieces of Eggplant and Beef Soup. In addition to the eggplant and ground beef, the soup has elbow macaroni, tomatoes, carrots, turnips, garlic, celery, onion, beef broth, sugar, salt, pepper, bay leaf, parsley and nutmeg.
Put it all together and you have a fantastic soup, judging by the pot Mr. Romanaskas made on a recent afternoon. It was perfectly seasoned, the veggies provided great color and an abundance of flavor, the macaroni gave it good body, and the beef added a nice touch of fat.
"Sometimes I use venison meat. It's good with that, too," Mr. Romanaskas said. "You can throw whatever you want in it."
For 18 years, Mr. Romanaskas worked for Techneglas in Jenkins Twp. When the plant closed in 2004, he enrolled at Keystone College to pursue a degree in landscape architecture.
Four and a half years ago, he started at EarthBox, which designs eco-friendly container gardening systems.
"It takes all the guess work out of gardening," said Mr. Romanaskas, who grows a lot of his vegetables at the company's garden. "People want to eat healthier now. They want local. They don't want insecticides."
As part of his job, Mr. Romanaskas travels to schools throughout the country, showing kids how to plant, grow, harvest and, yes, eat their own vegetables.
"It's a lot of fun," he said of his job. "I was inside a factory for the first 18 years of work. I want to spend the next 18 outside."
Contact the writer: jmcauliffe @timesshamrock.com1 pound ground beef
1 chopped onion
3 small cans beef broth
1 small can tomatoes
1 cup water
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stalk celery, diced
1 turnip, peeled and finely diced
2 teaspoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup elbow macaroni
Brown meat and onion in a large pot. Drain off fat. Add all ingredients except macaroni. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add macaroni and cook uncovered until tender.