A Veggie Venture's Favorite Summer Vegetables & Salads Tomato & Zucchini Salad ... though really, any vegetables with crunch would do ... a staple this summer as well as last ... just veggies tossed with green onion, a bit of cheddar, fat-free Italian dressing and fresh basil Chipotle Chickpea Salad ... this time with black beans (what grocery store only carries organic chickpeas at 3X the price? that would be St Louis' Schnucks ... ) and bulked up with corn and sweet peppers, a great summery salad, just a touch of heat from chipotles in adobo sauce From the Kitchen Parade summer archives Rhubarb Country Cobbler ... made with Minnesota's gorgeous fresh rhubarb (frozen works too) ... a simple unadorned cobbler ... in fact, making it again for the first time in a long while, I wondered if it might need lemon zest or cinnamon ... but no, it's perfectly simply and perfectly delicious ... this received grins and groans, all around ... Berry B

Will you please just trust me on this one? This is a gazpacho like you've never had before ... and utterly completely spectacularly "summer". Packed with the sweet of fruit and the savory of vegetables, it's so special that it can be a starter, an entree and even ... yes, dessert. And ... kids and grown-ups BOTH eat it up! Find the recipe in this week's Kitchen Parade column . (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Remember the pithy wisdom of 5 a Day ? Forget it. It's not enough, not anymore. When it comes to fruits and veggies, More Matters. (I sn't it too bad that "veggies and fruits" doesn't slip off the tongue, or down the throat for that matter, more easily?) So says the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) , which in 2007 will launch a big new campaign to encourage the consumption of more fruits and veggies ... what a good idea, yes?! (Who the heck is PBH? I wondered, too. It's a trade group that represents "growers, shippers, packers, merchandisers, commodity boards, trade associations, food industry organizations, health insurers, health professionals and retailers". That means it's all about promoting the produce industry ... you know, creating demand for produce, selling more produce, developing new markets for produce. But hey, at least it's not tobacco or gambling or ... ) The new campaign will match up with the new USDA die

Setting: The wonderful St Paul downtown farmers market, which evoked a wistfulness for the Ferry Market in San Francisco, even if I've never been ... Farm Stand Sign: "If you like spinach, you'll love amaranth!" Thought Number One: "Ooo! Something new! " Thought Number Two: " Weekend Herb Blogging " at Kalyn's Kitchen! According to Wikipedia , amaranth greens go by lots of names, chinese cabbage, hinn choy, yin tsoi, callaloo, tampala and quelite. In my typical online and offline sources, there are virtually no * recipe * references to amaranth greens. Those I found indicated only, "Peppery like arugula or radicchio. Cook like any green." And so I did! Just garlic and ginger. The red color remains rather than washing away so it would be a great bed for broiled or grilled fish. And it doesn't cook down as much as spinach. I read that the beautiful purply-red color will withstand a soup. I did make a batch, but with chicken stock so

My favorite way to truly savor that first hot beet, so simple, so sublime. From the size of the collection of beet recipes alone, it'll come as no surprise that there's a special spot in my palate for beets . But this recipe (if you can call something so supremely simple such) has changed my beet-cooking habits forever. You see, every few weeks, I roast a potful of beets, this is My Favorite Way to Roast Beets , usually while busy in the kitchen with supper but never intending to eat them til the next day or later. Now, forever more, as soon as they're cooked, I shall slice one warm beet, sprinkle the slices with good salt and sweet paprika, dab them with butter. Then I'll sit, better to observe the paprika and beet juice swirl orange-magenta with golden whorls of butter; then, only then, will I sllllooooowwwwwlllllllllly savor every bite. Many thanks to Kathy Manson from King Hill Farms in Brunswick, Missouri whose family custom harvests Missouri's

During summer's heat like this week's 100-degree temperatures, it's so easy to keep big jars of "no canning required" refrigerator pickles ready and waiting in the frig -- they'll keep for a couple of weeks, if they last that long! [Of course, power would help, something that's been absent at my house and in soooo many St Louis homes for 48 hours and counting ... a good reminder, if a sweaty and inconvenient one, that we just don't, really truly, control the 'light switches' ...] This week's Kitchen Parade column features two recipes, one with cucumbers and peppers and another with Brussels sprouts. Both are quick 'n' easy, fresh 'n' flavorful ... and low-cal and low-carb! (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

2011 UPDATE I finally figured out what a "real" fattoush salad is -- and the pita chips are definitely required! See my new post and recipe at Fattoush (Traditional Middle Eastern Salad) .

Oh my, this pie, people, this pie. It's a 100% rhubarb double-crust pie from pie master Anne Dimock, no strawberries, no eggs, no tapioca, just pure rhubarb. It's a country pie with a perfect balance of sweet and tart and cinnamon and is my "go-to" recipe for a plain rhubarb pie although it's hardly plain , instead it's just perfect. Fresh & Seasonal, a Summer Masterpiece. Beautiful Pink Rhubarb Color. Rave Reviews.

When I was a girl, blueberry picking was an all-hands endeavor at the summer cottage in the Whiteshell of Manitoba. "No picky-no eaty," Nana would admonish as she led all the aunts and cousins into the rocky woods to brave bears and skeeters to gather buckets of wild blueberries. So there's a special spot in my palate for the northern orbs of summer ... and while wild berries are a rare treat these days, during the season I'll buy pint after pint (after pint) of berries as long as they last at the supermarket. And pie ... well, there's nothing like blueberry pie, especially this Blueberry Sour Cream Pie that's featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column. It's worth a pint or two ... or three. (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Today's easy grated carrot salad: A simple carrot slaw, really, bound together with a dressing of rice vinegar and sesame oil spiked with ginger, garlic and cilantro. It pairs beautifully with other Asian-style dishes or you know, just a meal prep salad when all that's left in the fridge is a bag of carrots. Just delightful! Real Food, Fast & Casual. Not Just Easy, Summer Easy . Budget Friendly. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free.

Even the good folks at my favorite kitchen shop are stumped by this pan that another customer found when cleaning out his mother's attic. Does anyone know what it might be? It's about three inches deep and looks like a standard skillet except for the raised center with a dozen or so small holes, perhaps for steaming? The only markings are on the underside of the handle. It reads "Made in England". Just to the right is a small circle with the numeral "4". There are some wear marks on the underside of the pan, as if it might fit into another pan like a double boiler. So, my foodies, What Is This Pan????? (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Today's concept salad: One of my very favorites, using Italian-style vegetables with a slight 'bitterness' in their taste, rounded and sweetened with a simple mustard-y vinaigrette. ~recipe & photo updated 2010~ 2006 Original: Orangette calls it " Sliced Spring Salad ". Gluten-free Girl calls upon its restorative, if habit-forming powers . Food Musings calls it to-die-for (and Mr Food Musings had double helpings). Me, I'm happy to add this easy, quick, fat-with-flavor but light-in-weight salad to a spring- and summer-salad arsenal. I've made it a dozen times in April, May and June and can attest that it's both filling and satisfying, the perfect salad meal for a hot summer night and a lovely side salad with grilled pork and broiled fish. Orangette is right, however, about it being good especially good spring fare. Its ingredients are readily available in supermarkets when the weather turns warm but before the farmers markets fill with local, hour

It's a taste treat, no doubt, Italian sausage, paired here with grapes and greens in a quick supper that works on the grill in summer and cooked stove-top year-round ... and it's featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column ! (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Peeling 'stripes' off the spears Roasted asparagus is one of spring's great delights. In this recipe, peel 'stripes' of asparagus skins off the spears, this helps the balsamic vinegar absorb into the flesh. ~recipe & photo updated 2011~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ 2006: The asparagus just keeps coming and coming . And I keep cooking it and cooking it! This is another simple treatment, just thick-stemmed asparagus with a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, roasted. It tasted great -- and was so easy to make. TO PEEL OR NOT TO PEEL I rarely peel the skins from asparagus stems, it's just never seemed necessary. But tonight I tested the flavor both ways. Those that were skinned a bit, in stripes, soaked up more balsamic vinegar flavor. I'd recommend the extra step. NUTRITION NOTES You'll use piles less oil for roasting if you'll only take a minute to measure out a tablespoon of olive oil and then use your han

Say hello to my very favorite way to cook carrots, just tossing them with a little oil and seasoning, then roasting in a hot oven until cooked, ranging from "barely cooked" (as pictured, best for meal prep) to "dark and toasty". Written especially for new cooks and others curious about tips and tricks for roasting vegetables. Fresh Vegetables, Fast & Casual. Just Carrots + Pantry Ingredients! A Summer Favorite When Served at Room Temperature with Fresh Dill. Year-Round Kitchen Staple. An Easy Side Dish for Weeknight Suppers. Budget Friendly. Little Effort, Big Taste. Easy Meal Prep. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly. One of My Very Favorite Carrot Recipes.