Today's recipe: A side dish made with black-eyed peas and gentle spices, served warm. It seems a sorry shame that black-eyed peas are relegated to New Year's fare. All the good fortune that black-eyed peas are supposed to deliver during the new year? We could use a little of that year-round, don't we think? What with the Gulf oil spill, the European financial crisis, home foreclosures, the battle forming along the U.S.-Mexico border, the continuing recession ... well, if all it takes is a few black-eyed peas to turn any one of those corners, to put just one behind us, I'm in. This is a great little side dish, familiar ingredients mixed in an unfamiliar way. It's best served slightly warm but can be made ahead of time and then rewarmed, albeit gently. For a vegetarian entrée, I'd serve it with a yogurt sauce on the side, like the cilantro sauce in Veggie Burritos with Cilantro Sauce . If you'd like a black-eyed pea salad, one that can be made in advance a

You know how some people say a salad can't fill you up, right? Well, for us, this "lemon on lemon" broccoli salad is surprisingly substantial. It starts with broccoli florets briefly cooked in salted water using the technique called "blanching" or "parcooking" and a lovely-lovely creamy lemon vinaigrette, two staples ever-so-useful on their own, not just in this particular combination. Real Food, Fresh & Flexible. Extra-Perfect for Light Spring and Summer Meals. Little Effort, Big Taste. Easy Weeknight Salad Supper. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian. Naturally Gluten Free.

Today's smoothie recipes: Two ways to make smoothies from rhubarb and strawberries, one with raw rhubarb, another with a quick stove-top strawberry-rhubarb sauce. Last week, I went dumpster-diving freezer-diving and spied one last bag of frozen rhubarb. Zip, zip, I worked up a couple of rhubarb smoothies starring one of spring's magical seasonal combinations, strawberries and rhubarb. RAW RHUBARB For Smoothie Numbers One & Two, I used the rhubarb in its raw albeit wet and freezer-softened state. It had a tang, a sourness, that I especially liked, but some of rhubarb's natural stringiness survived the trip through the blender – not everyone would overlook this. COOKED RHUBARB For Smoothie Numbers Three & Four, I cooked the rhubarb and strawberries together, letting their flavors meld, and sweeten, overnight before making the smoothies. The taste here is more like a traditional smoothie, fruity and sweet and well, yes, this is why they're called 'smooth