My favorite standby lunch, year-round, with any luck, the inspiration to help readers discover their own low-point standby lunch. ~recipe & photo updated 2010~ 2005: If you're wondering, yes, those are canned beans! But please, keep reading. Canned beans are not required! When there's a big supper on the calendar, this is my standard eat-at-my-desk lunch. It racks up a grand total of 1 Weight Watchers point (that's about 5% of a day's calories) but is still very filling and very satisfying . (If I'm having hunger pains before going out, I might fix another. The point is to fill up -- with volume and fiber -- without wasting the wonderful calories that'll be so enjoyed later on ! I fix the same salad at five o'clock to avoid overeating at a happy hour. Or if I've had a big lunch out but still want to nosh for supper. Or if I'm just too full from too much and too-rich food over a few days. Or just because it's easy and fast and healthful. Eve

Today's vegetable recipe: How to roast a butternut squash, cut in half and roasted cut-side down. ~recipe & photo updated & reposted 2012~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ 2005 Original Post: Lots of squash a-cookin' here! Here is my number one tip for roasting winter squash, make good use of the oven and dishwasher by cooking two, not one, butternut squash at a time. In the Recipe Box, recipes calling for pre-cooked squash are marked with a Watch for recipes calling for cooked squash, marked with this , watch for it. Tonight's culinary question is what made two squash turn out so very different? I'm stymied about what might be the source of the differences, if anyone cares to chime in! Both butternut squash were purchased on the same day from the same bin and had been stored the same, on the counter looking all healthful and fall-wholesome. Both had the same appearance on the outside. But my goodness, once split open, what a difference:

It was supposed to bake for 20 minutes. It took nearly an hour. It was supposed to rise up in an airy pillow . It was more like a favorite old feather-flattened pillow . (Though hey, it DID deflate so maybe it was better than apparent?) Sounds like a failure, yes? No way, even if timing and aesthetics were less than ideal. This broccoli soufflé, my first soufflé ever, was absolutely honest-to-goodness spoon-lickin' delicious and I can't wait for the opportunity to perfect the technique. Thanks to Kitchen Chick for hosting Is My Blog Burning , another online food event, this one featuring cooks from all over the world worry-watching their ovens for the oh-so-desirable soufflé poof . There are many other first-time soufflérs in the event, most who experienced great success. My thoughts/tips on what might have gone wrong with mine are included below but the other posts are well worth reviewing. BROCCOLI SOUFFLÉ Hands-on time: maybe 45 minutes (but shortcup tips are be

With so many delicious-sounding and -looking squash soup recipes popping up on food blogs, I had to try one too. But instead I took a shortcut and picked this up this package at Trader Joe's for some moment when a cupful of soup was needed in a minute flat . And it was good enough though to my taste, not as good as the creamy corn version from Day 153 nor even half so good as this Squash & Pear Soup . BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP Hands-on time: 2 minutes Time to table: 2 minutes Serves 2 Pour a half cup soup into two small microwave-safe dishes and warm, separately, in the microwave for one minute apiece. Top with croutons or toasted pumpkin seeds or sour cream if you're feelin' fancy. NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per cup, 90 calories, 2 grams fat, 16 grams carb, 3 grams fiber, Weight Watchers 1 point

I began blogging about vegetables way back in 2005 and somehow, over the years, collected several different recipes for steaming broccoli. Who needs that?! What we all want is one, simple, definitive source so that's what I've done, consolidating everything you need to know about steamed broccoli, all in one place. Here you go! There's a new location, please see How To Steam Broccoli (Step-by-Step Photos) Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables . Join " veggie evangelist " Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special. © Copyright Kitchen Parade 2005 & 2021 (retired)

It's about time! FINALLY we can turn on the oven without first turning on the air. So set that oven to 350F and mix up a batch of the Mocha Morsels featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column.

When you write about vegetables, some times it takes an extra cup of creativity to participate in the dessert-loving food event Sugar High Friday, this month hosted by Lovescool and featuring chocolate. But chocolate turned out to be easy. Choices included: ... chocolate & zucchini , a 1960s cake combination made famous long before the popular Parisian blog adopted the moniker ... chocolate & carrot , usually in otherwise-traditional carrot cakes ... chocolate & sweet potato , in Southern-style sweet potato pies But this chocolate and vegetable pair is new to me, chocolate and ... chocolate and ... think ... think ... think ... hint: think root vegetable ... hint: think RED root vegetable ... think .... think .... think beets. BEETS? Yes, beets! And the cake tasted quite good though it was not especially 'interesting' taste-wise since the beets seem to add structure and sweetness and a hint of color but little taste. Still, it's an easy and