Veggie Posts of the Week: A delicious-sounding broccoli and tomato dish at Poco-Cocoa A primer on greens at Tomatillo Plus, ta da, the new Kitchen of the Week at Seriously Good . Enjoy!

Tried my first tomatillos a couple of days ago -- boy, I've been missing out! And so I had high hopes for this soup that combines poblano peppers, tomatillos and cucumber. But who knew that something with heat (from the jalapeno, not the poblanos, I think) could be bland, too? If it made up in 10 minutes, I might be inclined to adjust the flavors until they worked. But no, it took nearly an hour of active, hands-on cooking PLUS the chilling time. Still I'm anxious to keep going with tomatillos - they taste so fresh and bright. And if you're looking for a cold vegetable soup that IS good, try this carrot soup . [8/26 Update: No lookers, no takers for several days so this one's moved to the freezer for reincarnation inside Saturday Soup some time soon, well, some time anyway.] CHILLED TOMATILLO & CUCUMBER SOUP Hands-on time: 50 minutes Time to table: 4 hours Makes 7 1/2 cups (and a half-cup serving was plenty) 3 poblano chilies (about 1/2 pound) 1 ...

Do you find limp celery at the bottom of your vegetable drawer too often? Me too -- what a waste! This tip from a Cook's Illustrated reader really works: Leave the celery in the plastic bag but then wrap in aluminum foil. My last stalk lasted a month and was nearly as good at the end as the beginning.

I inherited this chinois (sheen-WAH) from my mother but didn't know what it was called or even, truly, what to do with it. And I'm so glad I did! It makes the smoothest of sauces and soups with very little effort. I wouldn't give up the food processor. But I'm happy this came home with me. I see that they're still for sale, as here on Amazon though I suspect they'd be available less expensively at yard sales and even on E-Bay. For the record, as you'll see from the comments below, whether this is a chinois or a China cap is up for debate. As of July 2006, there's a Wikpedia definition , which says that the two are often confused but that: While both are conical sieves The China cap is made of perforated metal (like mine) where the chinois is made of fine wire mesh The chinois often has a dowel (as mine does) to push foods through the holes, like the blade of a food mill Since mine has characteristics of each, I'm not sure what to call ...

Today's vegetable recipe: Cooked beets tossed with sour cream, horseradish and caraway. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. ~ recipe & photo updated in 2008 ~ When I first made this recipe in 2005, it was the fourth day in a row for beets. I made a sauce of low-fat yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese and seasoned it with caraway seed. The beets were okay -- but forgettable -- and the caraway seeds just didn't soften, even after a couple of hours in the sauce. Fast forward to 2008: I've learned that beets with sour cream and horseradish are a terrific combination and this time elected to use ground caraway. NOW I can recommend this recipe without reservation! MORE FAVORITE BEET RECIPES ~ Beets with Feta ~ ~ Borscht Beets with onion, balsamic vinegar and dill ~ ~ Swedish Pickled Beetroot Salad using pickled beets rather than roasted beets ~ ~ more beet recipes , if you love beets, this is a must-explore section ~ BEETS with CARAWAY Hands-on time: 12 minutes Time to table:...

Today's vegetable recipe: Pre-cooked beets in a light sauce of yogurt, sour cream and mustard. Weight Watchers 1 point. ~ recipe updated 2008 ~ 2005: "Aw Ma. Beets again?"Remind me to forgo buying vegetables in bulk during the height of the growing season. Day by day, I've been working on last week's pile of beets, forgoing everything ELSE! Tonight's Mustard Beets are plenty good, for sure. But they don't match up to the Veggie Venture beet favorites including Beets with Feta , Red Onion with Beets and Borscht Beets . 2008: Aha, it just goes to show how important variety is when eating vegetables. This time, I loved the beets, perhaps because it had been a few weeks since cooking any. The sauce is light and easy, made with on-hand ingredients. It's a keeper! I did change the proportions, however, using just a spoonful of Greek yogurt (less but considerably richer) and a full tablespoon of mustard and sour cream. So there was decidedly less sauce, a go...

~recipe & photo updated 2008 & 2012~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ 2005 Original: With cooked beets in the fridge, a great vegetable dish is only a few minutes away. I cooked a big pot of beets yesterday: just 5 minutes of attention, an hour on the stove, a half hour to cool in a colander, a transfer to a ziplock bag. Peesa-cake. Then today, I made this salad. Quick 'n' easy, for sure. 2008 Update: I simplified this recipe so that it could be served immediately, rather than waiting 3 hours. And it was earthy-rich, just delicious, especially topped with a little sour cream sauce. 2012 Update: Once you have cooked beets, it's so easy to make a quick salad. And that's what I did. And then I gobbled them up with some Massaged Kale Salad . And then a few days later, when there was a small cupful left in the fridge, I learned that after this slow soak in a little bit of balsamic vinegar, the beets deepen and darken and turn to something akin to pickled beet...