Today's easy make-ahead vegetable salad: A 'concept' recipe for a refrigerator salad that keeps, made from frozen vegetables and chopped onion, celery and pepper. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point or no points. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". ~recipe updated & reposted 2008, updated 2012 ~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ 2005: Another make-ahead recipe, another keeps-awhile recipe - this time from my mother who kept a jar in her fridge year-round. Her favored frozen vegetable mix was that classic round peas, square carrots and oval corn combinations. But it was good! Tonight I used what was in the freezer, broccoli and cauliflower. But another time I would use the stir-fry mixes that the supermarkets carry. But I'd experiment, too: lima beans, anyone? 2008: My friend Mary recently shared a favorite recipe, one she calls "Weight Watchers Festive Vegetable Salad". The ingredient list was so familiar: sure enough, it was nearly the same

Pretty good! Tonight I took advantage of a microwave bag of yams picked up at Trader Joe's last week. Cooking couldn't have been simpler: slit the bag, toss it in the microwave for eight minutes, mash the contents, then start doctoring. The bag's doctor directions called for 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and 6 tablespoons of butter. OH MY! Of course it's good with that much sugar and fat! My version is considerably lighter and certainly tastes like - surprise! - yam because its own flavor isn't masked by sugar and fat. And my version would probably make your real doctor happier, too. Even so, Coconut Yams are higher in calories than I prefer for an every-day vegetable. Yams do taste a bit like the sweet potatoes we're more used to. Their texture is different, starchier and heavier, though not unpleasantly so. COCONUT YAMS Active time: 5 minutes Time to table: 15 minutes Makes 6 half-cup servings 20 ounces Trader Joe's diced yams in microwavea

~recipe & photo updated in 2007~ Scary thought but this has been a summer favorite for 14 years - the original recipe card is dated July 1991! Like Swedish Beets , it's made ahead and refrigerated until serving time. It makes a lot so lasts a few days. Does this recipe stray from A Veggie Venture's intent? Heavens, it's even called a 'salad' -- that's no 'vegetable'! Hmmm. Decision time. Here it is: the main ingredient is a vegetable. Since A Veggie Venture's real intent is to help us get out of a rut, look for similar recipes in coming weeks, especially since they're so well suited to relaxed summer cooking and eating. Are we agreed?! PHOTO UPDATE 2007: The dill in my small herb garden is very sad-looking but the basil, now the basil is happy -- and so is this salad, with basil as a substitute for dill. SUMMER DILL SALAD Active time: 15 minutes Time to table: 2 hours Makes 6 cups Water to cover 1 teaspoon table salt 2 pounds frozen peas 1/

Tonight was a special supper, a one-dish meal, fish and vegetable all in one. It's available here , as a Kitchen Parade extra.

One of my favorite recipes on all of A Veggie Venture, pickled beets made with canned beets. They're just delicious! Especially in summer, keep a jar of these on hand in the refrigerator, ready to add to salads at lunch, to plates at supper. They even just look pretty, all ruby-aglisten, waiting to be eaten! These are "refrigerator pickles" and keep for several weeks in the refrigerator without hauling out the home-canning gear. Great for Meal Prep. Weight Watchers Friendly & Freestyle Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. Skip Straight to the Recipe Since first making Swedish Pickled Beets back in 2005, I keep a big jar in the refrigerator nearly all the time. It's just so convenient to grab one or two small beets for a quick salad or a vegetable snack. Plus I've become a huge fan of beets, this might have been the first recipe to turn me into the "beet queen"! Mostly, my beet recipes start with fresh beets so it

Pretty good! And easy! And fast! Thus: a keeper! Cooking the spinach in the lemon and honey -- vs adding them afterward -- inserts a brightness I've not noticed before. And I really liked the underlying bite from the red pepper flakes. LEMON & HONEY GLAZED SPINACH Active time: 20 minutes (including 7 to clean farmer's market spinach) Time to table: 20 minutes Serves 4 with small portions, 2 with generous portions 1 pound spinach greens (see ALANNA's TIPS) 1 tablespoon olive oil (see TIPS) 1 tablespoon garlic (from a jar!) Zest of a lemon Juice from about half a lemon 1 tablespoon honey (next time, try doubling) 1 teaspoon kosher salt Red pepper flakes Salt & pepper Clean greens well, removing tough stems. (See TIPS.) Heat a large skillet on MEDIUM HIGH. Add olive oil and let heat. Add garlic, zest, lemon juice, honey, salt and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, then stir a bit. Add about half the greens and stir well continuously. As the greens b