2014 UPDATE: After a long while, I re-visited roasting Roma tomatoes and found them quite wonderful! Please see Roasted Roma Tomatoes , they’re what’s pictured on the right. Roasting is a great way to turn so-so supermarket tomatoes into something special. 2005: Perfect, I thought. The recipe from a mailbox-fresh issue of Bon Appetit called for roasting roma tomatoes, then stuffing them with mozzarella balls, pesto, goat cheese – my plan was to use a cream cheese and wasabi mix with a little diced cucumber and shrimp. The tomatoes turned out great, even though I'd use far less oil another time. But they were so soft, so wobbly, there was no stuffing them with anything, let alone being able to pick them up to eat. So just know this, roasted tomatoes are good, just expect to serve them on the side. RECIPE for ROASTED ROMAS Hands-on time: 15 minutes Time to table: 90 minutes Serves 8 Non-stick cooking spray 12 roma tomatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt & pepper Chopped

An earthy mixture of carrots and mushrooms, light and tasty. Perfect for an appetizer buffet or charcuterie platter. Low Cal. Low Carb. Gluten Free. ~recipe updated from the Recipe Box, first posted 2005!~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ So. It turns out that some times, you just need to know what a recipe is . The inspiring recipe called it "Savory Carrot Cake". But really, isn't something called "cake" light and airy? So back in 2005, I decided to call it "Carrot Loaf" and it got good reviews from my book club. But truly? I didn't have the faintest idea what it was meant to be. Almost eleven years later, I re-visited the recipe. It still sounded good and heaven knows, a better photo was needed. But I really didn't know exactly what would emerge ... Once again, first out of the oven, it confused me. It's not very thick, maybe a half inch. And it's not the least big cake-y, there's no flour after all. And it's not sub

~Recipe & photo updated 2007~ One fall a loooooooooong time ago, for some reason the house was overrun with zucchini. My Mom came up with an idea for a quick bite after school. Every day, I'd get off the school bus, head into the house, move straight to the kitchen. I'd slice a zucchini - they seemed exotic then somehow, so firm, so green - then splash on a bit of tomato sauce and throw it in the mike. Tonight I was cleaning up leftovers so used the doctored tomatoes from Day 69 and the result was delicious. But if memory serves, tomato sauce works great. 2007 Update: Instead of tomatoes or tomato sauce, I used leftover salsa -- the kick was very good! VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES ~ more zucchini recipes ~ ~ more microwave recipes ~ ~ more favorite vegetable recipes (this was my very favorite recipe in June 2005!) ~ ZUCCHINI with TOMATOES & CHEDDAR Active time: 5 minutes Time to table: 10 minutes Serves 1 1 zucchini, sliced 2 tablespoons tomato sauce One i

If I've learned one lesson in nearly 11 weeks, it's this: if you're committed to eating vegetables (or by extension, more healthfully) you've got to have a backup plan, something that takes no thinking, no time, no cooking. When I finally came inside well after dark last night, even 15 minutes of knives and skillets seemed unfathomable effort. Maybe that new pizza place? I strategized. I'll cook two vegetables tomorrow , I justified. Really, I promised. Sure you will, my vegetable conscience countered. But I DID have a backup, a couple of cans of beets in the pantry. So supper was simple yes, just some spinach and cottage cheese and beets. It was plenty. It took all of two minutes to throw together. It was delicious - as Nana said so often, hunger is the best sauce. Always, always, always: have a backup.

Sorry, yes, that eggplant kick continues! These slices grew on me - perhaps it's better at room temperature than hot? But for a fair level of fuss, it needed to be great to become a keeper - and to be worth 3 points. Still, if you're on an eggplant kick, give it your own try. OVEN-FRIED EGGPLANT Active time: 15 minutes, virtually all up-front Time to table: 40 minutes Serves 4 Cooking spray 1/3 cup matzo meal (or bread crumbs as the original recipe suggested) 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise 1 tablespoon chopped onion 1 pound eggplant Preheat oven to 425F. (See ALANNA's TIPS) Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Mix the matzo meal, Parmesan and Italian seasoning in a bowl (pick one that'll be easy to dip the eggplant slices into). Mix the mayonnaise and onion in another bowl. Remove the stem end of the eggplant, then cut in half-inch slices. Spread a thin layer of the mayonnaise o

Visit the Kitchen Parade weekly blog for another healthful hot-weather dish, a chicken salad laced with chickpeas .

Today's vegetable recipe: Sliced eggplant brushed with vinaigrette, baked, then topped with cheese. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. ~ recipe & photo updated in 2008 ~ 2005: I seem to be on an eggplant kick so had high hopes for this after Day 71 . This time, however, I wanted an easy way to roast eggplant without a lot of oil so I brushed the slices with fat-free Italian dressing from the fridge. Too bad: not so good, even the addition of a bit of feta didn't help. Who knew that cheese couldn't save nearly anything?! The eggplant are pretty, though, yes? I had no idea what the internal structure of an eggplant looked like until these came out of the oven. 2008: This time I used a homemade vinaigrette of 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard and a clove of minced garlic (plus lots of salt and pepper) for a beautiful two-pound globe eggplant. Straight from the oven, the slices still tasted quite plain so again, I went th