There on the bottom, that's my long-time favorite flat grater, an old faithful. But when the stars aligned - that is, when Cook's Illustrated highly rated a $25 box grater and when I ran across a $6 version - I decided to give the box version a whirl. Pros: Easier to grate bigger batches. Collects grated material inside so easier to measure. Cons: Takes up a lot of room in the dishwasher. Harder to grate things straight into the mixing bowl. Net: I'll keep the flat grater for regular use, due to a perpetually full dishwasher. But I'll hang onto the box grater, too, since it will be handy on occasion and cupboard space isn't a problem! 2007 Update: I haven't used Old Faithful in forever. Hmm. I'm not even sure where Old Faithful is .

Look familiar? It might for it's a green bean-version of last week's Quick Broccoli Soup and yesterday's Quick Cauliflower Soup. (A combined recipe is posted here .) Yes, I'm seriously addicted to this easy soup -- bigger batches are in order! Today's cook-lunch-while-working-in-the-other-room pot was made with a bag of frozen beans and a half-gone bag of freezer-burned corn. It was good -- but not delicious like the broccoli and cauliflower renditions, perhaps because: of using frozen vegetables? beans aren't so conducive to soup? (Sure there's BEAN soup but who's heard of GREEN BEAN soup? Okay, of course, Google has. It found 7500 references -- but 42x that for bean soup. Point made.) of using homemade (and thus less salty) chicken stock that needed using up? If history's a guide, answers will be forthcoming.

A couple of days ago, I cooked a simple broccoli soup, it was incredibly delicious. So tonight I used the same technique with a head of cauliflower though left in a few chunks for texture. And the cauliflower soup is even more delicious than the broccoli! It's so extraordinarily creamy, you'd think it were laden with fat. But it's not – it's definitely a Weight Watchers friendly soup. One recipe, two completely different soups! I combined them in a Kitchen Parade column, two healthful vegetable soups on the table in minutes! Here's the column! Quick Cauliflower Soup or Quick Broccoli Soup 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, salad

This is my favorite method for cooking dark leafy greens like chard (a personal fave, also mustard greens, turnip greens, leafy spinach and other greens) by just dropping them into hot boiling and well-salted water to "flash cook" or "blanch" the greens for a few minutes today to be eaten later. Real Food, Fast & Healthy. Year-Round Kitchen Staple. Budget Friendly. Great for Meal Prep. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

Hey, all. Meet my buddy CJ, he's the "tomato man" at my local farmers market and I've learned so much from him this summer. Last week he taught me how to freeze tomatoes! Let me share all the details. Real Food, Fresh to Freezer. Not Just Easy, Summer Easy . Budget Friendly.

... beet greens? They were too beautiful to leave at the market this afternoon. I have plans for the beets, would welcome ideas for the greens! I could make the delicious greens from Day 85 . But I'd prefer far fewer calories AND in the spirit of the Veggie Venture, I'd like to try something new! Ideas are welcomed - but time is of the essence, they won't be fresh for more than another day!

What do you call this? A de-corner? A kernel scraper? An ever-so-official corn kernel-removing tool? A corn doo-hickey? A corn thing-a-ma-jig? Call it what you like, it doesn't work. It came from a small-town hardware store, one of those places where all of life's necessities are found. I figured it must be one. So there it was in the drawer. It was the do-or-die moment of utility-or-uselessness. Place the ring over the ear, starting at the tip. Then scrape downward. Theoretically, the tool-thingie will adjust to the thickening of the cob. It does, sort of. But the net is that after using this, I still had to get out the knife to remove lots or remaining kernels. And besides: it was taking up room in an already crowded utentil drawer AND it was murder to clean. Off it goes to the church rummage sale. Maybe for a quarter, someone'll love it.