Not Your Mother's V-8. Instead, this tomato cocktail is faintly sweet, almost fruity. It's frothy and refreshing. It's slightly puzzling, an enigma of scent and flavor and texture. If you're working on Five-a-Day in Three-(Meals)-a-Day, this would be lovely at breakfast. TOMATO COCKTAIL Hands-on time: 10 minutes Time to table: 4 hours Makes 3 cups 2 pounds cherry tomatoes (the tomato man reports they hold the most juice) 1 red pepper (optional) 1 leaf of fresh basil (optional) Sugar (I used a tablespoon) Salt (I used 1 teaspoon kosher salt) Puree all the ingredients in a food processor until very smooth. Here the recipe and I diverged. The Recipe: Pour the mixture into a sieve lined with cheesecloth and placed over a bowl, then bring the cheesecloth over top. Refrigerate overnight to drain. This will produce a "clear" and "pure and refreshing" sort of "chilled consomme" though "better as an alcohol-free apertif&qu

~recipe & photo updated in 2007~ Lavender Heaven, that's how to remember these potatoes, my favorite since last month's first Panzanella . Cooked with nothing more than lavender, rosemary, butter and salt, these potatoes are ever so simple yet ever so elegant. Two less prosaic lessons: Steamed new potatoes turn out mealy, like last night's . (I was even told they might be old.) Boiled new potatoes turn out creamy, like tonight's. When potatoes are packed with succulence, less is more. A pound of tonight's potatoes would easily have served eight (each serving 2 - 3 small potatoes) as long as there were another vegetable on the plate. 2007 Photo Update: In 2005, I made these with new red potatoes, in 2007 with French fingerlings. I like the color of the red better but the fingerlings are creamy good. In 2006, I loved these potatoes so much that I created an easy, romantic all-lavender meal , perfect for Valentine's and other romantic occasions. VE

The code-looking EoMEoTE#10 is just that, food blogger code for End-of-the-Month Egg-on-Toast Extravaganza from the ever-witty Cook Sister , written by a South African living in the UK who's been bitten by Dr Seuss , it seems. And here's A Veggie Venture's first contribution, this morning's Alex's French Eggs on toasted flat bread with sautéed onions on the side. The onions were much prettier a few days ago but now, after cooking for three hours (yes, HOURS) they're edible.

A simple but somehow special potato salad, just new potatoes smashed (but not quite mashed) toss while hot with sour cream, a little butter and finely chopped fresh mint. Lovely for summer! Real Food, Fast & Casual, Perfect for Summer. Just Four Ingredients. Not Just Easy, Summer Easy . Friendly. Little Effort, Big Taste. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Great for Meal Prep. Naturally Gluten Free.

It's easy to tell it's the height of the growing season here in the northern hemisphere -- food bloggers' tables are piled with vegetables this week. There's no picking just one Veggie Post of the Week so here are ones I'd love to nibble on! Bee-yoo-tee-ful Food From Rachael at Fresh Approach Cooking -- A cold melon and tomato soup, served ever-so-elegantly in martini glasses From Home * Economics -- A tomato tart that may cause foodies to swoon Fast & Fresh From Words to Eat By -- A pair of cucumber and tomato salads plus an inspirational platter of marinated roasted peppers From Veggie Way, a new favorite site -- An eggplant salad From the ever-creative StephenCook -- Linguini with pretty broccaflower All the way from Singapore and Nibble & Scribble -- Grilled Japanese eggplant with tomato Comfort Food From Nic at the BakingSheet -- Fried (actually baked) green tomatoes, something I've been meaning to try From the Milky Way Dine

Broil tomatoes, sure, but first, insert slivers of garlic into the tomato to amp up the flavor, then sprinkle with fresh herbs and a mist of oil. Easy and delicious! ~recipe & photo updated 2010~ 2005: Just like yesterday's Pepper & Tomato Salad , here's another fast, easy, fresh vegetable that's perfect for a light lunch or weeknight supper. This, in fact, may well be the very fastest recipe in the five months of the Veggie Venture! 2010: Plain broiled tomatoes are pretty common but with a little garlic and fresh herbs, these broiled tomatoes are something just a little bit special! RECIPE for BROILED TOMATOES with OREGANO Hands-on time: 5 minutes Time to table: 10 minutes Serves 4 2 large tomatoes 2 - 3 cloves garlic Good salt & freshly ground pepper 4 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped (another fresh herb would work fine, too) Olive oil with a mister Preheat the broiler. Wash and halve the tomatoes crosswise and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Cut the garlic i

Today's easy-easy rainbow salad, a mix of colorful chopped bell peppers, tomato and cilantro all tossed/enhanced with bright lemon and cilantro. Very Weight Watchers Friendly, just PointsPlus1. Low Cal. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". Fast, fresh, easy. Perfect for a light lunch or a weeknight supper. This isn't a salad to groan over, exclaiming its deliciousness. But it's one to make again and again, especially when peppers are cheap and summer tomatoes are ripe. RECIPE for PEPPER & TOMATO SALAD with LEMON & CILANTRO Hands-on time: 15 minutes Time to table: 15 minutes Makes 5 cups 1 bunch cilantro (for green color) 1 large tomato, cored and chopped (for red color) 1 yellow pepper, chopped (for yellow color) 1 orange pepper, chopped (for orange color) 3 green onions, chopped or 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion Zest of a lemon Juice of a lemon, about 2 tablespoons (a key ingredient, don't skip it!) 2