Isn't there a children's rhyme about honey and vinegar? Something's nagging the back of my brain ... No matter, this is a great weeknight supper recipe! Invest a few minutes up front (and do take the couple of minutes to peel real carrots -- the prepeeled ones from bags just have no flavor when cooked) and then the carrots almost cook on their own while you work on whatever else's on the menu. The inspiration for these came from -- get this! -- a little recipe booklet hanging off a vinegar bottle. It's been hanging around for a few weeks. Tonight I put my foot down and said, Cook 'em or throw it away. It was worth the wait! Find other carrot recipes in the Recipe Box . CARROTS with HONEY & VINEGAR Hands-on time: 7 minutes Time to table: 35 minutes Serves 4 1/2 cup water or fat-free chicken broth (have more available if needed) 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (I think any vinegar'd work fine) 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon butter 1 pound

Add this to a growing list of great ways to cook greens (and look at those gorgeous stems, too!) without fat. Here the magic flavor ingredient is mustard. The inspiration came from My Adventures in the Breadbox (2007: a now-defunct food blog) who last week served kale alongside pork tenderloin. GREENS & STEMS with MUSTARD Hands-on time: 15 minutes (mostly for cleaning which can be done ahead) Time to table: 20 minutes Serves 4 1/2 cup (or more but start with 1/4 cup) fat-free chicken broth Greens and stems, about 1 1/2 pounds (tonight, used the greens from 4 beets and the stems from 2, think that's about the right proportion) 1 large shallot, chopped 2 tablespoons good mustard Salt & pepper to taste Heat the a large, deep skillet. Add about 1/4 cup of the broth just before adding the first stems. Rinse and remove the stems, chop into small pieces and add to the skillet. Cook the stems while rinsing and chopping the leaves. Add the shallot and the mustard an

This week, Kitchen Parade's weekly column launches a new series called Quick Suppers where the fare will be fast and a whole lot more, er, less. We kick off with a grilled or pan-fried Spiced Yogurt Chicken .

Today's Soup Recipe: An ultra-rich tomato soup, laced with butter and orange juice. ~ recipe & photo updated in 2008 ~ 2005: My oh my. This may be the most delicious soup ever, at least within memory. The tomato is comfortably familiar. The orange is a subtle surprise but still recognizable. Combined, you'll wonder, why didn't we do this before? Made with an entire stick of butter and cream to boot, it's packed with calories and thus perfect comfort food for a neighbor who needs calories to fight a fast-moving cancer. It would also make a lovely starter - small portions! - at a dinner party. Or for every-day, save calories to savor a whole bowl. (Thought: Perhaps there's a lower-calorie version to be had by adding orange juice to Summer's Tomato Soup ?) The soup's inspiration comes from a [2008: now defunct] blog Taste Everything Once. Jenn was in the middle of moving and unpacked her soup pot at 5 in the morning just to make this! She thought it w

Since the weekend, the frig has been home to an overflowing bag of sweet peppers purchased for a quarter apiece at Soulard, St. Louis' year-round farmers market. Yes: you read right. A quarter a pepper. The supermarket price is $1.50 a pepper, six times higher. So the Simple Summer Harvest Soup over at Farmgirl Fare caught my attention again. Thanks to what was on hand, however, Farmgirl's soup and mine are a bit different: Hers was a 50:50 mix of sweet pepper and summer squash, mine 75:25 sweet pepper and zucchini. She recommends homemade chicken stock and I do too. But with none in the freezer, I used a pantry staple, the 48-ounce can of Swanson's 100% Fat Free Natural Goodness. It's not comparable but certainly 'good enough'. Farmgirl says this soup's flavor melds after resting a day. I was in a rush serving-wise, so spiked the flavor with 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce - making for heat that not everyone would appreciate but was easily cooled dow

Despite the other night's experience , greens can taste soooo good. (See? It pays to keep trying!) Here's a terrific example. Easy. Fast. A little prep and then virtually no hands-on time. And thanks to a new technique happened onto while cooking something else, low carb, no fat and no points! This one's a keeper, one to turn to again and again. [If you like nutmeg, try last month's Nutmeg Carrots . Or for other recipes with ever-healthful greens, see Leafy Greens in the Recipe Box .] SPINACH with NUTMEG Hands-on time: 5 minutes Time to table: 15 minutes Serves 4 About 1/2 cup good chicken broth 1 onion, sliced or diced (tonight I did strips, next time I'll dice) 1 yellow pepper, sliced or diced (ditto) 1 heaping teaspoon garlic (from a jar, hey! it's a weeknight!) 16 ounces fresh spinach Salt & pepper Fresh nutmeg Heat a splash of chicken broth in a large, deep skillet on MEDIUM HIGH. When it starts to simmer, add the onion and pepper

A savory noodle casserole (also called a "noodle kugel") made with fresh spinach, flat noodles, sour cream and cheese, extra delicious served hot from the oven. Savory Spinach Kugel is super simple to make and would be easy to scale up to serve a crowd. Fresh & Seasonal. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Scales from Small Casserole to a Large Baking Dish. Vegetarian.