A simple homemade celery soup, all about the celery and way more than the sum of its parts. Rave reviews! Skip the unnecessary cream and it's Whole 30 friendly. Also Gluten Free, Weight Watchers friendly and naturally, OhSoGood! ~recipe updated, first published way back in 2006~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ Awhile back, I puzzled over a tidbit in a magazine. "To have fun," it asked, "would you prefer to go to a party with lots of old friends or one where you'll know hardly anyone?" Turns out that if FUN is the desired experience, then partying with new people is the ticket. (Okay, yes, I know, who can make such a generalization? and why is new fun better than laughing over old jokes? and were the folks who did the study, went to the parties and wrote the story all Extroverts in the Meyers-Briggs schema? and who reads this stuff anyway? Please, bear with me.) And so it's turned out that I've been cooking and writing about vegetables for

Every once in a lucky while, you find a cookbook that's entirely cookable. And if it's an entirely readable history lesson, too? Foodie Heaven. In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark launched the great exploration of the new Lousiana Purchase. The food logistics alone were enormous: there were no Safeways, no Whole Foods along the traverse of the Missouri River. How and what DID they eat? Well and a lot, it turns out, very well and a whole lot. The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark by Mary Gunderson describes the expedition in terms of food, applying what Mary calls paleocuisineology -- bringing history alive through cooking -- to make a history book with recipes. "Welcome to the table of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The dining cloth reaches across the North American continent, circa 1803 to 1806. There is more than enough room for each of us to crowd around. Linger at any point in the journey and a rich food history is at hand, revealing the larger story of the E

Who's cooked cabbage so that it turns into something akin to, well, noodles? So good! But the recipe has moved to a new location, please see Cabbage Noodles at Kitchen Parade, my food column. 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, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special. © Copyright Kitchen Parade 2006 & 2021 (retire)

Today's vegetable casserole recipe: A pretty mix of cauliflower and broccoli in cheese sauce that's got just a touch of heat from horseradish. ~recipe & photo updated 2013~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ 2006 Original Post: "Gratin" sounds much fancier than reality: cauliflower with cheese sauce. But "delicious" barely describes the cheese sauce's bright notes of horseradish and mustard. Call it OH SO GOOD: this definitely qualifies for a 'I Could Easily Make a Meal Out of This' designation. 2013 Update: I've rewritten this recipe to reflect how I make it, how I think it's best made. For example, the inspiring recipe had way too much cheese sauce, two times too much by my measure. I also think that the mixture of cauliflower and broccoli is just so pretty so that's what I recommend too. Plus a bit of texture contrast is really nice. This is a great dish for a holiday table but isn't too much for every day too. It'

No beauty contest winner here but in the taste department? Outstanding. The Brussels sprouts are cooked in a quick mix of wine, honey, soy sauce and a touch of butter. After awhile? It glazes the Brussels sprouts. It's not Belgian chocolate but for Brussels sprouts? Gorgeous. Stop! Do NOT make your decision to make these Brussels sprouts based on the photo! Stop, I say! :-) Now, close your eyes and imagine the goodness of red wine and soy sauce and honey cooked all syrupy. And think about that syrupy goodness soaking into tiny baby cabbages aka Brussels sprouts. Imagine a taste that's familiar and brand-new at the same time. Imagine pure deliciousness. Okay, NOW you're permitted to open your eyes and study the picture: butt-ugly, as they say. That's because the Brussels sprouts at the store were gigantic so I quartered them so they'd cook evenly – the exposed innards sucked up color along with flavor. You can see that the exteriors still look good: yes, I recomm

Just in time for making Easter eggs: How to cook perfect hard-boiled eggs, then dye the eggs in beet juice or pickled beet juice to create stunning ruby-colored "whites" with sunny-yellow centers. Oh so Easter-basket pretty! And yet ever so simple, just hard-boiled eggs soaked overnight in beet juice. Don't worry, soaking transfers beet color, not beet flavor. Cooking eggs should be simple! Instead, hard-boiled eggs may "look" simple but they can be tricky to cook. The eggs can turn out too soft (undercooked) or too hard and crumbly (overcooked) or ringed with green (cooked improperly) or impossible to peel (probably too fresh). For each problem, someone supplies a list of tricks aka solutions. No more. I clipped this "perfect hard-boiled eggs every time" recipe so long ago there's no memory of its source. But this technique (a recipe for hard-cooked eggs? I suppose it's that!) creates perfect hard-boil eggs. Every time. With both fresh

A perfect soup for St. Patrick's Day or for that matter, any chilly winter day. It's a simple cabbage soup, just fresh cabbage plus potato and kale in a gentle blend of chicken stock and milk for the broth. Fresh & Seasonal, Perfect for Late-Winter. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Fat.