So is this "scratch cooking" or not? Look at the four convenience packages it took to make this simple soup! (It seemed as much like "cooking" as a Minnesota hot dish with a can of Campbell's, frozen vegetables, a few slices of Velveeta and canned onion rings for garnish.) And anyone who's familiar with miso soup will laugh. (Hey! at least I know from someone who lived in Japan that miso is pronounced mee-zo with a fuzzy sz sound.) But apparently you don't eat the kelp? (It didn't kill me. And I kinda liked it. And aren't you supposed to eat your greens, anyway??? NOT eating it would have felt like picking tomatoes off a pizza.) I claim no expertise in miso soup. What did I miss? What should it have looked like, tasted like? How should it have been cooked? What should I have/ could I have added? Is it "scratch cooking"? or not?? Help, please!! My own BIG LESSON: This confusion, these questions, the uncertainty, THIS is what it's lik

So what do you do for a "vegetable" on a day when ... Wind shear takes out eight large trees within a couple of blocks? One tree with a five-foot trunk falls RIGHT where your car travelled only the MINUTE before, when it was barely stormy? And traps a man and his dog who, thankfully, are both okay? And the electricity is out for nearly 24 hours? And the neighborhood takes on a festive air and impromptu block parties spring up and Home Improvement-type guys manfully man chain saws and pass out beers and kids kick balls in the blocked -off streets? Well, AFTER scrambling for the lantern and heading for the basement and AFTER you know everything's okay if pretty dark ... you move to the pantry for Plan B. THE NASTY DRINK ... This tangerine-carrot-apple juice from Bulgaria was worse than Tang. Sickly sweet. Strident in color. Flavorless. One sip and the sink was the final stop. NEXT TIME ... I'll read the label more closely. I actually love these juices in

In recent years, my family's switched from birthday cakes to birthday pies. The contingent in Hot Houston goes for ice cream pies. My Dad lifts his fork with alacrity whatever's placed on the table but is partial to cream pies; earlier this week for his x0th, it was banana caramel cream. (No recipe! No pictures! Just pure pleasure in cooking ... and yes, eating.) For A Veggie Venture's 1st birthday -- yes, it's happening here, too! just like at one blog after another, a birthday celebration -- pie also seemed appropriate, a quiche to be precise, a quiche packed with vegetables, of course! Prepare to meet ... Caraway Cabbage Quiche! And oh man, talk about good. (And oh so different ... and yet the same ...as the inauspicious beginning on Day One .) NUTRITION NOTES ... Bon Appetit's inspiring recipe said, quite seriously, "Serves 4". A quarter of a whole pie? Who are they kidding? Whose waistlines are they deforming? At my house, pie gets cut in EIGHT pieces

[Hmmm. Does that slaw look like broccoli rabe to you? Me either. Day 354 was supposed to be a last March broccoli rabe contribution with a final running round--up. The bad news is that the store was out. The good news is that the produce manager says it's flying off the shelves - she can't keep enough in! Watch for something rapini-rabe-ish in a few days!] Fast and light! It's a good combination. It's Napa cabbage, wilted with a bit of water in a hot skillet, and a soy-ginger-vinegar dressing. NEXT TIME ... I'd drain the leftover water from the pan before mixing the wilted cabbage with the dressing. I'd add "something else" ... green onion, toasted sesame seeds, red pepper flake, perhaps. NUTRITION NOTES ... Another low-carb, low-calorie, low-point vegetable! WILTED ASIAN CABBAGE Bookmark or print this recipe only Hands-on time: 5 minutes! Time to table: 8 minutes! Serves 4 Splash of water 4 cups thin-sliced Napa cabbage ? Green onion ? Mushrooms 1 ta

There are days when it's the drive-through or the crockpot, nothing in between. If that describes your day (or your life!), try the plain, tasty fare of Crockpot Chicken Goulash , featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column. It's the latest in Kitchen Parade's Quick Supper series, dishes specially selected to be easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

It's a simple idea: if you want to eat more vegetables, start by adding chopped veggies to whatever you're already making. Soup. Stews. Rice . Even burgers . I call it "vegging up". Why? Well there's the eat-more-veggies reason. And the eat-more-veggies-than-meat reason. And the eat-more-fiber reason. And the feed-more-mouths reason. And the using-up-bits-of-leftover-vegetables reason. And the end-of-the-month-budget reason. And ... and ... and ... Me, all those apply. But mostly there's the it-just-tastes-good reason. KITCHEN NOTES ... Work toward a 1:1 ratio of vegetables and tuna/meat. While mayo is the typical binding in tuna salad, today I experimented with fat-free Italian dressing: VERY good. Good bread makes a difference. TUNA SALAD VEGGED UP Hands-on time: 10 minutes Time to table: 10 minutes Makes enough for 4 - 6 sandwiches Cooked tuna (I'm becoming partial to the vacuum-sealed bags ...) Carrot Celery Radish Onion ALANNA's TIPS Whe

An old-fashioned Italian salad, a classic, just a quick chop-chop of crisp, wet fennel and creamy cooked egg. Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly & Freestyle Friendly. Vegetarian. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly. Skip Straight to the Recipe Today's vegetable comes from my father's companion Olga, who was born in Russia but lived in Italy with her Italian husband Giulio until coming to the United States. At Olga's, "Italian" is the house cuisine even if Russian is the accent at the dinner table! Olga coached me through this quick side salad made with fresh fennel (also called "anise") and hard-boiled eggs. It's very good! This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes published all summer long ever since 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription , you'll never miss a one!