If you spend two hours roasting peppers , they're worth more than one vegetable post, right? OK OK, I'm milking the peppers, no doubt. But after oberving all the chickpea-mashing going on in the food blog world, I decided to match up leftover roasted peppers and 28 Cook's Thai basil hummus for an easy weekend lunch. (Like hummus? You and the whole world! It's here on BlogHer .) Twas tasty! FROM THE ARCHIVES ... In case you wondered, yep, the Recipe Box . has vegetable sandwich ideas . (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Roasting the peppers was painful but -- at least! -- yes, the soup was worth it. During the other night's first taste test, I worried the whole pot was destined for the disposal. You see, the 'spice' in this soup is chili powder. It seemed an odd choice from the git-go but because this cookbook ( Vegetarian Celebrations by Nava Atlas who blogs with the rest of us at In a Vegetarian Kitchen ) is so reliably good, chili powder it was. Straight out of the pot, the chili powder tasted strident, overpowering and mismatched with the pepper. After resting overnight, the soup was ... yes, delicous! And the chili powder had mellowed into the background, letting the sweet pepper flavor come forth and shine. NEXT TIME ... I'll try the soup with two-buck, two-second Trader Joe's frozen roasted peppers or the equivalent of jarred peppers. KITCHEN NOTES ... Even on a damp spring day, this was tempting cold, a red-pepper gazpacho, if you will. As garnish, the roasted gr

Spring's bursting out in all its blossom glory here in the Mississippi Flyway. And that means temperatures in the sunny 70s one day, rain and chilly 40s the next. (And occasional trips to the basement when sirens warn that the two aren't getting along so well.) The quick answer for days of unpredictable temperature is soup, but a lighter soup than the heavy winter fare that tasted so good only a month ago. Lemon Turkey Noodle Soup is featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column . Lemon and creamy Parmesan twist otherwise familiar soup ingredients into something entirely new. I think you'll find it luscious! (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

When your kitchen's not well-suited for the conviviality of cooking with someone else, what to do? Two kitchens! Two kitchens in two states and two time zones! And for good measure, stir in the cookbook of still another cook, in still another state and time zone. On complete whim, Catherine from Albion Cooks and I decided to cook from Cooking by the Seasons , which Brendon from Something in Season recently raved about and which prompted both Catherine and me to hustle up our own copies! (Okay, so now I've met two famous cookbook authors. Mark Bittman and Karina Allrich. Yes. That! Karina! our very own Gluten Free Goddess .) (Catherine and I plan to cook "together" again in a week or so. And since Kalyn 's ordered a copy; and so has Peanut Butter and Purple Onions ; and of course, the guy who started it all, Brendon : Wanna join the fun with the next recipe? Anyone else? Maybe even, I don't know ... Karina???) Catherine picked the first recipe. But

How to roast peppers, all members of the capsicum family, including sweet peppers (like red peppers and green peppers) and also "hot" chili peppers (like poblanos, jalapeños, Hatch peppers and others). If you've ever wondered how to roast chiles at home, this is my favorite way to roast many peppers at the same time, it's done in a very hot oven under the broiler, simultaneously gently cooking the vegetables and making it easy to remove their skins. Real Food, Fresh & Seasonal. Not Just Easy, Summer Easy . Easy Meal Prep. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

In March "spring" appeared on the kitchen table here at A Veggie Venture. Early in the month, I was still cooking wintry vegetables, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower. Then, like a page turning, a leaf opening, a crabapple bursting into blossom like the ones on my street today, suddenly the vegetables that appealed were lighter and simpler, zucchini, beets, Napa cabbage. So what were March's best veggie side, best soup and best vegetarian supper? And because we've been cooking broccoli rabe all month, the best rapini? MARCH's BEST VEGETABLE SIDE DISH Once again, there's no picking just one. A winter-into-spring transition dish with a to-die-for sauce (read : calories), Cauliflower Cheddar Horseradish Gratin . For those slim-on-time and slim-in-diet, opt for the fresh-tasting, low-cal and low-carb Zucchini Lemon-Honey Salad . MARCH's BEST SOUP The oh-so-romantically named (and tasting!) Gypsy Pot . MARCH's BEST VEGETARIAN S

I need to make big salads more often! Even late on a chilly spring evening, this tasted so fresh and alive and paired perfectly with soup. It was light but still filling and flavorful -- all for hardly any calories. The salad itself calls for four strong flavors: watercress, basil, cilantro AND mint. I wondered if they'd fight, if one'd overpower the other, if one'd make shy. But instead, they formed a quartet that works as much in concert as in striking their individual notes. Still, if one had to be sacrificed, make it the watercress. The dressing was a definite keeper, too. There is NOTHING on the grocery store shelves to compare with simple ingredients whisked together in five minutes -- in flavor, in cost, in healthfulness. The mango was still underripe, despite sitting on the counter in a paper bag for three days. Still, the "bones" were good, mango works beautifully with the dressing. NUTRITION NOTES ... For carb watchers, make this salad fit your low-carb