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Revisiting the Recipe Box

When A Veggie Venture reached Day 365 back in April, I took a break for a couple of weeks. But it was harder than expected -- or wanted to admit, let alone let on -- to NOT cook a new vegetable every day. In my stack of cookbooks and burgeoning bookmarks and mailbox-fresh food magazines, oh-so-thousands of recipes called out, "Make me! Make ME!". In the supermarket and then the spring-start farmers markets, oh-so-intriguing new vegetables seemed to shout, 'Try me! Try ME!' The only consolation was the sudden availability of time. And so I started to cook from the Recipe Box, remaking the vegetables that appealed a second time. And quite soon, I came to understand that the second impressions might tell the better story: revealing an every-day real-ness -- or specialness -- that transforms just-another-recipe into a household favorite. So here they are, the second time around. From A Veggie Venture's Recipe Box Swedish Beets ... a summer-time staple, jus

Easy Easy Radish Spread ♥

Hey, fellow vegetable lovers! Today I've got a really easy vegetable appetizer recipe for you. It's just radishes, a little green onion and cream cheese. The combination is a great mix of heat and creaminess, easy to spread on crackers or sandwiches, toss with steamed vegetables or even gobble by the spoonful! Fresh & Simple. Budget Friendly. Just Three Ingredients! Great for Meal Prep. Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free.

Kitchen Parade Extra: Confetti Potato Salad ♥

Just last night I read in Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking : "Some potato salads are sublime, some are miraculous and some are merely ordinary ..." Confetti Potato Salad borders on the sublime. It's an unadorned mix of potato and sweet potato and has no mayonnaise so is safe for picnics and outdoor celebrations -- and is featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column . (And if you've ever cooked with bad knives, you'll appreciate the it-happened-to-me anecdote that starts the column.) It makes a bunch. But don't worry for as Laurie Colwin says, "It is always wise to make too much potato salad." FOR THE RECORD ... this is my contribution to the worldwide picnic happening at Hooked on Heat . Wait til you see the spread! (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Pasta with Shrimp, Asparagus & Sun-Dried Tomato

The comments on Epicurious raved about this recipe. I thought it was good enough but wouldn't make it again. The difference may well have been the sun-dried tomatoes. Mostly, sun-dried tomatoes are either packed in oil or dessicated discs. A local supermarket (for St. Louisans, Dierbergs) has no-oil sun-dried tomatoes in the produce section, still fat and plump and full of flavor. At $8 a pound, they're pricey but addictively delicious. So this dish might be worth a good rave if oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes were used. It's worth a try! NUTRITION NOTES I've learned to allow 2 ounces of dried pasta a serving. It's plenty, especially when a serving includes lots of vegetables and flavor and so is both filling and satisfying. Nearly all other sources -- an exception is Eating Well -- presume a 4 ounce serving. What do other cooks allow? I'm curious! I'm very sad that my local supermarket has stopped stocking Dreamfields low-carb, low-glycemic pasta w

Broccoli Salad with Olives

Too late, I realized that the inspiring recipe's warning "Just be sure not to overcook the broccoli" should have been heeded. So my version was overcooked. But this simple cold broccoli salad has potential. It's just (next time, quickly blanched) broccoli with chopped celery or fennel (for crunch!) tossed in a simple vinaigrette with olives, green onions and capers. NUTRITION NOTES ... This is a great low-carb and low-calorie choice for carb counters and Weight Watchers. NEXT TIME ... This would be an easy salad to keep adding to. Cherry tomatoes. Bits of cheese. Red pepper. FOR THE RECORD ... This is my contribution to ARF Tusdays, the antioxidant-rich inspiration that happens at Sweetnicks every Tuesday. It's easy to join in -- do! FROM THE ARCHIVES ... This is my favorite broccoli summer salad -- no cooking required! It's in the Recipe Box . BROCCOLI SALAD with OLIVES Bookmark or print Broccoli Salad with Olives Hands-on time: 20 minutes Time to

Kitchen Parade Extra: Strawberry Pepper Salad ♥

Here in the oh-so-green hills of eastern Missouri, it's strawberry time! The local berries are in a couple of weeks early this year and the verdict is: glorious! This week's Kitchen Parade column is all about strawberries, strawberry salads, to be precise. First is a Strawberry Pepper Salad that's worthy of the best berries, my favorite (and kid-friendly!) green salad in a long, long time. And for days when only supermarket berries are available, there's a Strawberry Spinach Salad with a Poppy Seed Vinaigrette. Very good! For the record, this is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging at Kalyn's Kitchen . (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Asparagus with Pimenton

Oh, what a sad day. It was likely the last of the local asparagus, fat and fresh-perfect from the field. (For St Louisans: Scharf's Farm raises the best local asparagus I know ... their stand is at Soulard Market on Saturdays (and perhaps Fridays?) in the north building on the Broadway side, midway on the north side of the aisle. It's worth finding for a couple of weeks early, St Louis' best strawberries are here too ...) But the pimenton, a smoky Spanish paprika, entirely overpowered the asparagus. It was the inspiring recipe's second choice but the first was chili powder ... which I suspect would be equally overpowering. FOR THE RECORD ... This is another contribution to the Asparagus Aspirations at Seriously Good. My favorite entry so far is asparagus with anchovies and garlic -- very worthy of local asparagus! But scampy Kevin seems especially taken by Lemon Lovers' Lickin' Good Roasted Asparagus . And because the asparagus came from a local far