[Hello All ... If you're reading this via an e-mail subscription or in an RSS reader and haven't visited the site recently, the Recipe Box is getting a facelift, check Weight Watchers and Favorites for examples of more to come! As always, many thanks for sharing in this crazy odyssey of vegetables ... it means much to me, your making A Veggie Venture part of your day. Now, on to today's recipe, another good one for Brussels sprouts!] I grew up on Brussels sprouts so it's no surprise that they often make their way onto my table. Once, they made their way across the room, too: my first time cooking dinner for now-dear friends, the Brussels sprouts were so undercooked that one baby-cabbage missile went flyyyyying as we tried to cut into them. Oops. Ever since, I've been extra cautious about making sure Brussels sprouts are well-cooked. And honestly, I think they taste better when cooked til soft in the center, rather than al dente, as is the current trend. But: you

How to cook fresh green beans quickly at high heat right in a skillet, all it takes is a little garlic, a pinch of sugar and plenty of salt and pepper. Cook the beans on the stove this way just once and you'll do it again and again. Good news, the same technique works for frozen green beans too! Fresh & Flexible. Year-Round Kitchen Staple. Great for Meal Prep. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free.

Today's vegetable recipe, a quick side dish or even a light main course: Spinach leaves or beet greens cooked gently with a little cream, combined with roasted beet. Simple as can be, way more than the sum of its parts! ~recipe & photo updated 2013 & 2015~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ Original 2007 Post: As so often happens in the kitchen, 'fusion' recipes can be utterly delicious. A. Beets were on sale for $1 a pound so I bought a bunch to make borscht. Oh my, do you make borscht ? I must, more often! Anyway I roasted some extra beets my favorite way , not sure where they'd end up, beyond the first beet which always gets eaten straight from the oven . B. Ever since making these baked eggs (also called 'shirred eggs', my friend food stylist Linda Behrends reminded me recently) I've been captivated by what happens when you cook a handful of spinach in cream or half 'n' half. A + B = C, a delicious new side dish! And fast and e

Say hello to Chicken Sybil , the chicken with so many variations it's got, ahem, multiple personalities. (Clever name, yes? Many thanks to my cousin Lynda, who came up with a list of fun names for what I knew would become a special recipe!) It's another Kitchen Parade concept recipe , a base recipe that's a winner all on its own but easy to adapt for taste preferences, what's in season and what's on hand. For a year, I've made this two or three times a month, never the same twice. It makes up in just minutes, adapts easily for serving just one or two -- and is a hit every time I serve it, for myself or for others. Trust me, please, this is chicken you'll make for supper again and again! Even my neighbor Lisa, whose husband produces most family meals, feels like a star whenever she makes this and it gets her seeking out favorite new ingredients, like black bean sauce. Where's that recipe again? In this week's Kitchen Parade column , of course!

Kitchen accidents are something to avoid: dull knives that slip and slice fingers, hot liquid that explodes in a too-full blender. This easy vegetable side dish, however, is the result of a happy kitchen accident . The phone rang just as I dumped the onion and the first of the cabbage into the hot pan. With the portable out of reach, I answered in my next-door office -- without thinking to turn off the heat. Oops. Ten minutes later the onion and cabbage had browned-browned-browned, so much I wondered if they'd be salvageable for supper. Happy accident indeed, the browned-browned-browned cabbage and onions, mixed with mustard and horseradish, were sooo good! And why do I say 'browned-browned-browned', aside from the obvious answer of color? Well you see, I've been reading my new favorite Harold McGee . And thanks to the eminently readable guru of food science, I now know that technically, only butter and brown sugar caramelize , whereas meats and vegetables brown -- vi

Garbanzo beans aka chickpeas. For good reason, they're rarely found fresh, only dried and canned. That's because they take forever to extract from their pods, an hour per pound and then yielding only a couple of scant cups of fresh beans! Before launching this task, I recommend a friend to help, a cold drink to savor and a shady spot on a hot summer day ... then settling in to simply enjoy. There's no rushing this job, it's not hard, just tedious. But tasty? Indeed! The wrinkled-brain peas come one or two to a pod, some large and white and woody (toss these) and some small and underdeveloped (these too). And they're good raw, if a little raw-tasting. For cooking, I tried them steamed with a little butter (good!) but used most in this easy pasta supper. I also tried sautéeing them with the bacon but they really didn't cook enough that way, the liquid seems very important, plus the bacon flavor overpowered the delicate fresh flavor. Oh. And don't worry

What, you think it's still January and I'm already back to baking again?! Not yet! (And yes, I'm calling this a "lunch cake" because I know us, Dear Veggie Venturers, most days we'd rather eat cake . Well, here's a way to have our cake, ahem, and eat it too.) My friend Karen from FamilyStyle Food recommended it, a simple rice cake (or in this cake, a corn cake) with a little peanut butter. It's perfect for an mid-afternoon pick-me-up or a supper-won't-be-ready-for-an-hour snack. I like both these products. The corn cakes taste good, better than I remember rice cakes tasting. And I love-love-love the new Peter Pan no-sugar-added (and thus low carb, just 2 grams of carb per tablespoon) peanut butter. It's got more calories than my usual Peter Pan or Jiffy reduced-fat peanut butter but is so much more peanuty-tasting and satisfying. It's terrific for breakfasts all winter long, in my famous (?!) oatmeal . FROM THE ARCHIVES Occasionally I fea