Posts

Recipe for Peasant Cabbage-Tomato Soup ♥

Today's simple cabbage soup recipe: Just onion, cabbage, tomato, a touch of sugar and hot sauce but very, very satisfying. Just 15 minutes to make, just 30 minutes to put onto the table! Weight Watchers friendly! Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly. And, when made with vegetable broth or water, not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". Skip Straight to the Recipe Perfectly simple = simple and perfect. This sweet 'n' sour cabbage soup hits just the spot, say, after a frosty walk and a too-big lunch. And it makes up in minutes, another plus. And it's pretty, that broth has a lovely cast of tomato-y color. So many good things about this simple soup! Yes, yes: perfect, simple and perfectly simple. If this is peasant food, then royalty should eat so well. Is it just me who finds a certain elegance in such simplicity? All these years of cooking and it still stuns me how much a few ingredients can deliver. You WANT to make this!

February's Focus: Soup's On!

In February, the shivers of hard winter give way to the winds of early spring. Both, for sure, call for soup to soothe the soul and warm the innards. So I dubbed February 2007 the month of Soup, Glorious Soup . I cooked soup all month and invited soup enthusiasts from all over the world to cook soup too. And so they did, in droves. Just like a good potluck, somehow our collection of soup recipes offers a soup for every taste and circumstance. The soups that take hours to simmer stove-top, the ones that toss together in minutes. The soups made from pantry staples, the ones with hard-to-find ingredients. Newly discovered soup recipes and the long-time family favorites. Recipes carefully followed and others invented with what was on hand. I was moved by many of the soup stories, cross-continental stock-making , surviving a first cold winter , falling in love with winter , a first-time soup-maker , the saving grace of soup for a soon-to-be-Mom , a soup passed from one generation to anothe

Quick Side: Brussels Sprouts with Horseradish Sauce ♥

[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

Simple Skillet Green Beans ♥

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.

Creamy Spinach or Beet Greens with Roasted Beets ♥

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

Kitchen Parade Extra: Chicken Sybil ♥

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!

Quick Side: Browned Cabbage with Mustard & Horseradish ♥

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