Appetizers aren't my strong suit, always an afterthought, more often an Oh, whoops. And so as much as I adore the idea of Eating for Life , sponsored by Lucullian Delights and Joanna's Food , it seemed only natural to sit out the first event featuring 'finger' foods. But then suddenly it was the first day of spring and warm, besides, and a small soiree on the patio seemed in order. At four o'clock, I had the choice between a grocery run and a dog walk. The dog, in turn wagging furiously and twirling in excitement, won out. At five o'clock, I looked into a nearly bare frig, fully prepared that a stiff spring drink would be the extent of the offerings, not a proud moment for someone who loves to cook. But, la-di-da, tucked inside were nearly all the ingredients for the green chutney from One Hot Stove , a quick and easy no-fat spread that Nupur wowed me with on little cucumber sandwiches last fall. Ten minutes later - including filling a plate with crackers - th

How to cook fresh green beans in the microwave, it takes just minutes and the beans turn out perfectly crisp or perfectly soft, depending on how you want them. This is a basic weeknight cooking technique you'll use again and again, whenever the beans look especially pretty. Once the beans are cooked, if you like, toss the warm beans in a quick tomatillo salsa, just a few fresh ingredients puréed in a food processor. This light and lively salsa is a great way to dress up green beans! Real Food, Fresh & Fast. Budget Friendly. Little Effort, Big Taste. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Great for Meal Prep. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

There's absolutely nothing special about this quick side dish -- and that's what makes it special! (How weird is that?!) It's just every-day simple sautéed zucchini tossed with mint and parsley. You may well have the ingredients on hand -- if it were summer, I'd fetch both mint and parsley which thrive in the side herb garden. But it was decidedly tasty, a definite keeper. FROM the ARCHIVES If you love zucchini and want to check out all the zucchini recipes, the Recipe Box has lots of quick zucchini recipes . A YEAR AGO Cauliflower Cheddar Horseradish Gratin ... "'Delicious' barely describes the cheese sauce's bright notes of horseradish and mustard." PRINT JUST A RECIPE Print any post, only the post and the recipe print, not the header and the sidebars, saving ink and paper! NEVER MISS A RECIPE! Just enter your e-mail address in the box in the sidebar. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box. Z

Welcome to the latest in an occasional series of St. Louis restaurant reviews from my friend, the Foodie Patootie. It's an A (with points off for smoke) recommendation for Mihalis Chop House on the western edge of Dogtown in Maplewood. Enjoy! My internal “restaurant radar” never fails to alert me when a new restaurant is about to debut, so after months of driving by a construction site on McCausland Avenue in Maplewood, my nose twitched to signal “Aha! A new restaurant” and one whiff signaled “And a steak place at that!” FIRST VISIT: DINNER FOR THREE, PASTA AND STEAK Upon entering, I was immediately impressed by the personal warm greeting, the entry’s rich, warm colors, the subdued lighting, the soft, rhythmic music, and the elegant coat closet. Too bad the spell of the first impression was broken by the smell of cigarette smoke (gross!) from the adjoining Onyx Bar. I considered leaving (who wants a delicious dinner whose subtle flavors and tastes are clouded by a known carc

Ever wish you could print recipes without wasting ink and paper on the banner and the sidebars? Me too! Here's how to print just the introduction and the recipe, skipping A Veggie Venture's banner and sidebars and JUST UPDATED! -- reader comments. LOCATE THE RIGHT BUTTONS First, find the 'print' button in your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.), there's often a one-click printer icon. But also find (something like) File/Print and take note if there's (something like) a 'page range' option for 'all', 'pages 1 to x' and 'selection'. (Don't do anything with these yet, just find them.) MAKE SURE YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT PAGE Now, make sure you're on the page you want to print. If you're on the home page, either click the post's title at the top of the post (nearly always, this is the recipe name but for example, on this page the post's title is Finally! Print the Recipe! ) ~ or ~ click ' page perm

While this column has been online in the Recipe Box at Kitchen Parade for awhile, just recently, I made it for the first time in a few years -- just to add a photograph, no more. And then I made it again. And again. And again. Tender Pork Tenderloin is one of those every-day staple recipes that's just so easy and so good, it almost cooks itself. And the carrots, ah, the roasted carrots spiked with cumin! They're sooo good. And so here is the column again, in case it's been overlooked. Enjoy!

Updated October 18 for Week 18 See prior weeks' vegetable recipe ideas Oh! How time does fly! Here we are in the 18th -- and last -- week of fresh vegetables from Maine CSA Wolf Pine Farm. It's been my pleasure to share a few favorite vegetable recipes each week. But vegetable recipes are a year-round affair here at A Veggie Venture (and it's not too soon to start planning for Thanksgiving vegetable recipes !) so I do hope you'll come back often. Better yet, sign up for an e-mail subscription and then new recipes (including a brand new set of Thanksgiving vegetable recipes, beginning November 1) will show up in your In Box, you'll never miss a single one! But here are this week's vegetables - your boxes are overflowing! Wolf Pine Farm's CSA Deliveries October 15 - 20 NEW! Rutabagas - You'll find just a few rutabaga recipes but I do especially recommend the rutabaga and apple, perfect for fall! NEW! Potatoes - Oh there's nothing like just-dug pota