Love this side dish for its color and taste -- but try it for its technique, one that will work just as well for other vegetables. It starts off with thin-sliced carrots in nothing more than water, salt and pepper beneath a cover of oil- or butter-coated parchment. Parchment! Of course -- it's the same principle as a covered skillet but really concentrates the heat and the moisture right there . I couldn't believe how quickly the carrots cooked! Don't start cooking, however, til the vegetables are prepped. The carrots and pepper slice up in no time but the sugar snap peas take a bit. These weren't stringy so I didn't bother to remove the 'string', just trimmed the ends and cut into pieces. NEXT TIME The inspiring recipe said to "halve the peas lengthwise diagonally". Hmm. What does this mean? I decided that it meant to just cut the peas into bite-size pieces on the diagonal. But they were pretty fat so next time I think I'd cook the carrots fir

When Chocolate in Context announced the theme for this month's Sugar High Friday (the sweet lovin' food blogging event that attracts dozens of participants from around the world) as ' naked chocolate ' (okay, okay, they really called it 'raw chocolate'), I looked at the just-peeled raw cocoa beans on the counter and thought, How lucky is that? Say hello to Chocolate Sauerkraut Cupcakes, made with my very own cocoa powder. The whole cacao beans came from Global Foods, my very own neighborhood international grocery , for a couple of bucks. The beans came from El Salvador and the instructions were minimal. "To prepare home made chocolate: Toast and peel the seeds. [oh! toast! I missed that until just now]. Add cinnamon and sugar to taste. Ground [sic] all ingredients." It took forever to peel the beans -- but then again, it was perfect for dual-tasking in front of the TV. And when I ground the beans in the food processor, the result was more like grainy

I fell in love with broccoli rabe (aka broccoli raab and aka rapini) a year ago . So it's no surprise to A Veggie Venture readers -- though it will be to Kitchen Parade's print readers -- that this week's column features two recipes using the fresh, light green, a meatball soup on the table in 45 minutes and my new favorite sandwich, the rapini panini. (Get it?!) Where's that column? Here at Kitchen Parade ! And speaking of sandwiches stuffed with rapini, last week I shared a lovely late-night supper with the brand-new bloggers from Food Blogga , Susan and husband Jeff. Susan's picture is on Food Blogga's homepage and she writes the sweet stories about everyday life and people but Food Blogga is a team effort. Jeff handles many of the technical details and has good reason to make things work. Eyes big, he mentioned a recent post about broccoli rabe, "You know who got to EAT that sandwich after the photos were done, don't you? Talk about fringe benef

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