Today's simple-simple summer eggplant recipe, one to make again and again when fresh herbs are abundant and eggplant are plump and oh-so-pretty. Weight Watchers PointsPlus 3. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". ~recipe updated from the Recipe Box, first posted 2007!~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ WAY BACK IN 2007 Some cooks, you just admire , they just make it all look so effortless - post after post, that's my reaction to the food cooked by Ilva of Lucullian Delights , who seems to pull ingredient combinations from the air, often making me wonder, Now why didn't I think of that? Her Very Herby Eggplants sent me scurrying to the grocery for baby eggplant. (You see, I want to encourage the aim-to-please produce manager at my local supermarket, even if I suggested Japanese eggplant and she ordered baby eggplant and then put them at $3 a pound beside globe eggplant for $1 a pound. But hey! It seems eggplant sells at that pri

Wouldn't you say this cold borscht is perfect for Race for the Cure, yes?! What a color! And it turned even pinker than shown after sitting for a day -- yes, that's pink. For winter, there's no beating a steaming bowl of hot beet soup (borscht) . But it's too heavy and hot for summer. But cold beet soup, lightened with cucumber, now that's perfect summer food and made for a great light vegetarian supper -- and for the record, is my contribution to Festa Al Fresco 2007, a virtual patio party, hosted again this year by Cream Puffs in Venice and La Mia Cucina . Once the beets were cooked, something easy to do entirely unattended, the soup itself made up in a flash. The inspiring recipe suggested waiting 24 hours to serve, but I thought it was fine the first night but yes, it improved some after the flavors had a chance to meld. TOO MUCH SOUR CREAM? The inspiring recipe called for a full 16 ounces of sour cream, which made me wonder if it would taste like big spoonfu

In this the third summer of an unflagging obsession with vegetables, the season's surprise love affair is with ... beans. Yes, beans. Ah sure, I've always liked beans. It's just that given a choice, until now I'd choose nearly anything else over beans. No more. Beans are beautiful! Beans are the best! Beans are ... okay, you're probably getting my new love interest, yes? (I've even recruited 'bean look-outs', friends who're tasting beans from various places and reporting especially good ones. ) What changed? My theory (which requires extensive further taste-testing) is that beans simply taste better when well salted. Salt makes beans, well, beans . Enter Super Natural Cooking from fellow food blogger Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks , which adds both lemon and lime zest to the equation. Swoon. NEXT TIME Those little OOOs are cute but fiddly. Next time I'll send them through the slicer in the food processor, though they won't be half so cute th

Who collects great brunch recipes, especially ones that can be completely or partially prepared the night before? This tomato basil quiche, from a 2003 Kitchen Parade column that's published online for the first time, is a real favorite, one I've served summer and winter for many years. Here's the recipe for tomato basil quiche . And if you're looking for still more ideas, here's my collection of great brunch recipes from Kitchen Parade columns. SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences . Where A Veggie Venture is 'pure food blog', full of experimentation and exploration, Kitchen Parade features recipes a modern cook can count on. All are thoroughly tested by a home cook in a home kitchen

Julia Child's "master recipe" for a no-cream cream soup, the base is made with onion and rice and is surprisingly full-flavored and rich-tasting. Here, I used Julia's master recipe to make Cream of Zucchini Soup but the same base can be used for other "Cream of" Vegetable Soups too. Just 100 calories per cup! Until food blogging, I learned all I knew about Julia Child from Saturday Night Live caricatures so honestly, just don't share the typical foodie reverence of all-things-Julia. To celebrate Julia Child's birthday on August 15th, I decided to dip my little finger into the big mixing bowl that is Julia Child. Lucky! My friend Linda sent me home with a Julia Child cookbook – signed by none other than Julia Child herself!! Linda also shared a new perspective on Julia Child, one different than the boozy and wheedling woman at the stove in my mind. At culinary conferences, Linda reports, Julia was just another foodie and just another cook, albeit

Call it my Personal Peach Protest. You see, if ever there's a lesson on the tension between reward and risk when relying on local food sources, for me it's the peach, the glorious orbs of summer that emerge -- most years, but not in 2007 -- from the peach orchards of Missouri and Illinois, completely within the oh-so-chic 100-mile-diet locavore radius of my home in St. Louis. Although perfect fruit from elsewhere is piled high in the grocery, this year I'm putting my peach dollars into another local product, cottage cheese. Read about it in this week's Kitchen Parade column . Oh! And this is Kitchen Parade's first recipe in the brand-new 'kitchen' -- so worth an extra gander! SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful eating and occ

A simple but special summer salad, watermelon balls and blueberries tossed in a gorgeous lime and honey vinaigrette. So summery! Fresh & Seasonal. A Summer Classic. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Scales from Small Plates to Large Platters. Vegetarian. Naturally Gluten Free.