Ever wonder how to cook those crowder peas you find at the farmers market? This is a great place to start, just cook the peas in salted water, then toss in a vinaigrette. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". BACK IN 2007 When I first wrote this post, I repeated what I'd heard from the farmer at the farmers market, that crowder peas and "black-eyed peas" and "cowpeas" are all the same thing. Whoa, bad idea! Readers quickly let me know the farmer (and therefore I) was completely wrong! Let it be said: Crowder peas and black-eyed peas and cowpeas are NOT the same thing! Okay? So sorry! Back then, it took me all of 17 minutes to shell that pound of fresh crowder peas. But I fussed and fumed the entire time. "Why is this taking so long?" and "Nobody's ever going to make these, they take too long." But somehow, as the minutes passed, these old-fashioned peas got me to thinking in a way, say, gorgeous French radishes did not. Ho

Enter Year Three of my dedication (um, obsession?) of capturing the taste of summer for winter in the form of slow-roasted tomatoes. The secret combination of time (slow) and temperature (low) were discovered two years ago here on A Veggie Venture but are revealed to Kitchen Parade's print readers for the first time in this week's column all about how to make slow-roasted tomatoes ! 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 and many are family and reader favorites. All recipes feature easy-

Just a little back-to-school silliness, playing along with Freddie and his mum, who are in the middle of their very own Great Big Vegetable Challenge . Want to play along? They want your vegetable faces ! How to eat more vegetables? A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes with 800 quick and easy favorite vegetable recipes, the Alphabet of Vegetables , Weight Watchers low-point recipes and microwave vegetable recipes .

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