Today's hearty soup recipe: Homemade lasagna in a bowl, all the flavors, but for post-holiday dieters like me, skipping the cheese. (No missing it, promise.) Weight Watchers 4 PointsPlus. The new year is a sort of relief, isn't it? Not so much that last year was so bad (for me, though I know was a hard-hard year for many) but because it just feels sooo good to leave behind the too-much, too-rich, too-sweet, too-tempting foods that are hallmarks of the holidays. I've made soup every day this week, broth-based soups packed with vegetables and protein and nutrients. A cup at a time, they are reviving my holiday-logged body and spirit, preparing me for the fullness of the new year. PLUS I'm cleaning out the basement freezer and the pantry! So when I spied the recipe for "Cheesy Spinach Lasagna Soup" in one of my favorite cookbooks from 2009, The Spice Kitchen , I knew that I'd skip the cheese and amp up the spinach. Better still, it was a great way to use

How to make a great bowl of chunky guacamole, big pieces of ripe avocado tossed with poblano, tomato, onion, cilantro and brightened with lemon juice instead of lime juice. Laura's Famous Chunky Guacamole is the family favorite, the one appetizer found at every single family party. But word to the wise. Get some fast – because it doesn't last long! Low Carb. Gluten Free. Paleo. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". Two party stories about Laura's Famous Chunky Guacamole: PARTY #1 The avocados were perfect and cheap. On the spot, I called Laura with an idea for a party that weekend. "If I buy the avocados, will you make your guacamole?" She laughed and consented. (Laura, she's cool that way.) I bought twenty avocados. My reward? Harumph, that guacamole vanished before I got a single bite. It disappeared in a flash! PARTY #2 The next year, same story, same perfect avocados, same party, same call. But this time I was smart and made the offer cond

Today's chili recipe: A big pot of rib-sticking chili made with chunks of beef and tomatillos. Low Carb. Gluten Free. Shake it up, baby! Who says chili has to be the same thing, every time, every pot? Come cold weather, every couple of weeks, you'll find a big pot of chili simmering away here in our kitchen. To shake it up, to not get bored, we mix up the chili recipes. Often, of course, we follow no recipe, just kinda make it up as we go along. Luckily, chili likes that! We were enamored with tomatillo chili, the distinct "sour" of tomatillos really works in chili. So maybe you want to follow this recipe (it's a good one, I promise) or maybe you just want to tuck some tomatillos into your own make-it-up-as-you-make-chili. Either way, tomatillos belong in chili. MEAT? Really, at A Veggie Venture? Yes, A Veggie Venture is about vegetables but it's not 100% vegetarian. And while 95 percent of the site is veg(etari)an, occasionally I post a recipe for the r

So many vegetables, so many that are unfamiliar! This is the latest in an occasional series of posts, quick, easy and practical information about out-of-the-ordinary vegetables or familiar-but-ill-defined vegetable terms. Recipe suggestions included! Today's subject? The staple vegetables of winter, the root vegetables. If you've ever wondered what "root vegetables" are or "which vegetables are root vegetables" – read on! HOW TO PRONOUNCE ROOT? Haha, this is a "you say tomato, I say tomahto" answer. I say [ROOT] – a pronunciation that rhymes with boot, toot, loot and cranky old coot and what-a-hoot this is! But others say something more akin to [RUUT] – rhyming with football and fireplace soot. The English language is so complicated! How do you pronounce the word "root"? Maybe we can discern some regional variations! MORE FOR WORD DANCERS I love this introduction to "odd roots" from Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka , a r

How to make a low-cal, low-carb, high-protein Spinach Omelet with fresh spinach or frozen spinach, either big or small, with milk or water. All the tricks and tips from this spinach-crazy veteran omelet-maker! Weight Watchers Friendly: depending on choices, PointsPlus range from 3 to 7. Gluten Free. Paleo and Whole30 substitutions included. Vegetarian. Put me on a desert island for a week or a month and the foods I'd want, for sure, would be eggs and greens. (You? What would be on your "food necessity" list? Would eggs be on the list?) For a year now, I've fixed one spinach omelet after another, some times for a solitary supper in a fast 15 minutes, more often as a healthy breakfast for two. Here are my tricks:

Today's vegetable stew, nothing but healthy fresh vegetables and big bright flavor, quick to make and just 45 calories per cup. Weight Watchers, you'll love this one, just 1 PointsPlus! Low Cal and Low Carb. Gluten Free. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". So hello, 2015! Who else loves the "fresh start" that a new year brings?! Doesn't it just feel soooo good to let the hustle-bustle of the holidays fade into memory? January and February are such wonderful months, a time for contemplation and focus, nesting and nourishment, physically and spiritually. There's so much "light" to be discovered in the dark days of winter ... Detox. Let's talk "detoxing", yes? Books go on and on, blogs cite magical formulas. Do you have a detox method, something that works for you, after over-consumption of too-much or too-rich food? My technique is totally simple. For a meal, for a few days, for some time, I return to simple, plant-based f

Your favorite vegetable recipes of 2014 from A Veggie Venture, just one per month, all in one handy spot for easy reference. Yes, this year I'm featuring your favorite recipes , the vegetable recipes which you and I and other readers and visitors come back to again and again, all year long. It's that time of year, the week when we food bloggers look back over a year's worth of recipes and pick our favorites! I love-love-love this process! It really helps us hone our recipe collections, highlighting the best of the already very good, especially for sites like A Veggie Venture and my food column Kitchen Parade which by design, already post only really good recipes, the ones that work, the ones that are special or especially useful. (I'll update this with 2014's favorite recipes from Kitchen Parade too.) But I also love all the many sources of "best of the year" lists for movies, books, gadgets, etc. So this year, I'm collecting "best of the ye