Whew, say THAT three times. Or don't, because by the time you have, today's fresh winter salad could be on the table, just bitter greens (curly endive is pictured) plus juicy oranges, s'more salad fixin's all tossed with a long-time favorite no-oil salad dressing, Orange & Cumin Vinaigrette . Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. I swear, since Christmas, you could count on one hand how often I've cooked vegetables. But vegetable soups? and raw salads? #NoGettingEnough My raw salads follow no recipe, per se, although there is a formula . Greens of some sort, often arugula. (Any other fans of Trader Joe's arugula?!!) Chopped vegetables, whatever's on hand. (It's winter so think carrot, cabbage, fennel, cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper, Brussels sprouts, radish, small tomatoes, zucchini, that's just since Christmas.) Parsley or cilantro if they're handy. Green onion, always! Salt, pepper and a splash of good vinegar....

Today's chopped salad recipe: An addictive combination of finely chopped broccoli, cauliflower (both or one or the other) and dried fruit, nuts and seeds, bound by a citrus dressing. Great for home as a "refrigerator salad" that keeps for a good week or more but also a great salad to take along to potlucks and parties, ensuring at least one plant-based, satisfying choice. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. "I bought a food processor," my sister announced back in November. "We really like this salad recipe I tried. It's great! But you really can't chop everything fine enough by hand." So curious, I was! What super-special salad recipe would rouse such serious kitchen appliance-temptation?! Turns out, it's just broccoli, cauliflower, dried fruit, some nuts and seeds, all chopped finely and tossed in a no-oil citrus dressing. Since I already owned the all-important food processor, there was...

Today's quick 'n' easy 'n' versatile salad, just a thick slice of iceberg lettuce topped with summery BLT-ish vegetables and a drizzle of Homemade Thousand Island Dressing. Surprisingly filling! Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. Please oh please, don't mock. Every year, I fall in love with a new vegetable, or well, better put, I experience a long-familiar vegetable with new appreciation. In 2017? Iceberg lettuce, ha! It all started when for the first time in years, I made a batch of homemade salad dressing, the oh-so-lovely Thousand Island Dressing . One batch led to another and another, warranting a "3x5 recipe", the card stock I'm re-instituting for house specialties and meal standards, all kept handy in a wood 3x5 recipe box from my childhood. So yeah, 3x5 cards in digital 2017? Again, don't mock! :-) Anyway, iceberg "wedges" taste great but are awkward for loading up with other ingredients. Enter ice...

Zucchini Noodles? Thing is, they're achieving ritual status here in my kitchen. Yours too? Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. #TwoThings. #1 Come summer, there must be some a magic moment when the zucchini and basil gods collude. How do I know? Because I made this supreme little summer chilled zucchini noodle salad for the first time on July 11, 2016 and for the second time, entirely by accident, on the same date exactly one year later. But the timing isn't really an accident, is it? That's because every year about the same time, the zucchini reach exactly the right size for spiralizing (not too small, not too big though definitely not baseball bats) and the basil is beginning to flower and needs cutting back to ensure the plants will continue to produce basil leaves well into fall, so naturally, hello pesto! (For the record, I'm totally in love with my extra basil-y, vegan pesto, Homemade Fresh Basil Pesto Without Ch...

Today's easy kohlrabi recipe: How to roast kohlrabi, a simple way to cook kohlrabi, just cubed and oven-roasted. Low carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly. And delicious! Easy. Simple. Healthful. And tastes good! In short, Roasted Kohlrabi is a win-win-win recipe. Raw Kohlrabi: Like Apples! Until now, I've only eaten kohlrabi raw, almost like apples except peeled and sliced. Raw kohlrabi is so full of flavor, moisture and most importantly for pre- and post-supper munchies, crunch. Ha! Isn't it funny that my favorite way to eat kohlrabi is paired with apples! You'll love Kohlrabi & Apple Slaw with Creamy Coleslaw Dressing ! First Time to Try Cooking Kohlrabi So this is the first time I cooked kohlrabi, except for tucking some into this Warm Root Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette where the kohlrabi flavor was mish-mashed with the other root vegetables. And drum roll ... Roasted Kohlrabi sta...

Today's easy appetizer recipe: A pretty chickpea and roasted red pepper hummus. Such pretty color! Low Carb. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. After ten days and ten inches of rain and record flooding , on Friday the sun finally made a much- doubted welcome re-appearance here in Missouri. All of a sudden, our kitchen was sunlit again! All of a sudden, twas summer! ... which got me to digging around in the pantry for "summer food," the stuff that's so easy it almost makes itself, the stuff that as easily fuels a quick snack as somehow contributes to supper. Say hello to my latest hummus, this one a pretty pale hue of red, color-wise, as welcome as sunshine compared to my otherwise wonderful signature hummus, the Crazy-Smooth Crazy-Good Hummus and even the stuff-there's-no-getting-enough-of, the Roasted Eggplant “Hummus" (Eggplant & Chickpea Dip & Spread) . All three versions of hummus are extra...

Hosting a Thomas the Tank Engine theme party? Here's a fun addition to kids' birthday parties and family gatherings with a train theme, colorful and healthy! It's just bell-pepper train "cars" with cucumber "wheels" filled with fresh vegetable "cargo". It's easy to make and great fun for a buffet table centerpiece! So exactly what is it with little boys and trains? And for that matter, big boys grown men and trains? Twin grandsons are eight now so Thomas the Tank Engine has lost some of its allure. What hasn't, however, is the daily challenge of assembling wooden train tracks that cross the living room floor and then u-turn into a bedroom and under the beds. At Christmas, their PopPop (aka The Man With the Hands ) built a two-level train platform with several loop-di-loops that dominated the living room for weeks. Young to old, we gathered round the platform, mesmerized by the tiny battery-charged trains circling round and round, hol...