Baba Ganoush ♥ (Recipe for Middle Eastern Eggplant Spread)

Today's vegetable recipe: Purée of grilled eggplant with garlic, lemon juice, tahini and parsley. A Middle Eastern spread or dip that's traditionally served with pita bread. Low carb. Weight Watchers 0 or 1 points.

Before I loved the garlicky, lemony taste of baba ganoush, I loved the sound of baba ganoush, pronounced [bah-bah gah-NOOSH]. Say it three times, you might love the sound too -- but it only takes one taste of baba ganoush to love how it tastes!

ALTERNATE SPELLINGS Baba ghanoush; baba bannoujh; baba-ganouj; babaganoush

This version uses grilled eggplant which adds a smoky flavor and adds parsley which brightens the color. It's a winner! The inspiring recipe from Alton Brown suggested adding sugar or honey if the baba ganoush were slightly bitter. There was no bitterness here but I so loved the idea of honey that after taking the photo, I swirled some in (not mixing it in, leaving it distinct) and -- oh swoon -- very good!

TAHINI Baba ganoush also calls for tahini, a thick paste of ground sesame seeds. It comes in a big jar and is expensive so you'll want to be able to use it in something other than baba ganoush. The other classic recipes that calls for tahini is hummus (here's the Kitchen Parade recipe for a simple hummus) but for something truly spectacular, I suggest Armenian Tahini Bread.

BABA GANOUSH

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 60 minutes
Makes 1 1/4 cups

1 pound globe eggplant

2 cloves garlic - next time I'll start with 1 clove
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons - I used 2 lemons, less than the equivalent of 2 1/2 lemons that Alton Brown called for; next time I'll start with the juice of one lemon, than add more depending on taste
2 tablespoons tahini - stir it well first
1/4 bunch of parsley - a small fistful, Alton Brown called for 1/2 a bunch
Salt & pepper to taste

GRILL THE EGGPLANT
Wash the eggplant but leave it whole. Prick the skin with knife tip in a few places so it won't explode. Grill for about 30 minutes, turning every 7 or 8 minutes. The skin should be blackened. When it's done, the eggplant will start to deflate. Slice off the stem end, let cool until you can handle it. Slice into the eggplant (it'll be a little messy) and scrape the flesh off the skin (a grapefruit spoon worked great). Discard the skins and any big chunks of seeds, let the flesh drain in a colander for 10-15 minutes.

In a food processor, mix the eggplant flesh with all the remaining ingredients and process til smooth. Taste and adjust to taste. Serve with pita bread or as a spread for sandwiches.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tablespoon: 15 Calories; 1g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0g Mono Fat; 2g Carb; 1g Fiber; NetCarb1; 1g Sugar; 10mg Calcium; 0mg Iron; 3mg Sodium; 0mg Cholesterol; 1g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points 0, PointsPlus 1

Per Quarter Cup: 61 Calories; 3 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 7 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb 3; 2 g Sugar; 39 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 11 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; 2 g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points 1, PointsPlus 1

KITCHEN NOTES
NITPICKING ALTON BROWN - I just now noticed that all of Alton Brown's ingredients seemed double what seemed "right" to my taste. Perhaps this is because he used a two-pound eggplant, even though the recipe didn't say? AB, you're a rock star but some times, details do matter!
Other varieties of eggplant would work just fine, but have a higher proportion of skin:flesh so you'll need to start off with more eggplant. Here's what varieties of eggplant look like.

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DIPS & SPREADS from the ARCHIVES
~ Easy Easy Radish Spread, three ingredients plus salt & pepper ~
~ Spinach Artichoke & Bacon Dip, a classic ~
~ Beet Pesto, perhaps my favorite recipe from all of 2007 ~

~ more recipes for vegetable dips & spreads ~

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

Do you suffer from lachanophobia? Turn to A Veggie Venture and Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg for the best vegetable recipes online. Find a quick recipe for tonight's vegetable in the Alphabet of Vegetables or plan menus with vegetables in every course. If you're a dieter, turn to hundreds of zero-point, one- and two-point Weight Watchers recipes and many low carb recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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Slow-Roasted Asparagus ♥

Today's unusual asparagus recipe: Spears of asparagus quick-cooked, topped with grated Parmesan and dotted butter, then roasted. Low carb. Delicate, dark and dreamy.

~recipe & photo updated & republished 2012~
~more recently updated recipes~

Original Post 2008: These days, when people talk about slow food, it's generally code for Slow Food, the Italian organization that's become an international movement, one that fights the disappearance of local food traditions, people’s dwindling interest in the food we eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

But not me, when I write about slow food, I mean slow food quite literally, that is, food cooked unusually slowly, sloooooow food.

This obsession with all-things-slow, it started with my first forays into slow-roasted tomatoes and really picked up steam with the life-changing slow-baked potatoes. But I would never-ever-ever have guessed that asparagus – so lovely when steamed just-til-done, you know, that tender-crisp point of perfection – would turn into some entirely different vegetable when cooked for such a long time.
Keep Reading ->>>

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Never Buy Salad Dressing Again

Pantry with a Purpose: How to stock a pantry with simple ingredients for making easy, delicious and economical homemade salad dressing recipes. Links to quick recipes for classic salad dressings from food bloggers.

Almost, not quite, but any day now, it will be salad season! Tender spring greens are soon to appear. The weather's turning warm and so we make our annual return to lighter, fresher and 'greener' food. So here's my challenge to readers of A Veggie Venture and to salad lovers from all over: Never Buy Salad Dressing Again.

I'm here to help. Cookbooks and cooking magazines often suggest ingredients for a well-stocked pantry. But how many of us fill our pantries, then forget to empty them?! And we shouldn't: 'cooking from the pantry' is the best way to save money on groceries -- at the same time avoiding the calories, additives, waste and inconvenience of carry-out, drive-through and frozen food.

So let's stock our pantries with purpose -- just for salad dressings. And then -- this is the best part -- we can learn to love the deliciousness of simple homemade salad dressings, some of us for the first time, some of us all over again. With any luck, you'll challenge yourself to make a salad every single day, for a week, for a month, for the summer, but every day. Let's get started.

~ Know Your Salad Dressing Style! ~

~ Pantry Basics for Salad Dressing ~
~ A Well-Stocked Pantry for Salad Dressing ~
~ Tools ~

~ Classic Salad Dressing Recipes ~

KNOW YOUR STYLE!

Are you a make-it-on-the-fly salad dressing maker? Or one who wants to make a 'batch' and then use it for a week? Different recipes will appeal to these two camps so it pays to know. Don't worry, both are good and many salad-makers (me included) do both.

'Dress a Salad' Here, we make a dressing for an individual salad, whisking and tasting and adapting the dressing's ingredients for particular greens, for particular add-ons. Quantities can be adjusted to make a salad serving one or a large salad for the table.

'Make Salad Dressing' Here, we 'make salad dressing', usually a bigger batch that will last a few days or even a week or more. Quantities can be adjusted here, too, for smaller volumes.

PANTRY BASICS

Just a few pantry items. These are the only ingredients needed for beginners but also the ingredients used by experienced salad makers again and again.

Olive Oil - Preferably of high quality but perfectly good salad dressings are made with inexpensive olive oil too. If you do invest in a bottle of good olive oil for salad dressings, watch for bottles with dark glass and labels that read 'extra-virgin' and 'first cold press'. It's used in small amounts so it's just fine to buy a small bottle to minimize the up-front expense. Once home, do a taste test. Dip your finger in, does it taste good? smooth? lack harshness? Keep a bottle of good olive oil separate from the cooking oils, we don't want to waste the good stuff. Store it in a cool dark spot, behind a cupboard door, for example, rather than out in the light or near a stove's heat source.
Vinegar - Plain white vinegar or apple cider vinegar will do but may require more doctoring. If you buy just one vinegar for salad dressing, buy unseasoned rice wine vinegar which is far less harsh and is quite inexpensive.
Salt - Sea salt or kosher salt, preferably. If need be, table salt will do just fine.
Mustard - Anything other than yellow mustard of hot-dog fame. Start with Dijon mustard, a classic.

A WELL-STOCKED PANTRY

Add one or two of these extra pantry items at a time. Keep one or two of the fresh items on hand at a time.

Other Vinegars - Basics include red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, sherry vinegar (my personal favorite) and champagne vinegar. When you open a bottle, taste the vinegar - it will be sharp, yes, but do you like how it tastes? If so, it'll make a great salad dressing.
Variety of Oils - Options include walnut oil, avocado oil, pumpkin seed oil, grapeseed oil and more. These tend to be expensive and have short shelf lives so buy in small volume and use quickly.
Dried Herbs - Especially useful for make-ahead dressings.

Fresh Garlic - A clove or two of garlic does wonders for salad dressing.
Dairy Products - Low-fat buttermilk, cream and milk are common ingredients in creamy salad dressings.
Fresh Lemons - Can be used as the 'acid' in a salad dressing, replacing the vinegar.
Fresh Herbs - Salad dressing is the #1 reason to plant a few herbs in pots on the patio or balcony. Good choices are chive, French tarragon, basil, thyme and oregano. But otherwise, buy one packet at a time from the supermarket to experiment with what you like.

TOOLS

No special tools required!

Salad Bowl I love my low, wide wooden walnut salad bowl that somehow manages to feed from one to eight. But any bowl will do, just keep it handy.
Knife & Cutting Board For quickly chopping garlic and fresh herbs.
Fork This is all that's needed to 'whisk' the dressing.
Small Food Processor For dressings that need real mixing, the food processor attachment of an immersion blender works great. Some dressings become airy and ethereal when 'emulsified' - that's the term for combining two ingredients that don't necessarily want to be combined (think oil and water), usually done by slowly adding the oil while vigorously mixing the rest -- that's best done in a large food processor or blender with an open top.
Glass bottles After emptying any salad dressing bottles already on hand (what, down the drain? who thinks I'd suggest such?!) save them for storing make-ahead dressings.

CLASSIC SALAD DRESSING RECIPES

Easy! Just hover your mouse above an interesting recipe to display the ingredients needed (past the four basics of olive oil, vinegar, salt and mustard). New recipes added as I find them.

For DRESSING a SALAD

Mostly, we 'dress salads' with a vinaigrette [vihn-uh-GREHT], a classic oil and vinegar combination with a 3:1 mix of oil:vinegar. To my taste, this is too rich so I reverse the proportions. Learn the proportion you and your family likes, it'll work again and again.
For anyone who's not 'dressed a salad' before, my photo tutorial for how to make a simple vinaigrette will be helpful.

For MAKING SALAD DRESSING

READER RECIPES Does your family have a 'house dressing'? If you're willing to share a favorite salad dressing recipe, please, I'd love an e-mail!

Who Is Up for the Challenge? Never Buy Salad Dressing Again!

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SALAD & SALAD DRESSING RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more recipes for 'green salads' ~
~ more salad dressing recipes ~
~ more recipes for 'vegetable salads' ~

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NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Do you suffer from lachanophobia? Turn to A Veggie Venture and Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg for the best vegetable recipes online. Find a quick recipe for tonight's vegetable in the Alphabet of Vegetables or plan menus with vegetables in every course. If you're a dieter, turn to hundreds of zero-point, one- and two-point Weight Watchers recipes and many low carb recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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German Salad Dressing ♥

Today's recipe: Milk. Vinegar. Sugar. No more. No oil! Low carb. Weight Watchers zero points.

It gets no easier than this. When my brother-in-law visited over Christmas, he mentioned the salad dressing that his mother, a World War II German war bride, makes all the time. They call it 'German Salad Dressing'. Me, I'm tempted to dub it "salad dressing for dummies" because it has just three ingredients.

Three ingredients.

And it's got me to thinking. Why in the world do we buy bottles of salad dressing when it's this cheap and simple and tasty to make? So I'm launching a new series of occasional posts with collections of simple classic recipes for home cooks who want to feed their families economically and healthfully. Look for the first one tomorrow. I'm calling it "Never Buy Salad Dressing Again". Who will take the challenge?

FREE ICONS for BLOGGERS Share your love of fresh produce, whether from the farmers market, your own garden or even a CSA farmbox. Four icons celebrate fresh local vegetables and fruits -- and my fellow bloggers are invited to use them on their own blogs. Here's more information about the free icons for bloggers.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more salad dressing recipes ~
~ more five-minute recipes ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~

GERMAN SALAD DRESSING

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 5 minutes
Makes 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons)

1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons good vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar (or honey)

Whisk together.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tablespoon: 9 Cal (2% from Fat, 1% from Protein, 97% from Carb); 0 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 2 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; NetCarb2; 2 g Sugar; 1 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 0 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 0 points

KITCHEN NOTES
The dressing is especially good with soft lettuces such as Boston, red leaf and green leaf.
For aesthetics, use a clear or light-colored vinegar versus a dark balsamic vinegar.

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Do you suffer from lachanophobia? Turn to A Veggie Venture and Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg for the best vegetable recipes online. Find a quick recipe for tonight's vegetable in the Alphabet of Vegetables or plan menus with vegetables in every course. If you're a dieter, turn to hundreds of zero-point, one- and two-point Weight Watchers recipes and many low carb recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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Eggplant Steaks ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: Eggplant slices brushed with steak sauce and honey, then broiled and topped with Parmesan. Easy. Quick. Tasty.

I love to chat up the produce guys at the grocery store. They're full of good tips. Just yesterday, one was unpacking a lug of gorgeous eggplant. "Do you ever get Japanese eggplant?" I asked, just curious. "Some times," he answered. "Do they sell?" I wondered. Nope. "But the globe eggplants are one of our best sellers."

Really? This veggie evangelist had best catch up! There are several good eggplant recipes here -- but clearly, not enough. I grabbed a couple of eggplants, came home and straight-off made these for lunch -- using pantry ingredients, nothing more. They were just excellent, creamy on the inside, slightly crispy on the outside, lots of flavor. Score one for eggplant lovers, here's another great way to cook eggplant.

While the 'Eggplant Steak' name suggests something meaty and substantial enough for a vegetarian supper, for me, these are a side dish.

NUTRITION NOTES The Alton Brown recipe that I modified called for four whole tablespoons of olive oil. Really? I couldn't imagine any oil was necessary with so many other wet ingredients. So I mixed two versions of the sauce, one with oil (albeit just one tablespoon) and one without. The oil isn't necessary -- but it does help the eggplant cook evenly and glisten beautifully. Side by side, I preferred the eggplant slices brushed with the oiled sauce but otherwise wouldn't have missed it.

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FOR THE RECORD This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging, this week hosted by The Well-Seasoned Cook.

FREE ICONS for BLOGGERS Share your love of fresh produce, whether from the farmers market, your own garden or even a CSA farmbox. Four icons celebrate fresh local vegetables and fruits -- and my fellow bloggers are invited to use them on their own blogs. Here's more information about the free icons for bloggers.

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EGGPLANT RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ Roasted Baby Eggplant Halves with Herbs, impressive-looking and delicious ~
~ Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Honey Syrup, utterly delicious ~
~ Summer Vegetable Stew, one of my very favorites from Year One ~
~ more eggplant recipes ~

~ 2006's asparagus with anchovies & garlic, quick, easy, low-calorie and a tad unusual ~
~ 2007's English peas with fresh mint, the English classic ~

EGGPLANT STEAKS

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 4

1 one-pound globe eggplant, stem end trimmed, cut into 1/2 inch slices cross-wise

SAUCE
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (oops! I didn't know til just now that I forgot this)
2 tablespoons thick steak sauce (St. Louisans, I used the great steak sauce from Tucker's Place, mine came from Schnucks but I've seen it elsewhere too)
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
1 tablespoon honey (if needed, warm it in the microwave for a few seconds to make easier to pour)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste.

1/2 ounce of fresh Parmesan, grated

Mix the sauce. Brush onto both sides of the eggplant slices, arrange on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler until golden brown (the inspiring recipe said 2 minutes, mine took 3). Turn over and repeat. Sprinkle with cheese and put back under the broiler for another minute or two, just until golden. (Watch carefully, Parmesan will turn fast.)

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Made with oil, Per Serving: 110 Cal (35% from Fat, 9% from Protein, 55% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 5 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 16 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb12; 10 g Sugar; 50 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 206 mg Sodium; 3 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

Made without oil, Per Serving: 81 Cal (13% from Fat, 13% from Protein, 74% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 1 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 16 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb12; 10 g Sugar; 50 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 206 mg Sodium; 3 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Alton Brown's Good Eats

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Do you suffer from lachanophobia? Turn to A Veggie Venture and Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg for the best vegetable recipes online. Find a quick recipe for tonight's vegetable in the Alphabet of Vegetables or plan menus with vegetables in every course. If you're a dieter, turn to hundreds of zero-point, one- and two-point Weight Watchers recipes and many low carb recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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Day 345: Cream of Celery Soup ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: Simple celery soup that tastes like something 'more'. Weight Watchers 1 point.

~ recipe & photo updated 2008 ~

Awhile back, I puzzled over a tidbit in a magazine. "To have fun," it asked, "would you prefer to go to a party with lots of old friends or one where you'll know hardly anyone?"

Turns out that if FUN is the desired experience, then partying with new people is the ticket. (Okay, yes, I know, who can make such a generalization? and why is new fun better than laughing over old jokes? and yes, the folks who did the study, went to the parties and probably wrote the piece in the magazine might have all been Es in the Meyers-Briggs schema. And who reads this stuff anyway? Please, bear with me.)

And so it's turned out cooking and writing about vegetables for nearly a year now. It's great fun to try new vegetables. But it's also quite something to discover new dimensions in standby vegetables.

Take the under-appreciated celery. It had me extolling leafy virtues in Day 247's apple and celery salad (2008: my go-to salad whenever finding plenty of celery leaves in a celery bunch). It had me moaning about Day 317's simple braised celery. And here I am again, raving about a simple and yet somehow complex soup that is somehow 100% celery and yet 100% something else altogether.

The Wednesday Chef had the same reaction on Monday with a Leslie Brenner recipe from the Los Angeles Times. Luisa's soup was as elegant as her description; mine was intentionally more rustic. Still, our two versions prove: celery can surprise.

NUTRITION NOTES This is a winner calorie-wise, just 1 point or 2 points for Weight Watchers but tasting like far more.

NEXT TIME I would definitely serve a creamy smooth version of this soup like Luisa's as a dinner party starter; just strain out the solids through a strainer or my favorite chinois.

DECEMBER 2006 UPDATE I made this soup again for a family gathering. It was a big hit, everyone slurped up the last drops. Because the soup is so light, it pairs well with crusty bread, good cheese and sandwich meat for a complete meal. I did strain the soup but prefer it with the homely fiber.

2008 UPDATE This lovely celery soup recipe was originally published in 2006, just as I was ending that first mad of year of cooking a vegetable in a new way, every single day. Now that I'm revisiting favorite recipes, again and again I'm pleased that the recipes taste just as good the second time around. This is a classic vegetable soup recipe, so spare and simple. And in days of rising food prices, it's also cheap to make -- a bunch of gorgeous celery this week was only $.99, so almost $.50 a pound.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more soup recipes ~
~ more celery recipes ~

CREAM of CELERY SOUP

See the Wednesday Chef's inspiring post and recipe
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 60 minutes
Makes 7 cups

5 cups good chicken stock (I had 4 cups homemade turkey stock, it seemed plenty)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (the inspiring recipe called for 3 tablespoons)
1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 Idaho potato (about 3/4 pound), peeled and diced (see ALANNA's TIPS)
1 bunch celery, trimmed, in 1/2 inch pieces (about 10 ribs, I put in the leaves and everything)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (see TIPS)
2 tablespoons cream, optional (I didn't use any)

Bring the stock to a boil in the microwave. (This is a time-saving tip that can be omitted if there's no rush.)

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over MEDIUM HIGH til shimmery. Add the onion and stir well to coat with fat. Let the onion cook, stirring often, while prepping the potato and celery. Add the potato and celery and stir to coat with fat. Let cook until the broth is hot, then add it. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to MEDIUM (or the temperature required for a slow simmer). Cook until celery is soft, 20 - 30 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper.

In two or three batches for safety, puree in a food processor or blender til smooth. (The job's too much for an immersion blender.) For an ultra smooth elegant version, strain out the solids and add cream. Serve and enjoy!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Made with 1T butter, potato, 2T cream, left unstrained, Per Cup: 97 Cal (23% from Fat, 15% from Protein, 62% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 16 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb13; 55 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 492 mg Sodium; 7 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

Made with 3T butter, potato, 2T cream, strained, Per Cup: 126 Cal (41% from Fat, 12% from Protein, 48% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 4 g Sat Fat; 16 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb13; 56 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 493 mg Sodium; 16 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

ALANNA's TIPS
The purpose of the starchy potato is to thicken the soup. With no potato on hand, I used 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice for thickening.
Some folks say that white pepper has little flavor. For color purposes, it would be especially advisable if you're making an 'elegant' version. I was plain out so just used black pepper.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2006

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How to Cook Artichokes in the Microwave ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: Fresh whole artichokes cooked in the microwave. Dead easy. Quick. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.

~recipe & photo updated 2012, republished 2013~
~more recently updated recipes~

ORIGINAL 2008 POST So the Year 2008 will go down as the Year Alanna Finally 'Got' Artichokes. When I stuffed artichokes, my friend Cindy wrote, "Your artichokes look great. But please don't tell my girls because all I do is throw them in the microwave."

My friend Ann, too, after we both received an artichoke primer at our bookclub last week, found cooking artichokes in the microwave pretty interesting exciting. "OMG!!!" she wrote. "I bought an artichoke today and cooked it for lunch. Seven minutes in the 'wave and ten minutes 'rest' and then I devoured it!!!!!! Wow! I will fix another one tonight!!!"

The microwave? Can dense and prickly thistles really cook in the mike? Yes, said my source of all questions about vegetable cooking techniques. So yes, but then, how long do we cook artichokes in the microwave? In minutes! (Detail below.)

Dead easy. Dead fast. Dead delicious. I've died and gone to artichoke heaven.
Keep Reading ->>>

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Sweet Cornbread ♥ Recipe

Slightly sweet and this batch, slightly blue with blue cornmeal

Today's recipe: A classic sweet cornbread made with stone-ground cornmeal, honey and cream. Delicious.

~recipe & photo updated 2011~
~more recently updated recipes~

2008: First off, lest anyone fear a diversion from this blog's recipe focus (vegetables, vegetables, vegetables!), who knew - who knew?! - that cornmeal is a vegetable, just field corn dried and ground. I'm embarrassed to admit: cornmeal's humble origin just never registered.

Luckily, despite the lapse, it turns out that a real cornbread lover can nose out another cornbread lover. Crescent Dragonwagon, cornbread lover extraordinaire (who else would write an entire cookbook expressing one's love for cornbread?) looked me up when the Country Cornbread recipe posted to help people use up their leftover ham from Easter. Just a couple of weeks earlier, I'd shared my recipe for cornbread (you know, the single go-to recipe we call our own), the savory ever-moist Skillet Cornbread, in Kitchen Parade, my food column. I didn't know I loved cornbread so much. But Crescent did -- she even offered to send a complimentary copy of her cookbook The Cornbread Gospels.

And she was so so right! There's just so much to love about cornbread. How cornbread can 'save' a skimpy supper. How mixing cornbread takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes. How cornbread emerges from the oven just 30 minutes later, steamy, substantial, ready for hungry folk to dig in. How cornbread is made, nearly always, from simple on-hand pantry ingredients. (I swear, The Cornbread Gospels uses the same ten ingredients again and again, turning out an astonishing variety of cornbread and racking up some 200+ recipes.) How cornbread's many variations are so different -- starting with southern savory cornbreads and their northern sweeter cousins. How cornbreads' names are familiar but old-fashioned, johnnycakes, hoecakes, hush puppies, spoonbread. Especially, I love how cornbread is so very American, the staple grain fundamental to Native Americans, later to this country's early settlers, and later still, for families in the southern states, especially, of the U.S.
Keep Reading ->>>

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Weight Watchers Asian Zero Points Soup Recipe ♥

Today's Weight Watchers recipe: One of three new zero-point soup recipes from Weight Watchers. Asian-inspired ingredients: bok choy, Chinese cabbage, fresh ginger, bean sprouts, snow peas. Weight Watchers 0 points.

When Weight Watchers UK introduced brand-new zero-point soup recipes, I couldn't wait to try all three. First I tested the 'Mexican-inspired' zero-point soup and now today, the Asian-inspired zero-point soup recipe. (What's left to try? The Italian-inspired soup!)

How do these two new soup recipes compare to Weight Watchers' original zero-points Garden Vegetable Soup?

All three are alike in these ways: all have (1) lots of low-calorie vegetables, (2) no-calorie broths and (3) lots of flavor. To my taste, the Garden Vegetable Soup and the Mexican-inspired soup are more substantial tasting than the Asian-inspired soup. But that's okay, for that makes the Asian soup an especially good choice for days -- after an indulgent weekend, say -- when we want our food to taste as light as it is.

The three Weight Watchers soups are unalike in these ways: vegetables really 'star' in the original Garden Vegetable Soup and the Mexican-inspired soup. Here, in the Asian-inspired version, the dominant flavor is fresh ginger, the vegetables themselves are mild. And the Asian-inspired version is better suited for eating immediately, since the bean sprouts and snow peas need cooking for just a couple of minutes.

WEIGHT WATCHERS ASIAN ZERO POINTS SOUP

See Weight Watchers' inspiring recipe
Hands-on time: 35 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Makes 10 cups

6 cups vegetable broth (I used 6 cups water and Better for Bouillon)

2 cups bok choy, chopped (use the leftover bok choy to make this great bok choy salad or check the other bok choy recipes)
2 cups Chinese/Napa cabbage, chopped (use the leftover Napa cabbage in this salad with Asian-inspired dressing)
1/4 cup fresh ginger, thinly sliced and julienned
4 oyster mushrooms, sliced thin (I used shiitake mushrooms, next time I will use more mushrooms)
2 cups scallions / green onions (this is a lot of onion, almost two entire bunches, 14 individual onions)
8 ounce can of sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 red pepper, halved, cored, each half cut into three sections lengthwise, each section sliced thin cross-wise (nestle the three sections together to speed along the cutting)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (this is a lot, this soup has some heat, if you don't appreciate that, start with 1/8 teaspoon or even 1/16; the heat does moderate after being refrigerated for 24 hours)

2 cups snow peas (these are far cheaper from the frozen section and don't require stringing, if using fresh cut off the tips and then along the string-y side, that's the side opposite the peas)
1 cup fresh bean sprouts

2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used shozu, a fruity soy sauce, next time I'll use regular soy sauce for more substance)
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro

OPTIONAL BUT TIME-SAVING TIP Bring the vegetable broth (or water for bouillon) to a boil in an electric tea kettle or in the microwave while prepping the vegetables.

Collect all the vegetables except the snow peas and bean sprouts in a cold large pot or Dutch oven. When those vegetables are prepped, add the hot water, cover and bring to a boil on MEDIUM HIGH. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the bean sprouts and snow peas, cook another 5 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and cilantro.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Cup: 69 Cal (3% from Fat, 24% from Protein, 72% from Carb); 5 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 14 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb11; 4 g Sugar; 54 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 537 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

What??? One point? Yes, that's how my calculations turned out, double- and triple-checked. When relying on actual math, the Garden Vegetable Soup does too, though not the Mexican soup. Still, all these vegetables are 'free' vegetables in Weight Watchers parlance, and there is no added fat, no starchy vegetables. So call it 0 points, I know I'm going to.

According to the Weight Watchers folks, you can add a protein to a cup of soup:

2 ounces cooked shrimp, Weight Watchers 1 point
2 ounces scallops, Weight Watchers 1 point
1/2 cup firm tofu, Weight Watchers 1 point
2 ounces cooked white meat chicken, Weight Watchers 1 point

KITCHEN NOTES
The Mexican-inspired soup made me me realize that A Veggie Venture's many one-point soup recipes can easily be converted to zero-point recipes, just by substituting a splash of broth for olive oil when sautéing the onion up front. These recipes might be good alternatives for Weight Watchers followers not excited about chopping vegetables for forty minutes.
A Veggie Venture is my own website packed with nearly recipes, each one featuring vegetables. It is not associated with Weight Watchers - more information.

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FAVORITE VEGETABLE RECIPES
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture (all vegetable recipes)
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column (all courses)
~ more low-carb recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture (all vegetable recipes)
~ more low-carb recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade
~ more soup recipes ~

WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING Today's latest Weight Watchers Zero Points Soup recipe is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging at Kalyn's Kitchen. Head on over to see all the recipes with healthful ingredients collected from all over the world. (And good news for other South Beach dieters like Kalyn: she says that this soup fits all phases of the South Beach diet.)

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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Asparagus Noodles ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: Thin strips of asparagus stems, gently sautéed. Quick. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.

The local asparagus won't arrive for a couple of weeks but there's no avoiding the temptation of the first asparagus from the supermarket.

These quick-cooked asparagus 'noodles' were absolutely delicious. I used a vegetable peeler to 'noodle-ize' fat spears of asparagus, then cooked them in nothing more than butter -- a splash of lemon juice might be nice too. SO simple. SO good.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more ways to cook asparagus~

ASPARAGUS NOODLES

Hands-on time: Maybe 10 minutes
Time to table: Maybe 15 minutes
Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus (fat spears are best)
1 tablespoon butter
Splash of lemon juice (if you like)
Salt & pepper to taste

Snap woody ends off asparagus and discard. Slice off the tips and if you like, save for something else. With a vegetable peeler, slice lengthwise along each spear, creating a 'noodle'. Reserve the first and last mostly-skin noodles for something else. Heat the butter in a non-stick skillet on MEDIUM til shimmery. Add the asparagus noodles and stir to coat with fat. Let cook, stirring occasionally, til soft and buttery. If cooking the tips, add about halfway through the cooking time. Season to taste and serve immediately.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 49 Cal (48% from Fat, 18% from Protein, 34% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 5 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; NetCarb3; 2 g Sugar; 28 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 3 mg Sodium; 8 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

KITCHEN NOTES
This recipe is best for 'fat' spears of asparagus since there's a higher proportion of flesh:skin.
The first and the last noodles were 'too much skin' and so next time, I'd save them and maybe the tips for something else, perhaps a raw asparagus salad.

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header, sidebar and comments. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

A Veggie Venture is home of the Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and vegetable inspiration from Asparagus to Zucchini. © Copyright 2008

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Free Icons for Bloggers: Let's Celebrate Fresh & Local Produce!

Finally! The advent of spring may mean cherry blossoms in Washington but for vegetable lovers, it's the return of fresh, local produce that stirs our spoons.

So I commissioned some icons to help myself -- and my fellow bloggers -- showcase fresh vegetables and fruits whether from farmers markets, a CSA, a you-pick farm, even our own gardens. (Sound familiar? Who remembers Blush the Sweet Tomato?)







So yes, fellow bloggers, you are invited to use these icons in your own blogs in posts and places that feature fresh and local produce. Together, let's help spread the word about the many sources of fresh and healthful produce.

Each icon comes in 400px, 125px and 100px sizes. You're free to use one or more of the icons as you see fit: in posts; in sidebars; to link to a list of your own favorite farmers markets; to link to Local Harvest or your own CSA -- anything creative you come up with that's related to fresh, local produce.







Use them once, use them a hundred times, it's up to you. Me, I plan to insert the icons into my post template so they're automatically added to posts that feature vegetables from my favorite farmers market or fresh herbs from my own garden.

These icons are my gift to the food blog community so they are "free" for all bloggers to use. But when you use an icon for the first time, I would appreciate your linking to A Veggie Venture.

If you're not a blogger and are interested in the icon, please contact me to request permission. I've never said "no"!







COPY INSTRUCTIONS To copy any icon to use on your own site, (1) right click an icon image in the size you'd like to use, (2) click Save As to save the image on your own computer, (3) then upload to your site as normal. No hot linking, please!














Once you're using the icon, if you'd like others to know, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your blog, below. Use this code, {a href="InsertYourBlogURLHere"}InsertYourBlogNameHere{/a}, replacing the { and } with <>. Be sure to tell everyone how you're using the icon -- creative ideas are encouraged!

Here are a few blogs using the logos:

And if you like, wish A Veggie Venture a Happy 3rd Anniversary! Yes, indeed, this vegetable recipe food blog celebrates its birthday on April 1. (Want to know more about A Veggie Venture?)

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Many thanks to Heather from Goofy Girl Designs for creating this year's logos!

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FRESH FROM THE FARMERS MARKET - 125


FRESH FROM THE FARMERS MARKET - 100


FRESH FROM THE FARM - 125


FRESH FROM THE FARM - 100


FRESH FROM MY GARDEN - 125


FRESH FROM MY GARDEN - 100


FRESH FROM MY CSA - 125


FRESH FROM MY CSA - 100

A Veggie Venture is home of the Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and vegetable inspiration from Asparagus to Zucchini. © Copyright 2008

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