Grilled Beets, Beans & Greens ♥

Today's recipe: Beets cooked on a grill. Beans cooked on a grill on a bed of salted beet greens.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" at work: imagine finding yourself with raw beets and beautiful romano beans - and no stove, no pot, no knives, just a grill. What happened next was pure experiment but it worked so beautifully, I share it here, not as a recipe but as a concept.

The beets were small so would cook evenly and comparatively quickly. I tore off the greens but left the 'tails' on - it's important to not cut into the beets themselves, otherwise the juices pour out during cooking. A little olive rub would have been good, to keep the skins soft, but oh well, none at hand. A foil wrap would have contained the heat but also, I think, kept out that golden grill essence. Over indirect heat for about an hour, the beets emerged sweet and smoky, the texture light, the color dark, completely perfect. Very good!

The bed of greens was intended solely as 'grate', something to keep the beans from falling onto the hot coals. I salted them very well, hoping the salt to transfer to the beans. But after a half hour or so on the grill, the greens themselves were salty-crisp, a surprising delight. Very good!

The beans -- gorgeous flat, meaty romano beans -- were the least successful of the three, they most needed a little rub of olive oil. But dipped in melted butter and garlic, they were gobbled up too.

So what do you think? Is the child of necessity a concept that might work in other circumstances? I think so!

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more beet recipes ~
~ more green bean recipes, especially the wonderful way to recipe for the flatter, sweeter romano beans found at farmers markets this time of year, Garlicky Romano Beans ~
~ more leafy green recipes ~
~ more grilled vegetable recipes ~

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Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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Tomato & Onion Salad ♥

Today's tomato salad recipe: Perfect summer tomatoes, sliced thin, drizzled with olive oil and vinegar, topped with ice-soaked onions and fresh mint. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point

Whew! For a week or more now, St. Louisans have been worrying whether the 2008 tomato crop would be worth eating. Perhaps because of a long, damp and cool spring, the early tomatoes were mealy and flavorless. The heirlooms were worse, scaly on the outside with dense pockets of inedible flesh inside.

What a difference some hot summer sunshine makes! These tomatoes from my hometown farmers market were gorgeous, definitely worthy of this oh-so-simple treatment that adds up to way more than the sum of its parts.

There are two tricks here. The first is the effect of soaking the thin-sliced onions in ice water for a half water, releasing the sharpness. The second is letting the thin-sliced tomatoes macerate in a little sugar, a little salt, just a splash of olive oil and vinegar, also for 30 minutes.

These tomatoes, tomato lovers, were worth waiting for.

TOMATO & ONION SALAD

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 4

1 pound perfect summer tomatoes, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick (thinness is important)
1/2 teaspoon sugar (yes, just a little)
Light sprinkling of good salt (I used Maldon)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 teaspoon good vinegar (red wine, champagne, even balsamic)

Few leaves fresh mint, sliced in narrow strips (don't skip this)
1 small onion, sliced thin, separated into rings, soaked in ice water for 30 minutes, drained

Arrange tomatoes on a serving plate. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. (If arranging in two layers, use half on the first layer, half on the second.) Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Let rest for 30 minutes. Top with mint and onion rings. Enjoy ...

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
Timing is important here. After 30 minutes, the tomatoes are still firm and perfect. After much longer, they become slightly mushy and just not as good.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 53Cal; 1g Protein; 3g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 5g Carb; 1g Fiber; 296mg Sodium; 0mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Gourmet, July 1990

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LAST WEEK in KITCHEN PARADE
~ Fresh Apricot Bars, stunning appearance ~
~ Fresh Creamed Corn recipe, beautiful color, real corn flavor ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries - Part Two ~

BEST TOMATO RECIPES, ESPECIALLY for SUMMER TOMATOES
~ Insalata Caprese ~
~ Fresh Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella ~
~ more recipes especially for perfect summer tomatoes ~

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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.

Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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Seared Radicchio ♥

Today's quick vegetable recipe: Wedges of radicchio (also called chicory) seared in a hot skillet, then dipped in syrupy vinegar. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.

So earlier, when I mentioned feeling ho-hum about the Italian version of the Weight Watchers zero points soup, since radicchio is expensive, I also suggested skipping it entirely or substituting the less expensive red cabbage.

I take it back! Cooked radicchio is completely gorgeous, an entirely different animal. It is also completely worth (to my taste) an occasional investment. And time-wise, it took all of ten minutes -- yes, ten -- from start to finish with maybe 5 minutes of hands-on time. Talk about quick! And I'm glad to add another good one to the collection of quick vegetable recipes.

In its raw form, radicchio's red cabbage-looking leaves are slightly bitter. (There's a photo of radicchio here, if anyone's inclined.) In its cooked form, the chewiness and bitterness survive, but in a softer, sweeter, completely wonderful way. Wow. It would pair beautifully with meat but I can also see chopping it up to stir into a roasted vegetable salad, say. Did I say Wow?!

But hey - what ELSE am I missing about radicchio? How should it be cooked?

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MORE RADICCHIO RECIPES
~ Spring & Summer Sliced Salad ~

~ more radicchio recipes ~

SEARED RADICCHIO

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 head radicchio (chicory), core trimmed slightly, quartered vertically with core kept intact
Salt & pepper
1/4 cup good vinegar (balsamic would be good, I used a gorgeous zinfandel vinegar from O Olive Oil)

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet on MEDIUM HIGH until shimmery. Place the quarters, cut side down in the skillet and season with salt and pepper. (Yes the timing seems weird but it works.) Cook for about 3 minutes until beginning to brown, then turn to the other cut side and cook another 3 minutes. Transfer out of the skillet for a minute and add the vinegar. It will bubble up, stir continuously until the liquid cooks out a bit and the vinegar becomes syrupy. Return the wedges to the skillet and drizzle with the vinegar. Season to taste if needed. Serve!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 56Cal; 1g Protein; 3Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 3g Carb; 1g Fiber; NetCarb4; 15mg Sodium; 0mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

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.

---

Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2008

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Weight Watchers Italian Zero Points Soup Recipe

Today's Weight Watchers recipe: The new Weight Watchers zero points soup recipe, the 'Italian' soup. The mildest of the new soups, with lots of Italian-style vegetables. Low carb. Weight Watchers 0 points.

For many people who follow the Weight Watchers plan, the zero point soups are like the air we breathe: you don't want to be without! So it's no wonder that Weight Watchers UK developed three new recipes to give some variation to the granddaddy original zero point soup, the Garden Vegetable Zero Point Soup. I loved the Weight Watchers Mexican Zero Point soup and the Asian Zero Point Soup starred Asian vegetables, so yes, it was a good variation too.

This Italian-style soup, hmm, I'm not so sure. It has so many vegetables in it, it should be wonderful. Instead it's mild, no one vegetable really stands out and they don't really meld, either. It actually tasted like diet food, which I suppose in some circumstances is a good thing.

• To my taste, go for one of my very favorite recipes from A Veggie Venture's first year, when I was cooking a new vegetable recipe every day. Summer Vegetable Stew is based on a country Spanish recipe and does have one point. But it is so much more substantial in flavor and substance -- and is endlessly variable and completely satisfying.


• Zero point soups aren't hard to make without following a recipe. They're just a pile of non-starchy vegetables cooked in 6 cups of a non-fat broth. It's even easy to convert one-point soups to zero-point soups.

One caveat: for the first time, I didn't use Better Than Bouillon, my favorite broth base. This might make well make a difference.

WEIGHT WATCHERS ITALIAN ZERO POINTS SOUP RECIPE

Hands-on time: 40 minutes
Time to table: 55 minutes
Makes 11 cups

6 cups vegetable broth
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 red pepper, chopped (I used 3 Italian frying peppers)
1 cup chopped radicchio (see TIPS)
1 cup fresh spinach
28 ounces canned diced tomatoes (I used 3 large fresh tomatoes)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped

Kosher salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Bring broth to a boil in a large kettle or Dutch oven on MEDIUM HIGH while prepping the vegetables. Add the vegetables through the fresh herbs all at once. Cover and return to a boil. Uncover just a bit and let cook for about 10 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper to taste, then parsley and basil. Serve immediately.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 44 Cal (8% from Fat, 17% from Protein, 75% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 10 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb7; 3 g Sugar; 50 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 249 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 0 points

KITCHEN NOTES
Radicchio is expensive! Substitute red or even green cabbage and call it 'cavolo'.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~

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.

Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.

© Copyright 2008

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Vegetables for Children - Inspiration from Freddie & Alex

Dear Charlotte, Alex and Freddie,

Your new book The Great Big Veg Challenge is an absolute wonder!

Yesterday, the postman handed it over just as I set off to walk the dog. Too curious to wait, I took what was supposed to be a quick peek. Thirty minutes later, I was still sitting in the shade in the front yard with a now-impatient dog, slowly paging through the book, smiling at the drawings and photographs, enjoying the sheer fun of watching you meander your way, A - Z, through the alphabet of vegetables.

In Cabbage, Freddie, I laughed out loud when reminded that when you first ate potato, cabbage and rapini colcannon, you said "This is heaven," and asked, "Are you really sure there is cabbage in this?" This from you, Freddie, the boy who wanted to 'get the cabbage over with, quick'!

In Celery and Fennel and Kohlrabi and Kale, I paused to check out particularly tasty-looking recipes (kale chips? gotta do that one!). Thanks for all the new kid-friendly vegetable recipes!

Soon I was feeling choked up about what you've done, you three, most importantly for yourselves, but for any of us, especially children, who might be turned off by scarey-looking peas and nasty-tasting zucchini.

Well done, Charlotte, Freddie and Alex (and Chris, too!). WELL, WELL DONE.

Your friend always in vegetables,
all the way from Missouri,

Alanna

Parents and grandparents, loving aunts and uncles, if you're looking for inspiration about how to make vegetables into a big adventure, you're going to love the new cookbook from the UK's Charlotte Hume who is mum to Freddie, the boy who a year ago systematically refused all vegetables except potatoes and sweetcorn, and Alexandra, his food-adventurous big sister.

It all started over peas, Freddie negotiating to eat just two off his plate. Then Charlotte started the blog, The Great Big Vegetable Challenge, to make a game out of vegetables. Together, they would cook two recipes for every vegetable, A - Z, Freddie would give them points out of ten, they would post the recipes and the ratings (good and bad!) on their blog. Turns out, Freddie likes most vegetables, especially if there's cheese or bacon in close proximity, but even when there's not. Turns out, he's quite an ambassador of vegetables! Along the way, a publisher asked Charlotte to write a book about their journey and so last week, when the family celebrated the end of the alphabet by holding a zucchini party -- the book was launched too!

But in between, vegetable by vegetable, Charlotte tells the story of the challenge, how Freddie at first pretended to 'vomit' at the sight of vegetables, to the boy who found he could like the taste of chard so long as he didn't have to see it, to the boy who would try new vegetables all for the sake of 'his blog visitors', to the boy who surprised himself, "I loved it like this, trying all these new vegetables. I want it to carry on." It's funny, it's charming, it's a window into the mind of a clever boy and his creative mum. Truly, it's a good read! (Imagine that, from vegetables!)

From C is for CARROTS ...

"The Great Big Vegetable Challenged turned orange the same night as the lunar eclipse. We all stayed up to watch the moon turn a muddy orange colour and baked a carrot cake in its honour. I know people might think that cake is a cheat's way of eating vegetables. Maybe they're right. But I like to think that making cakes with vegetables is a kind of aversion therapy for fussy-eaters. The more exposure to vegetables, the less hysteria. If Freddie enjoys carrot cake, he can't claim to hate carrots."

Won't you step on over to The Great Big Vegetable Challenge to offer congratulations?! Tell them this 'veggie evangelist' loves their book and that she is proud, really really REALLY proud.

COURGETTE (ZUCCHINI) QUESADILLAS

This was one of Freddie's favorite recipes, he gave it 10 out of 10 points and liked that the recipe came to him from families in America. I made it for lunch yesterday, so now the recipe has come full circle.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
5 medium courgettes (zucchini), coarsely grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
8 small tortillas
225 grams (7-1/2 ounces) Cheddar cheese, grated
1 large carrot, grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F (200C, Gas 6).

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil on a medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 3 minutes until they start to soften and become translucent.

Add the grated courgette, garlic and grated ginger. Sauté for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Make sure the courgette and onion mix does not burn. Turn off the heat and season.

Lightly brush one side of each tortilla with oil. Place four tortillas, oiled side down, on a sheet of baking parchment paper on a baking tray. Take half of the cheese and sprinkle it evenly amongst the four tortillas. Divide the courgette mixture equally between your four tortillas and sprinkle it on top of the cheese. Then add the remaining cheese on top. Place another tortilla on top. Gently press with a spatula to compress the quesadillas.

Place in a preheated oven for 8 - 10 minutes, until the edges of the quesadillas curl up slightly. Slice into quarters and serve hot.

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Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2008

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Rhubarb Pizza ♥ Fun Summer Recipe

Today's fruit pizza recipe: A thin cookie 'pizza' crust topped with sweetened and reddened rhubarb. Surprisingly good!

"Is it healthy?" asked the first taste tester, age eight, upon learning that the rhubarb atop her slice of rhubarb pizza -- yes, you've read that right, rhubarb and pizza in the same sentence -- is botanically a vegetable. Uh. No. Rhubarb pizza is hardly a 'health food' but it sure is 'fun food'!

But hey, if laughter contributes to good health, that qualifies rhubarb pizza as health food, yes? Okay, not. Still, this rhubarb pizza was truly much fun and it ranks right up there with the recipes for Kool-Aid Pickles and Green Smoothies as outright food oddities.

The recipe comes from my dear Auntie Karen, who always writes when she collects a big pile of rhubarb from a good neighbor. So when I made the rhubarb pizza, using a recipe she shared a couple or more years back, I wrote her too, saying, "I finally made your rhubarb pizza! It's excellent!" Imagine, a few hours later, my surprise while flipping through a box of old 3x5 recipe cards: the exact same recipe, clipped from a magazine many years ago. Ha! The universes collide.

Rhubarb pizza tastes much better than it sounds. It's essentially a thin cookie topped with rhubarb, with the color and sweetness bumped up by a box of strawberry jello. It's very sweet, but the sweet-sour mix of sugar-rhubarb was oddly addictive. I was muchly glad it didn't last long since all the taste testers loved it, kids and grown-ups alike.

4TH of JULY RECIPES So if the blueberries had been worth buying on the 4th, I would have added blueberries for a red-white-blue dessert. But I couldn't figure out what to use for the white. Any ideas?

MORE FRUIT PIZZA IDEAS And hey, what about 'pepperoni' made from kiwi slices too?! This could get really fun, a good project with kids. Let's get creative!

RHUBARB PIZZA

Hands-on time: 35 minutes
Time to table: 3 hours
Serves a bunch

PIZZA CRUST
1 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg whisked with 2 tablespoons milk

TOPPING
3 cups chopped rhubarb, about 12 ounces
3 ounces red gelatin powder (i.e., strawberry Jello, raspberry Jello, etc. sugar-free is fine)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
1/3 cup melted butter

CRUST Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a pizza pan. (If yours has tiny holes in it like mine, use a tissue to lightly butter the surface, otherwise little bits poke through the holes and land ALL over!) In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. With a pastry cutter or a fork, cut in the butter until the dough becomes quite crumbly and the butter is well-distributed. (The technique is similar to making a pie crust except that you want the butter pieces to get very small versus large for a pie crust.) Stir in the egg-milk mixture to form a dough. With your hands, press the dough onto the pizza pan, working slowly, wetting fingers a bit if they're sticky. (Because of the holes, I found it easier to roll the dough with a rolling pin first, but finished with my hands.)

TOPPING Top crust with rhubarb. Sprinkle red gelatin evenly over the rhubarb. Mix the sugar, flour and butter, sprinkle over top. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until done. Let cool for an hour or more, then cut into pizza slices (or Imo's St. Louis-style, in squares, for smaller pieces).

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Made with sugar-free jello, cut into 16 pizza slices, Per Slice: 158 Cal (31% from Fat, 6% from Protein, 64% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 4 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 27 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 13 g Sugar; 44 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 116 mg Sodium; 27 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 3 points

Made with sugar-free jello, cut into 36 approx 2" squares, Per Square: 70 Cal (31% from Fat, 6% from Protein, 64% from Carb); 1 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 12 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; 6 g Sugar; 20 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 52 mg Sodium; 12 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

KITCHEN NOTES
Both Auntie Karen's recipe and my magazine recipe say that frozen rhubarb will work too. My sense is that it would be better to start with frozen fruit rather than thawing it first.

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MORE RHUBARB RECIPES
~ howt to make rhubarb jam, it's easy easy ~
~ Custard with Rhubarb Sauce, my favorite simple way to use rhubarb ~
~ Rhubarb Pie, 100% straight-up rhubarb pie ~

~ more rhubarb recipes ~
~ more vegetable pizza recipes ~
~ more recipes for desserts made with vegetables ~

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.

Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2008

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

How to Keep Fresh Vegetables Fresh Longer

Today's tips: How to store fresh vegetables to stay fresh longer, to keep longer, all to minimize waste.

One way to save money on groceries -- something we're all paying considerable attention to thanks to skyrocketing food prices -- is to follow Ben Franklin's maxim, Waste not, want not. I'm especially aware of this during summer, when the temptation of the Saturday morning farmers market surpasses my inclination to cook once home. I've learned the hard way that my best rhythm is to limit purchases to just a couple of days, then, with any luck, visit the Wednesday market for the rest of the week.

So I pored through the fresh produce tips in the July-August 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated in an article called, "How to Keep Produce Fresher Longer". Here's a sampling but I do recommend picking up an issue for the complete story that includes tips on keep fruit fresh, too, also some of the science behind their tips about keeping produce fresh longer.
Keep Reading ->>>

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Farro with Beet Greens ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: Beet greens tucked into farro, a high-protein grain.

Setting: Farmers market on a busy Saturday morning, the busiest booth, a line of people behind another shopper and me.

Other Shopper, eyeing a fat bunch of beets: "Will you cut off the greens for me?"

Farmer, eyeing me with a conspiratorial grin: "The greens are the best part. I bet this young lady can tell you how to cook them up fast and easy."

Other Shopper, eyeing me suspiciously, looking decidedly dubious: "How?"

Me, with evangelist fervor: "Just chop the greens up really thin, then sauté with garlic and onion in a little olive oil. They're great."

Other Shopper, obviously disgusted: "She can have my greens."

Sure, go ahead and laugh, the farmer and I did!

But the truth is, greens are overwhelming for many cooks. Even at my house, greens too often go to waste -- a waste of nutrition, of money, of scarce resources. So I'm constantly on the hunt for easy ways to cook fresh greens. Honestly, the recipe I 'cooked' was the stuffed chicken thighs which were good enough but not something to make again. But at the last minute, I tucked the leftover greens into the farro intended as a bed for the chicken -- now farro with beet greens, that's delicious!

WHAT IS FARRO? Farro is also called 'emmer wheat' and is much-appreciated in Italian cuisine. I love with this grain for its nutty and hearty puff. I see it at Trader Joe's and Amazon sells Farro Perlato by La Valletta. In St. Louis, I find farro at Global Foods in Kirkwood, in the rice section at the front of the store. The 'pearled' or 'semi-pearled' farro has some of the husk removed and cooks more quickly.

But -- farro isn't necessary, although wonderful and wonderfully healthful. Stir cooked greens into brown rice or pasta or any other 'hot' starchy something.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more leafy green recipes ~
~ more grain recipes ~

FARRO with BEET GREENS

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 30 minutes
Serves 4

8 ounces farro

1/2 cup golden raisins soaked in sherry while cooking (optional but nice texture, flavor contrast)
1 pound of beet greens, soaked, rinsed, washed well (they really hold grit in the crevasses so clean very well)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook the farro according to the package instructions. Be sure to salt the water well.

Heat the olive oil on MEDIUM HIGH in a large skillet til shimmery. Chop the beet stems and cook along with the garlic. Add the garlic and let cook til just beginning to turn golden.

Stack five or six leaves atop one another, roll into a cigar, then cut cross-wise, as thin as you can. Stir the greens into the skillet, turning to coat with fat. Cover and let cook, stirring often, until greens are fully cooked. Stir in the raisins and cooked farro. If needed, let cook a bit to cook off the liquid. Season to taste. Serve immediately.

NOTE: Even though it cooks down, a whole pound of cooked greens might be too much green for some tastes. Just stir in what seems right, save the rest for tomorrow's salad. Once it's cooked, the greens will hold for a day or more.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
With raisins, Per Serving: 216 Cal (15% from Fat, 13% from Protein, 73% from Carb); 7 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 40 g Carb; 5 g Fiber; NetCarb35; 13 g Sugar; 143 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 276 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 4 points

Without raisins, Per Serving: 151 Cal (21% from Fat, 17% from Protein, 62% from Carb); 6 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 24 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb20; 1 g Sugar; 133 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 273 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 3 points

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.

---

Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2008

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Almonnaise - Vegan Mayonnaise Recipe ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: A spread with the consistency of mayonnaise. Made with toasted almonds, garlic, vinegar, olive oil and optional fresh herbs. Can be used as a vegan mayonnaise but useful for omnivores too. Low carb.

The summer I stopped eating meat, it was more on a whim than with a plan. A friend's pointed question had forced the realization that more meat passed my lips than realized: a chicken sandwich for lunch, a steak on the weekend, they add up unless paying close attention. Within just a few days, I was lost. Many of my favorite recipes were no longer relevant. I didn't know where to turn.

It's hard to believe, yes? But this was not only before the Internet, it was also before there were bookstores on every corner. I was already shopping at Store #2 or #3 of a small company called Whole Foods but it was a hippy-dippy place then, a resource for only the most motivated and educated cooks. Anyone care to guess the year? It wasn't that long ago. :-)

A few weeks later, my cousin Laura, a long-time vegan, pressed a cookbook into my hands. "You need this," she said. "It'll help." It was her own copy of The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen by Marilyn Diamond, many pages penciled with notes. What a gift! For eight years, it was my only cookbook and my own notes far outnumber hers.

(Note to Vegetarians)

When I began to eat meat again, more mindfully this time, it was as an occasional food, once or twice a week. I put Laura's cookbook away. Especially as food magazines began to feature more and more vegetarian meals, it just wasn't necessary.

But a few weeks ago, when Lisa from Show-Me Vegan and Nupur from One Hot Stove were coming for supper, I wanted to make a seven-layer salad suitable for those who don't eat meat, eggs or dairy. It was easy enough to leave out the bacon and sliced eggs but the gorgeous Buttermilk Garlic Salad Dressing wasn't vegan either.

So I made a simpler, fresher version of the cookbook's vegan substitute for mayonnaise, one that starts with almonds. My notes read, '#1 - Wow. Especially with cilantro' and '#2 fresh dill' and '#3 dried dill' and '#4 cinnamon!'. Clearly this was a winner.

And sure enough, it is, it STILL is. And yes, this almonnaise is vegan. But it's also its own category of sauce that's entirely plant-based but has the consistency of mayonnaise. I served it last week -- there's irony here, yes? -- spread on rolls for BLTs. It's just delicious. I'd recommend it to anyone who plain likes good food, vegan, omnivore or otherwise.

"No meat, no eggs, no dairy. It's not just for vegans anymore."

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IDEAS for using ALMONNAISE
~ Green Beans with Mayo-Soy Sauce ~
~ Chipotle Chickpea Salad ~
~ Summer Dill Salad ~

~ more Dips, Spreads & Pestos ~

ALMONNAISE

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 15 minutes
Makes 1 cup

3/4 cup (2 ounces) sliced almonds with skins on
1/2 cup soymilk (can also use water)
1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons good vinegar (I used sherry vinegar)
4 tablespoons olive oil
Optional: 1 bunch of fresh cilantro or other herbs
Salt & pepper to taste

In a small skillet, toast the almonds until golden brown, stirring often and watching very carefully so not to burn. Combine almonds, soymilk, garlic and vinegar in a food processor until smooth. (The skins make this quite grainy, not the smooth consistency of mayonnaise. But they add both flavor and fiber and thus are a good thing, to my taste anyway.) With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl in a thin stream, letting the mixture slowly gain volume. Once it becomes light and fluffy, add the cilantro or other herbs. Season to taste. Will become thicker once refrigerated.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tablespoon: 54 Cal (84% from Fat, 8% from Protein, 8% from Carb); 1 g Protein; 5 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 1 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 0 g Sugar; 11 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 3 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

Per Two Tablespoons: 109 Cal (84% from Fat, 8% from Protein, 8% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 11 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 7 g Mono Fat; 2 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 1 g Sugar; 22 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 5 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 3 points

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Old-Fashioned Green Tomato Pie ♥ Old Farm Recipe

Today's vegetable recipe: An old-fashioned country green-tomato pie, sweet not savory.

Last fall I spent an evening with a group of smart, successful, tuned-in, connected and world-traveling folks. Somehow, the talk turned to strawberries and someone complained that lately, strawberries were 'expensive' and 'not that good'. (Strawberries in October? Well yes, if you live in the southern hemisphere!) I broached the idea of the 'locavore' movement, the '100-mile diet' (want to know your 100-mile radius? try this 100-mile calculator) and the concept of eating seasonally -- all greeted with mostly blank looks. The strawberry-buyer (who's also a year-round blueberry- and apple-buyer) asked with a look of dubiousness, "What would we eat, in the winter?"

That's the question, isn't it? Our worldwide food distribution system masks the seasonality of fresh produce. Because strawberries are sold year-round, this otherwise smart, savvy person had no understanding that there's a brief spring window for strawberries, when they taste best, are most plentiful and least costly. And when the 'real' strawberry season ends, a seasonal eater moves onto the next seasonal something, grateful for both.

As I peeled the tomatoes for this old-fashioned green tomato pie, I realized how perfectly it exemplifies the concept of eating seasonally. In the Midwest at the first of July, the rhubarb and strawberries are past, the peaches not quite ripe, the apples still green. But we do have green tomatoes -- let's make pie!
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