Microwave Baked Potato ♥

This quick recipe is for my friend Ann who has -- undeservedly, to my mind -- the reputation as a bad cook.

Actually, she's a decent cook. It's just that food isn't high on her priority list and so 'good' is 'good enough'. This I respect, admire even -- not every bite we eat must be 'delicious'. Good is good. Good is plenty. Good is, yes, good enough.

So when I raved about how I'd just learned how to make the best baked potatoes, she looked momentarily embarrassed (but not really) to admit she just throws baked potatoes in the microwave. "They're good," she assured.

And so they are -- good! -- and frankly, way better than expected. The flesh is actually quite good (a tiny tad gummy but if you haven't tasted the slooow-baked potatoes, you wouldn't notice) but in the microwave, the skin just won't get crisp. So I checked the ever-so-thorough Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka who sure enough, has the solution: finishing the potatoes 10 minutes in a very hot oven.

WEIGHT WATCHERS NOTE If you've ever wondered how many points are in a baked potato, check the nutrition information below. A standard-size potato is huge -- talk about super-sizing -- and racks up 7 Weight Watchers points. And that's before you starting loading it with other goodies. Yikes.

MAKE IT A MEAL A baked potato would go perfectly with this quick supper recipes from Kitchen Parade, Pepper Steak & Mushrooms.

MICROWAVE BAKED POTATO

Hands-on time: 2 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes (for 1)

1 'Idaho' russet potato (they have rough exteriors, are somewhat elongated and the flesh is 'mealy')

Set oven to 500F to preheat. Wash potatoes well and prick twice with the tines of a fork. Place one potato in center of microwave. For more than one potato, place one in the center, arrange other in 'spoke' or 'petal' or 'clock hands' fashion around the center potato. Do not cover.

1 potato - Cook 6 minutes for a 7 - 8 ounce potato, 1 - 2 minutes more for each additional ounce

2 potatoes - Cook 10 minutes (same)

3 potatoes - Cook 13 minutes (same)

4 potatoes - 15 minutes

Remove from microwave and rub lightly with bit of olive oil. Place directly on oven rack for 10 minutes til skins get slightly crisp.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Idaho potatoes can weigh a half pound (and more) so if that's a 'serving', so be it. I'll do nutrition information by weight.

A 1/4 pound russet potato, with skin, weighed raw: 90 Cal (1% from Fat, 10% from Protein, 89% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 20 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; NetCarb19; 1 g Sugar; 15 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 6 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

1/2 pound russet potato, with skin, weighed raw: 179 Cal (1% from Fat, 10% from Protein, 89% from Carb); 5 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 41 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb38; 1 g Sugar; 29 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 11 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 3 points

3/4 pound russet potato, with skin, weighed raw: 269 Cal (1% from Fat, 10% from Protein, 89% from Carb); 7 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 61 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb57; 2 g Sugar; 44 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 17 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 5 points

1 pound russet potato, with skin, weighed raw: 358 Cal (1% from Fat, 10% from Protein, 89% from Carb); 10 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 82 g Carb; 6 g Fiber; NetCarb76; 3 g Sugar; 59 mg Calcium; 4 mg Iron; 23 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 7 points (yikes)

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MORE FAVORITE POTATO RECIPES
~ Sloooow Baked Potatoes ~
~ How to Roast Potatoes to Perfection ~
~ "Best Ever" New Potatoes & Green Beans ~
~ more potato recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Lighter Mashed 'Potatoes' ~
~ Mashed Potatoes & Carrots ~
~ Smashed Potatoes & Broccoli ~
~ more potato recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

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 2007

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Spicy Sweet Pumpkin Seeds ♥

This time of year, when we're cutting open and roasting pumpkins, inside are those seeds and we wonder, Can you roast pumpkin seeds? You sure can! Here's how.

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

2007 ORIGINAL POST Yesterday an e-mail arrived from Ralph, a most careful reader of yesterday's recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Glaze. No good! he objected to a detail. "One of the most nutritious and yummy things is the seeds. Don't discard." And good luck, this time I didn't. What do you do with pumpkin seeds? Any tips to share?

So -- what to do with pumpkin seeds, you know, the gunky ones scooped from Halloween jack o' lanterns and pie pumpkins and yes, even other winter squash?

This is the third year I've tried to create a good recipe for pumpkin seeds. I've got it! The taste is a combination of spicy and sweet - with a little bite that yumm, just works. It's an easy concept recipe: just toss raw seeds briefly into a hot simple syrup, then toss in a spice rub, then with big crystals of demerara sugar.
Keep Reading ->>>

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Roasted Butternut Squash with Maple Glaze ♥

If summer's unexpected romance was with green beans, then the fall's affair is with butternut squash. This is -- what, the third? fourth? -- time I've cooked butternut squash and its cousins the acorn, the kabocha, the buttercup and other winter squashes.

Such a classic winter squash recipe, this! Squash + pantry + oven = delicious.

If you're nervous about cutting butternut squash, try another recipe, one where you can roast a whole butternut squash or you can put the squash into the microwave for three minutes and then it'll cut like a dream.

But this small (just two pound) butternut squash cut quite easily. I put the cutting board on top of a silicone baking sheet so that it wouldn't slip around.

NEXT TIME

• The inspiring recipe suggested coating a baking sheet with cooking spray, which I did. Midway through cooking, the squash started to spit out moisture and sugar. Next time I'll try rubbing oil on the flesh itself, which might seal in the flavor better. [Later: I tried this. It did help but didn't entirely prevent the seepage.]
• The inspiring recipe called for a tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, which turned out to be 2X what was needed for a two-pound butternut squash -- I actually scooped out the goopy stuff before taking the picture.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH with MAPLE GLAZE

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 75 - 90 minutes
Serves 4

1 two-pound butternut squash

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Salt & pepper to taste

Set oven to 400F. Wash squash well, especially on the stem and blossom ends, where gunk can accumulate. Carefully cut the squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seed and gunk and discard. Brush the flesh lightly with olive oil (or spritz a baking sheet with cooking spray or olive oil), place face-down on a baking sheet. Place in oven even if not fully heated and roast for 60 - 75 minutes, until a knife slips into the flesh easily.

In a small bowl, melt the butter and maple syrup in the microwave in ten-second increments til melted. Stir together and season with salt and pepper. Brush the cut-side of the squash with the mixture and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the glaze sets. Cut each half into two pieces and serve.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 109 Cal (12% from Fat, 6% from Protein, 82% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 2 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 25 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb21; 7 g Sugar; 92 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 8 mg Sodium; 4 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

Note: Since the USDA database used for these calculations only cite winter squash by the cup, not by the 'whole squash' as we buy them (thanks, guys, THAT's helpful) I've done a quick conversion from Vegetable Love, the great resource. It says that a 2 1/4 lb winter squash yields 6 cups of flesh; so a 2 pound one would yield 5 1/4 cups. Less exact than many of these inputs but still, useful.

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRED BY
Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

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MORE FAVORITE BUTTERNUT SQUASH RECIPES
~ My Favorite Winter Squash Recipes ~
~ How to Cut, Peel & Cube a Butternut Squash and Keep All Ten Fingers ~
~ How to Roast a Whole Butternut Squash ~
~ Curried Squash ~
~ Steamed Butternut Squash ~
~ more winter squash 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.

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 2007

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Kitchen Parade Extra: Baked Apples ♥

If a picture paints a thousand words, what are you waiting for? Get on over to this week's Kitchen Parade column for my mother's recipe for baked apples.

You know you've got to, you've just got to --

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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-to-find ingredients, clear instructions and because I believe so strongly in informed food choices, nutrition analysis and Weight Watchers points. Want to know more? Explore KitchenParade.com, including Kitchen Parade's Recipe Box!

WHY DOESN'T THIS POST ACCEPT COMMENTS? Because I hope that you'll click through to the actual column and comment there!

E-MAIL & RSS SUBSCRIBERS You may subscribe to Kitchen Parade directly. Just sign up for Kitchen Parade via e-mail or Kitchen Parade via RSS -- then you'll receive the complete column and recipe directly in your In Box or RSS reader.

A Veggie Venture is home of the Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and award-winning vegetable inspiration from Asparagus to Zucchini. © Copyright 2007

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Recipe for Smoked Scallops with Zucchini Ribbons ♥

For the last couple of weeks, my dad's daily four-city weather report has cited only a repetitive 'hot and dry'. So in my mind it may be time for roasting winter squash and simmering pots of soup, the weather isn't cooperating -- so 'summer food' it is.

The good news is, for anyone craving a quick and light supper, this dish will work year-round. Plus, the zucchini noodles are a classic way to substitute vegetables for pasta. Touched with garlic and lemon zest, they were yummy!

HOW LIGHT? WOW! Turns out, too, this quick meal should be a standby for anyone who counts Weight Watchers points and anyone who avoids carbs. Combined, the scallops and zucchini add up to only 2 points. A two-point MEAL is rare. (Technically, separately, the scallops have 1 point, the zucchini 0 points, so if you like, count it as a one-point meal.) For carb counters, the combined meal has only 6 grams of net carbs. Wow. WOW. WOOOOW.

It also turns out that this meal also makes good use of several favorite kitchen tools.

STOVETOP SMOKER I'm still experimenting but love the speed and no-fat cooking on my Camerons stovetop smoker. So far, I keep coming back to smoked scallops, shrimp and trout which are so good, so useful, that I'd purchase the smoker again, just to make these. As it turns out, the smoker pan is also heavy and large enough to serve as a meat roaster so it serves double duty, a good thing, since it is big and clumsy. It does fit inside the oven so 'lives' there but needs to be removed whenever anything else goes in. Here's my (so-far tiny) collection of recipes for a stovetop smoker. Tonight we're smoking thick Berkshire chops!

MEAT THERMOMETER To my mind, an essential companion to a smoker (and to anyone who cooks meat) is a meat thermometer, preferably one with a probe attached to a wire connected to a unit that sits outside the smoker (or the oven or the grill or ...) so you can monitor the meat's progress, also set an alarm to go off when the internal temperature is getting close to your target.


VEGETABLE SLICER For slicing the zucchini noodles, I might have used my favorite Benriner but instead turned to a brand-new vegetable peeler, the one from Kuhn Rikon that needs no warning label and costs $4 - 6. It was perfect for slicing the soft zucchini into just the right thickness. I am worried about the blade rusting -- and note that Amazon says it's not 'dishwasher safe', something the product itself does not say.

If you don't have either of these, I recommend slicing them as thin as you can, but cross-wise, so you'll end up not with ribbons but circles but they'll be thinner, I think, than slicing length-wise with a knife.

MAKE IT A MEAL A low-calorie meal frees up calories for dessert! For fall, I'd recommend this delicious Indian pudding, made with apple cider. Or to keep it light, turn to my Light 'n' Easy Chocolate Pudding.

SMOKED SCALLOPS with ZUCCHINI RIBBONS

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 30 minutes
Serves 4 (but easy to adjust for 1 or 2)

SMOKED SCALLOPS
1 pound fresh scallops
Good salt & pepper

Place about a tablespoon of Cameron wood chips in the bottom of the smoker. Season the scallops. Insert a temperature probe through the sides of three or four scallops (the probe needs a couple of inches of coverage to work properly). Turn heat to medium, cook scallops to an internal temperature 120F or 125F (I prefer them slightly more cooked but chefs, apparently, take them to only 120F).

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Scallops Only - Per Serving: 100 Cal (8% from Fat, 80% from Protein, 11% from Carb); 19 g Protein; 1 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 3 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; NetCarb3; 0 g Sugar; 27 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 183 mg Sodium; 37 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

Scallops & Zucchini - Per Serving: 149 Cal (27% from Fat, 55% from Protein, 18% from Carb); 20 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 7 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; NetCarb6; 2 g Sugar; 46 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 194 mg Sodium; 37 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

ZUCCHINI RIBBONS
1 pound zucchini, washed VERY well, sliced very thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, smashed
Salt & pepper to taste
Zest of a lemon

(It takes awhile to slice the zucchini so I recommend nearly finishing this step before starting the oil.) In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on MEDIUM til shimmery. Add the garlic clove and cook for 1 - 2 minutes til golden and aromatic, then discard. Add the zucchini, in small batches if necessary, and stir well to coat with fat. Cook til soft, turning often, and fully cooked. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to plates. Top with lemon zest.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Zucchini Only - Per Serving: 49 Cal (59% from Fat, 10% from Protein, 30% from Carb); 1 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 4 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; NetCarb3; 2 g Sugar; 19 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 12 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 0 points

KITCHEN NOTES
If making both the scallops and the zucchini, set up the scallops in the smoker first, but don't turn on the heat until about halfway through slicing the zucchini.
The zucchini is easier to slice, and there's less waste, when the stem is left on during slicing.
Next time, I'll try an entirely non-fat zucchini, cooking the thin ribbons only in seasoned broth. I'll also wash the zucchini more carefully, somehow some grittiness showed up in this batch.

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MORE LOW-POINT MAIN DISHES
~ Quick Tomato Sauce ~
~ Satisfying Lunch in One Point ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Squash & Carrot Stew ~
~ Two-Way Lentil Skillet ~
~ Slow Cooker Turkey Breast ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

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 2007

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Sautéed Okra & Garlic ♥

Do pods of okra call to you? They do to me! I love picking through baskets of okra at the farmers market, selecting the pods about the length of my thumb (and shorter) which are the most tender.

And okra is quick-quick to cook -- adding this recipe to my growing collection of quick vegetable recipes.

And what about the, um, slime factor? Banish the thought! When okra are small and completely fresh - which means they need cooking within a day of finding them perfectly green and unblemished at the farmers market - there's none of that dreaded okra slime.

I loved this quick side dish -- the lemon was a brilliant addition, great contrast. It would be a great way for an okra neophyte to try okra for the first time.

HOW TO TRIM OKRA Cut off the tough stems but do leave a thin slice of the 'cap' which is tender and succulent and helps hold in the okra flavor and moisture.

MAKE IT A MEAL Pair the quick-cooking okra with a Quick Supper from Kitchen Parade, Greek Feta Chicken with Curried Rice. Yum!

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FROM THE VEGETABLE RECIPE ARCHIVES See the Recipe Box for more okra recipes.

A YEAR AGO Broccoli & Tomato Thai Curry, "... a satisfying supper with just 3 Weight Watchers points. And if you're a carb watcher, substitute cauliflower for the potatoes to lower the carbs and keep a soft texture."

SAUTÉED OKRA & GARLIC

Hands-on time: 5 minutes (plus occasional attention throughout)
Time to table: 10 minutes
Serves 4

1 pound fresh okra, trimmed
1 tablespoon bacon grease or olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
Red pepper flakes
Salt to taste (big flakes of Maldon salt worked great, providing real 'hits' of saltiness without a whole lot of sodium)
Lemon wedges

Trim the okra. (If they've just been washed, let dry on paper towels while continuing to trim. They'll cook more quickly, more evenly, if they hit the hot oil dry.) About halfway through trimming, heat the oil on MEDIUM in a large skillet (large enough to hold all the okra in a single layer) til shimmery. Add the okra to the skillet and toss well to coat with fat. Let cook for about four minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute or two, until the garlic is cooked (but be careful not to burn). Season to taste and serve with lemon wedges on the side.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 68 Cal (41% from Fat, 13% from Protein, 46% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 9 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb5; 1 g Sugar; 96 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 27 mg Sodium; 3 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE
Adapted from Everyday Vegetables by Jack Bishop

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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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 2007

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How to Stop Inappropriate Ads

If you are using IE (Internet Explorer) as your web browser and are seeing inappropriate ads on A Veggie Venture (and on Kitchen Parade and probably on many other websites you visit), please read this.

A Veggie Venture is a member of Blogher, a top women's website, and participates in its ad network. This week, Blogher is receiving spotty reports that inappropriate ads are occasionally appearing in place of Blogher's legitimate ads from respected advertisers. (NOTE: I believe the inappropriate ads may also be appearing in advertisements provided by Google, whose ads are published on millions and millions of websites.)

I have seen copies of the inappropriate ads that are hijacking the legitimate ads. They are not 'pure porn' but show scantily clad women in suggestive poses. They are completely unseemly for websites like mine.

Blogher is helping publishers like me make our readers aware of the issue by providing this information:

"Blogher believes this issue is caused by a known vulnerability in Microsoft's IE 6.0 (specifically on Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Windows 2000) which exploits the iframe tags, the technology used by ad publishers to 'serve' ads onto websites.

If you have been experiencing this problem, we strongly recommend you both

• update your browser to the current version of IE 7 (learn more about and download Windows IE7 here) and
  
• download the most recent security patches for your operating system (learn more about and download Windows security updates).

Alternatively, replace Internet Explorer entirely with a non-IE browser, such as Firefox (download Firefox here, it's my personal recommendation ~ Alanna) to further limit your security risk."

On a personal note, as much as I wish that I or Blogher or even Microsoft could 'magically' fix this situation on readers' behalf, we can't. You'll need to take action on your end -- I know this is a pain and do apologize.

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UPDATES
10/10 8:30 am - Other Blogher ad members are welcome to point their readers to this post or to copy/modify the text for their own posts.

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Many thanks to the Blogher team for its responsiveness on this issue!

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