Broccoli & Tomato Holiday Wreath ♥

Today's oh-so! festive vegetable recipe:
Broccoli & grape tomatoes formed into a wreath shape, topped with a lemon butter sauce. A perfect vegetable for Christmas dinners.

(Okay so before I tell the backstory, is anyone as amazed as I how much just broccoli and tomatoes really do look like a wreath?!)

Before Christmas awhile back, my friends' mother (we'll call her Mrs. K) called, asking for help with a recipe. She'd seen it in a magazine -- or wait, maybe a cookbook? -- and was desperate to find it again. She remembered the basics, broccoli and tomatoes in a wreath shape. But what would bind them? We couldn't think, not eggs, no, and certainly not gelatin. Cheese maybe? She thought not.

So Mrs K returned to her hunt. Many days and magazine piles later, at last she found her recipe. "It's just butter," she said exultantly. "Do you really think that just butter can hold it all together?"

It can. And this festive vegetable dish -- buttery yes, but still definitely a vegetable -- is absolutely delicious. The ingredient list is short and it's way less fussy than it looks. It does call for a ring mold -- check your grandmothers' attics for her old "salad form", that's where mine came from, or perhaps the Goodwill or a thrift shop. No luck? I think a round cake pan with a bowl in the center is worth a try, too. Do try to use a shallow cake pan, however, so that it can be inverted onto a plate without upsetting the broccoli.

NO RING MOLD? NO ENERGY TO FUSS? STILL LOVE the FESTIVE LOOK? Just cook the broccoli and tomatoes as directed, then put into a shallow casserole dish. Cover and warm through. I think it'll be just fine.

KITCHEN NOTES
Shoot for a generous pound of just the very most tender broccoli florets. Even buying broccoli crowns, I started with two+ pounds of broccoli to yield a pound+ of florets. Luckily the stems and stalks make a great broccoli soup.
The butter doesn't 'bind' the broccoli as much as lightly contain it. Be gentle.
Next time I will plate it differently, perhaps on a bed of rice? so that the buttery sauce has something to soak into. As you can see, it just pooled on the plate, not so prettily.
It's lovely hot, but because the pieces are small, can't hold the heat long. Luckily, it's still good at room temperature so this would work for a buffet, too though of course the 'effect' will be smashed with the first scoop.
Mrs K is gone now but her wreath recipe is just one more reason to remember her ever so warmly. (Hello Mr K! Hi C&C&E! Hugs J&K!)

FROM the CREASE of MY RIGHT EYE This is the name of the event being hosted this month by Danielle from Habeas Brulee, celebrating all things layered and stuffed and this broccoli wreath is my contribution to the creativity in its midst. Danielle, you can perhaps appreciate that the broccoli is stuffed and pressed into a ring mold?

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES ~ Red & Green

~ more Red & Green Warm Spinach Salad ~
~ more Spinach & Artichoke Gratin ~
~ more broccoli recipes ~

~ one year ago this week Celery with Tomato, Olives & Capers, perfect 'spareness' amid holiday excess ~
~ two years ago today Italian Wedding Soup ~

BROCCOLI & TOMATO HOLIDAY WREATH

Hands-on time: 20 minutes? sorry, I really lost track
Time to table: maybe 60 minutes?
Serves 6

BROCCOLI
Salted water
2 pounds of fresh broccoli, crowns only
Ice bath

Trim the broccoli, using just the green broccoli tops, cut into bite-size pieces. Drop into boiling salted water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and refresh in a large bowl of ice water until just cool. Drain thoroughly.

TOMATOES
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
6 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon sugar (don't skip, it makes a difference!)
Salt & pepper to taste

In a skillet, melt the butter on MEDIUM until shimmery. Add the tomatoes and warm through but don't allow to pop. Remove from heat, stir in sugar and season.

SAUCE
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used about 4, it was plenty)
Juice of half a lemon (about a tablespoon or two)

In a small saucepan, melt butter, then add lemon juice. Keep warm but don't allow to boil.

ASSEMBLE
Preheat oven to 350F. Very gently, stir together broccoli and tomatoes. Arrange in a ring mold, distributing tomatoes throughout as best possible. Press gently into the mold with the back of a spoon. Cover with foil (I forgot this step, it didn't seem to make a difference) and place into a larger pan. (You could make ahead this far.) Fill the outer pan with boiling water about halfway up the ring mold. Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through. Remove the ring mold from the larger pan. Place a serving plate on top of the ring mold. With one quick motion, invert the ring mold onto the serving plate, jiggling gently if needed to release the broccoli. Tuck any loose florets back into the wreath. Drizzle with the butter sauce and serve immediately.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 203 Cal (82% from Fat, 5% from Protein, 13% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 20 g Tot Fat; 12 g Sat Fat; 5 g Mono Fat; 7 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; NetCarb 5; 2 g Sugar; 43 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 28 mg Sodium; 51 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 5 points

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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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Braised Brussels Sprouts ♥

Today's Simple Vegetable Recipe: Fresh Brussels sprouts braised in shallots, cream and broth, then stirred with mustard and parsley. Low carb.

Here's another winner, just fresh Brussels sprouts cooked in liquid in a covered skillet (yes, that's what it means to 'braise').

"BUT MY FAMILY WON'T EAT BRUSSELS SPROUTS!" I know, I know. Discomfort with Brussels sprouts and other vegetables in the cabbage (ahem) family is likely all about a sensitivity to bitterness. And the bitterness comes from chemicals called glucosinolates. If someone in your family is hesitant, resistant or outrightly militant in opposition to Brussels sprouts, know that the trick is to break up the center of the sprouts by cutting them in half and then, in order to leach out the chemicals, to cook them in a lot of well-salted water. (Thank you, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, for this lesson.) Or, like tonight, as I learned, well-salted cream.

When trimming these particular Brussels sprouts, I could tell that they were definitely on the bitter side. So even though the inspiring recipe suggested leaving them whole, I cut them in half, pole to pole, right through the core. Then I cut a small slit into the core, opening up the most dense part of the sprout. (I knew this would make them cook faster, too, and would let the cream sauce wind its way into the caves and tunnels inside a sprout.) Bitterness, be gone!

NEXT TIME I'll try a couple of changes, not because the recipe needed improving, taste-wise, but to simplify it further.
When the sprouts were finished cooking, the halves looked so pretty in the skillet that I was sorry to have to 'stir them up' to add the mustard. So next time, I'll stir the mustard into the cream and broth beforehand and then take the entire skillet to the table. Yay! A dish saved!
For calorie purposes, I'll skip the cream and just braise the sprouts in chicken stock and mustard.

"ALL THAT TRIMMING, WHAT ABOUT FROZEN BRUSSELS SPROUTS?" I don't have good luck with frozen Brussels sprouts. Especially if you're trying to convert someone to how good Brussels sprouts can be, I would definitely use fresh ones. This time of year, supermarkets will often have whole stalks of Brussels sprouts, just break off ones of similar size.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ Wine-Glazed Brussels Sprouts ~
~ Lemony Creamy Brussels Sprouts ~
~ more Brussels sprouts recipes ~

~ one year ago this week Delicata Squash with Hot Pepper Glaze ~

BRAISED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

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

1 tablespoon butter
2 large shallots, chopped
1 pound small- to medium-size fresh Brussels sprouts

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock (I used bouillon)
Salt (only if the stock or bouillon isn't already salty)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or other good mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (definitely optional here)

In a large skillet with a cover, melt the butter til shimmery on MEDIUM. Add the shallots and cook gently til just cooked. (The sprouts may not be fully prepped when the shallots are cooked, turn down the stove so they don't burn.)

Meanwhile, trim the Brussels sprouts. HOW TO TRIM BRUSSELS SPROUTS: Wash well. Slice off the end, this will loosen some outer leaves. Discard these, then remove a layer or so of leaves, until what's left inside is clean and bright-looking. Now slice the sprouts from top to bottom, slicing through the center of the core. With a knife, make a small slit just into the core.

Stir the cream and stock into the skillet (and the mustard, if you're trying this). Place the Brussels sprouts in a single layer, cut-side down, in the skillet. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. (Taste one to see if it's done, if salt is needed.)

Remove the skillet from the from heat. If needed, stir in the mustard and the parsley. Serve immediately.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
With cream, Per Serving: 111 Cal (45% from Fat, 15% from Protein, 40% from Carb); 5 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 4 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 12 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb 8; 3 g Sugar; 61 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 113 mg Sodium; 18 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

With more broth substituting for cream, Per Serving: 86 Cal (31% from Fat, 19% from Protein, 50% from Carb); 5 g Protein; 3 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 12 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; 3 g Sugar; 57 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 145 mg Sodium; 8 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Jack Bishop

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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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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: Five-Week Bran Muffins ♥

So this week I mixed up some muffins to serve hot from the oven when family visits over the holidays. (What? Mixed muffins now? for serving in three weeks? Yes!) Talk about make-ahead recipes!

The batter keeps in the frig for five weeks. Along the way, bake fresh muffins (as many as you want, even just one or two) any time. The recipe is from a 2002 Kitchen Parade column, published today online for the first time. So check it out, it's my recipe for Five-Week Bran Muffins.

The recipe is just one in a collection of recipes for Christmas in Kitchen Parade's Recipe Box.

~ how to host a cookie exchange along with my favorite roll-out cookie recipe ~
~ the cranberry-macadamia nut cookie recipe I'm making for this year's cookie swap ~
~ the graham cracker toffee that everyone finds so addictive ~
~ one way to share the true meaning of Christmas with children, Jesus' birthday cake ~

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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'. 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, then you'll receive the complete column and recipe directly in your In Box or RSS reader. Just sign up for Kitchen Parade via e-mail or Kitchen Parade via RSS.

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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Potato Latkes ♥

Today's holiday recipe: Potato latkes fried in oil for Hanukkah. Crispy on the edges, warm and potato-y in the center.

After writing about Hanukkah recipes for Blogher yesterday, the only question was 'what kind' of latkes would we have for supper? Carrot? Spinach? Sweet potato? I chose traditional potato latkes, prepared (I think, based on other bloggers' recipes) in a somewhat unconventional method. Instead of grating, the potatoes are whizzed in the blender with onion, apple and egg to the consistency of applesauce. This lets them 'splat' into hot oil for cooking, creating lots of crispiness.

Served with sour cream, warm applesauce and sorghum, the latkes were completely delicious, enjoyed immensely by both my dad and me. Since this was my first time to cook (and eat, too?) latkes I have a few impressions but certainly can't be considered an expert.

• While crispy is good, Dad and I both preferred the latkes crispy on the edges (way more than in the photograph, I got better as I went along) but a little thick in the center. This might be a case of 'to each their own taste'. Luckily the latkes can be cooked to different consistencies.
• To achieve crispy, you have to use a heavy layer of oil in the pan. With less oil, the latkes were more like potato pancakes.
• The potato mixture definitely turns an ugly gray if left for more than 30 minutes. So while you can gather the ingredients ahead of time, don't put them through the mixer until the griddle is heating up.
  
• A griddle would be useful. For the two of us, I used a skillet which held only four small latkes at a time.
  
• I loved these with applesauce and sour cream. My dad loved them with sorghum (or maple syrup would be good).
• It's messy to make latkes! I was glad I'd changed into a sweatshirt before starting, as oil splashed everywhere.

NUTRITION NOTES I wish I'd kept track of how much oil was used -- it wouldn't surprise me if I used nearly a cup, just for the two of us. But these were delicious. To my taste, they're worth an occasional indulgence. Next time, I'd like to try grated sweet potato latkes. And of course, there are still six more nights of Hanukkah ...

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES

~ more potato recipes ~

~ one year ago this week Carrot & Daikon Refrigerator Pickle, great to have on hand for a quick salad ~
~ two years ago today Celery & Apple Salad, surprisingly simple, surprisingly delicious, a great winter salad ~

POTATO LATKES

Prep time (not including the actual cooking): 20 minutes
Serves 2 - 3 for supper, 4 - 6 for sides

2 pounds baking potatoes (these are the mealy potatoes, often called Idahoes or russets), peeled, cut into 1/2" cubes, (this next step isn't needed if you're putting into the blender right away) dropped into cold water so they don't discolor, dried on paper towels before proceeding
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1/2 apple, peeled, cored, chopped
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
White pepper to taste
1 teaspoon baking powder (the inspiring recipe suggests using kosher baking powder or omitting)

1/4 - 1/2 cup matzoh meal (or flour) - I used a full 1/2 cup of matzoh meal which was good for crispy-on-the-edges latkes, use less for more crispiness throughout

Oil, vegetable or canola (make sure it's fresh, if it smells even a tiny bit off, make something else)

For serving, sour cream and warm applesauce

Whiz all the ingredients except the matzoh meal and oil in a blender til the consistency of medium-fine applesauce. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the matzoh meal.

Spread a layer of oil in a skillet or on a griddle and heat on MEDIUM to MEDIUM HIGH (you'll need to gauge your own temperature, one that lets the latkes cook through with the brownness and crispiness you like). To know when the oil is hot enough, it should sizzle when you sprinkle a drop of water into it. Scoop about a tablespoon of potato mixture and from about 6 - 8 inches above, drop it with a splaaaat into the oil - look out, it will splatter. If needed, use the spoon to spread the mixture out a bit. Let cook 1 - 2 minutes til crispy, turn over and cook another 1 - 2 minutes. Add oil between batches, letting it heat up before splaaattting more potato mixture into it.

Savor, enjoy!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
(Assumes 3 servings, 3/4 cup oil for frying) Per Serving: 885 Cal (59% from Fat, 6% from Protein, 35% from Carb); 14 g Protein; 59 g Tot Fat; 8 g Sat Fat; 15 g Mono Fat; 79 g Carb; 5 g Fiber; NetCarb74; 5 g Sugar; 157 mg Calcium; 4 mg Iron; 822 mg Sodium; 164 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 21 points (yikes!)

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family

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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Red & Green Warm Spinach Salad ♥

Today's Christmas-y salad recipe: Quick sautéed spinach with a garlicky yogurt sauce, toasted walnuts, pomegranate seeds and fresh mint. Low carb.

And isn't it festive and pretty?! And the unexpected combination of ingredients - spinach, mint, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and yogurt - somehow really work.

This salad has a lot of parts but luckily they're not 'moving parts' and if you're inspired to serve this for a holiday meal -- it has the right colors, yes? -- all but the last step could be done in advance.

The recipe comes from Street Food by Tom Kime, what's turning out to be a real treasure. I love the irony that a street-side specialty called 'salatet bil s'banegh joz' somewhere in the Middle East or north Africa (the book doesn't say where) is also perfect for a dinner party salad.

For everyday, I'd omit the walnuts, pomegranate seeds and mint, leaving just the quick-cooked spinach topped with the garlicky yogurt sauce.

Delicious, this was!

MAKE IT A MEAL with Beef & Mushroom Stew and potatoes.

RED & GREEN WARM SPINACH SALAD

Hands-on time: 30 minutes to prep ahead, 10 minutes to finish
Time to table: 40 minutes
Serves 4

PREP AHEAD
1/4 cup walnut pieces - toast in a dry skillet til golden & aromatic
seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate (The Quick & Easy Way to Remove Seeds from a Pomegranate)
20 fresh mint leaves - chop coarsely
Yogurt garlic sauce - Mash a clove of garlic into salt with a fork, stir into 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used the more liquid keffir, it was perfect)

1/2 pound fresh spinach leaves - wash well, remove stems, chop roughly, drain

JUST BEFORE SERVING
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
Chopped spinach
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat the oil til shimmery in a large skillet. Add the onion and let cook til aromatic and beginning to turn gold. Add the spinach and cook, turning occasionally, til just tender. Season with salt & pepper.

TO ASSEMBLE
Lift spinach with tongs from skillet, letting excess liquid stay in the pan. Arrange spinach on plates or a serving tray. Drizzle with yogurt garlic sauce, then scatter with walnuts and mint. Top with pomegranate seeds.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
As written, Per Serving: 178 Cal (68% from Fat, 10% from Protein, 21% from Carb); 5 g Protein; 14 g Tot Fat; 3 g Sat Fat; 6 g Mono Fat; 10 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb7; 5 g Sugar; 81 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 343 mg Sodium; 6 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 4 points

Skipping the walnuts & pomegranate seeds, Per Serving: 117 Cal (70% from Fat, 11% from Protein, 19% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 10 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 5 g Mono Fat; 6 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; NetCarb4; 2 g Sugar; 73 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 342 mg Sodium; 6 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

MORE FAVORITE SPINACH RECIPES
~ Creamed Spinach ~
~ Orzo with Spinach & Pine Nuts ~
~ Spinach & Artichoke Gratin (also red & green) ~
~ Baked Eggs with Cream & Spinach (a good choice for Christmas morning) ~
~ MORE spinach recipes ~

~ one year ago this week Carrot & Daikon Refrigerator Pickle (great to make ahead to keep on hand for quick lunches and sandwiches) ~
~ two years ago today Warm Pepper Salad (hmm, this could be red & green too!) ~

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

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© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2007

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"Wonderful" Glazed Turnips & Carrots ♥

Today's Vegetable Recipe: Glazed winter root vegetables. Cubes of turnip and carrot in a slightly sweet glaze.

Imagine a pair of seven-year olds (they're BFFs, for the uninitiated, that's Best Friends Forever) willing to spear still-cooking turnips and carrots straight from the skillet, flash big smiles and pronounce them "good", and then, after another bite exclaim, "These are wonderful."

No deception here, I snapped a quick photo and sent the girls home with a container for supper.

But I was sorry to see it go! These cubes of turnip and carrot are really good, slightly but not too sweet with brown sugar, slightly but not too bright with lemon. I will totally do these again, they're already on the menu for over Christmas. And the color is so festive, completely unusual for turnips.

MY FRIG, THE ROOT CELLAR If there's ever a reason to stock up on turnips, it's that they keep for weeks. The ones I cooked here had been buried in the vegetable bin in the frig for seven weeks. They were still firm and smooth and in great shape.

UPDATE I made these a second time, this time with turnips, golden carrots and celeriac to serve with ham for our Christmas Dinner. They were just as delicious but I missed the strong color contrast between the white turnips and bright orange carrots.

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TURNIP & CARROT RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ Creamed Turnips ~
~ Mashed Turnip & Apple ~
~ more turnip recipes ~

~ Butter-Simmered Carrots ~
~ Mashed Potatoes & Carrots ~
~ more carrot recipes ~

~ one year ago this week Lemony Creamy Brussels Sprouts & Celery ~

MAKE IT A MEAL Somehow I see this with pork, perhaps the big hit in my Canadian family, Tropical Pork Tenderloin.

GLAZED TURNIPS & CARROTS

Hands-on time: 10 minutes up-front, then occasional attention until done
Time to table: about 30 minutes
Serves 4

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 pound white turnips (don't use rutabagas, says the inspiring recipe), trimmed, peeled, cut in 3/4" cubes
2 large carrots, trimmed, peeled, the fatter end sliced in half lengthwise, then cut in 1/2-inch thick slices on the diagonal

2/3 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt (I left this out because the broth was salty)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (I forgot this)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (I had none)
1 teaspoon lemon zest (don't skip this)

Squeeze of lemon juice (just a teaspoon)

In a large nonstick skillet with a cover, melt the butter on MEDIUM HIGH. When it's melted, swirl to coat. (If you start this while prepping the vegetables like I do, I'd recommend melting the butter on MEDIUM, so you don't brown and then scorch the butter like I did. Turn down the heat til you're ready, then turn to medium high.) Add the turnips and carrots in an even layer, stirring to coat, then let cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Stir again, let cook another 4 minutes. Add the broth, brown sugar, salt, pepper, thyme and lemon zest (I prepped these while the veggies were cooking) and stir to coat. Cover, reduce heat to MEDIUM LOW (I left on MEDIUM HIGH) and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 8 minutes. Uncover and increase heat to HIGH, let cook, stirring frequently until liquid cooks down to a glaze, this took a few minutes. Stir in lemon juice and serve immediately.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 119 Cal (33% from Fat, 7% from Protein, 60% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 5 g Tot Fat; 3 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 19 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb15; 12 g Sugar; 63 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 513 mg Sodium; 11 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

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.

---

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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St. Louis Food Gifts

If you're from St. Louis, you'll likely love this post filled with gift ideas from/for our area. If you're not, don't worry, tomorrow there will be a great recipe that works worldwide!

The St. Louis food bloggers are exploding in number and today some of us are posting about our best ideas for St. Louis food gifts. What do we mean? Well, we'll see! Maybe local somethings, maybe local sources, I haven't seen the other lists yet but am dying to know what we come up with collectively. Here's who is participating -- Kitchen Conservatory, St. Louis Eats & Drinks, Iron Stef, The Cupcake Project and Stl Bites -- check out their ideas for food gifts, too. And now, here you are, my own ideas for St. Louis Food Gifts.

American Visions - American Visions is the lovely gift shop at 9854 Manchester Road in Rock Hill, filled with pieces from American artists and craftsmen. My favorite food items are the beautiful-but-useable measuring cups and measuring spoons from the Tin Woodsman (scroll down to see samples). They come with wood stands, look just great on the counter but are entirely useable too.

Missouri pecans - Missouri is home to native pecan trees that grow alongside fields and rivers, mostly in farm country near Brunswick, 50 crow-miles northwest of Columbia, and Nevada, 90 miles south of Kansas City. Our shorter season and colder climate produce nuts that are smaller, sweeter and richer than the southern brethren. The nuts are remarkable, spectacular even. This site lists the St. Louis locations for Missouri native pecans. But I've also seen them at Straubs and have purchased at the Schnucks in Kirkwood, too.

Miller hams - If you're looking for locally produced and magnificent smoked ham, look no further than our own hometown of St. Louis. I buy Miller hams at Freddie's Market in Webster Groves at Big Bend and Rock Hill. I've cooked four of them in a year and haven't once been disappointed. Miller hams are also available right from the company's Benton Park location.

Apple sausage - I've been taste-testing the apple saugage and the salsiccia (ah! the salsiccia!) from McDonnell's Market in Kirkwood on Big Bend (west of Kirkwood Road, east of I270). It's handmade right there on the premises and is completely delicious. The apple sausage is only available through the holidays, however, so it's my pick for the moment.

Kakao Chocolate - Heather is the young chocolatier at Kakao Chocolate and had me mesmerized from the first nibble, with lavender and then cardamom in truffle bites. This is chocolate to savor in little little teeny tiny bites.

Steak 'n' Shake - Call me a sucker for experience but I'm partial to 3 a.m. trips to Steak 'n' Shake and Uncle Bill's and hey, even Denny's. It's all about the experience. But it could also be or Crown Candy Kitchen for a chocolate banana malt. (Isn't it cool that St. Louis' best ice cream parlor, an original, doesn't have a website but is listed in Wikipedia?!) Or hot dogs at Woofie's.

Chocolate Molasses Lollipops - It's what's best, now, in the new Bissinger's. These are a year-round St. Louis food tradition.

Prime Meat - from Ladue Market, where the butchers make even a reformed vegetarian feel welcome. This is the only place to buy retail prime meat in the entire St. Louis metro area, it's not cheap but, oh boy, is it good. This is where I get crown roasts and tenderloin for very special meals.

Knife Sharpening - Will someone please, please, pick up my knives and take them to Kitchen Conservatory for sharpening? While you're there, I'm out of Plugra and duck fat and covet a Emile Henry fluted pie plate. :0

Christmas Traditions Coffee - Only for a few weeks before the holidays, Cornucopia in downtown Kirkwood blends a lovely Christmas coffee called Christmas Traditions. It's bright with cinnamon, hazelnut and vanilla, perfect for holiday brunches and hot coffee around the Christmas tree all season long.



Straub's website has a nice collection of Missouri food gifts.

Here are more of my favorite St. Louis food specialties, updated occasionally.

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