A Veggie Venture: The Back Story

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

[Many thanks to Robin whose tomato spiral so perfectly symbolizes the seasonality of all food but especially fresh vegetables ...]

On April 1st, 2005, Kitchen Parade launched A Veggie Venture.

Half lark, half April Fool's joke, the goal ... it seemed so ambitious at the time! ... was to cook a vegetable, with new recipes and new vegetables, every single day for an entire month.

(Why? Because our diets need more vegetables. Because vegetables are too often an after-thought. And because it's easy to get stuck in a veggie rut.)

But after a month, it felt like I was just getting started ... and the asparagus was calling. And then ...

after three months, I discovered the vibrant food blogger community and home-grown tomatoes were just coming in
after six months, I was still learning and oh! it was time to roast fallÂs squashes
after nine months, the daily rhythm somehow sustained itself and the wintry root-vegetable purees tasted so good
and in the twelfth month, I came full circle, greeting the first spring vegetables like old friends not seen in a long while.

And so A Veggie Venture produced 365 days of vegetables cooked in new ways. Lots of lessons. Lots of new-to-me-vegetables. Lots of new favorites.

Along the way, a fellow food blogger dubbed me the Veggie Evangelist and I suddenly realized, Yes, that is my calling!

Today I am committed to providing continuing inspiration Asparagus to Zucchini and streamlining the Recipe Box to make it still easier and faster to find a quick vegetable for supper, the best low-carb vegetables, the best vegetable salads, the best vegetarian suppers, even the occasional sweet vegetable!

So ... explore away! All the recipes include nutrition estimates, Weight Watchers points and net-carb counts plus time requirements and cooking tips. Personal favorites are marked ♥ or ◄.

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Your Comments:

sprite on April 26, 2006

Woo hoo! I'm glad you'll be keeping up the site.

Alanna on April 26, 2006

Hugs & kisses, Sprite!

Ivonne on April 26, 2006

I echo Sprite's sentiments.

Gorgeous photo!

Anonymous on April 26, 2006

One more person who's glad you're continuing. That's great!

Kalyn on April 26, 2006

I was going to write exactly what Sprite said, even the woo hoo. So I'll just say, I'm happy to hear it.

Alanna on April 26, 2006

Woo hoo it is then! Hugs & kisses all around then! Thanks all ... it means the world.

Catherine on April 26, 2006

Excellent! Glad you decided to continue!

Sharon Mc on April 26, 2006

I have been sooo dispirited this last week or two. I was afraid that you would move on to something else and while I probably would have liked your new venture, I absolutely love the vegetables. Thank you for keeping on.

Sharon

jennifer on April 27, 2006

Whew, the veggie evangelism will continue! I am so relieved. (as are all the future converts, even if they don't know it yet :)

Anonymous on April 27, 2006

My daily blog browsing has been incomplete lately -- but no more!

GORGEOUS photo!

80KD

stephen on April 27, 2006

Congratulations Alanna on a wonderful first year!...so, how about 3650 days of veggie goodness as the new plan? I look forward to it every day...
best, Stephen

Erika on April 27, 2006

Can I add a woo-hoo? A woo hoo for veggies!

Mindy T. on May 03, 2006

Happy (belated) anniversary! Just imagine all the extra anti-oxidizing you've done this past year. Drop me an email or comment, Alanna, about The Veggie Evangelist. I'm a contributor but still wondering what you had in mind for me to contribute..

http://mindycooks.blogspot.com

Tea on May 05, 2006

Congratulations on a veggie-filled year, and add my whoo hoo to the chorus! You're an inspiration (and lovely as well:-). Keep it up!