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Day 42: Thai Eggplant

Look what I found in the market yesterday! These Thai eggplant were so pretty, I couldn't resist. It took some effort (to say the least) to figure out how to cook them. Sources suggested standard eggplant cooked Thai-style (not what I was hoping for), eating them raw (I did ... that, ahem, might be an acquired taste), deep frying (I just couldn't bring myself) or long lists of unfamiliar and likely hard-to-find ingredients. So ... armed with a few ideas and a big sense of adventure, I moved to the kitchen. Cooking, the eggplants remained a pretty green, the turmeric later added a yellow cast -- very pretty. And ... yes, quite tasty, a complete, if time-consuming, Veggie Venture success. How fun, sheer fun, is can be to 'play' with your food! Enjoy -- THAI EGGPLANT Active time: 15 minutes Time to table: 20 minutes Serves 4 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon garlic (from a jar!) 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (this, too, from a jar!) 1 pound Thai eggplant, abo

Day 41: Carrot Coins with Dill

~ recipe updated & photo added in 2006 ~ Simple! Tasty! Fast! A good recipe, especially if you have leftover fresh dill ... or later in the season, dill that needs cutting back. Lesson: A hand-held julienne tool is worthless, at least for something as hard as a carrot. I fiddled a bit then got out a sharp knife: in a couple of minutes, there was a satisfying pile of thin, orange coins. I'd love a mandoline but haven't yet made the investment. (2007 Update: I love my new mandoline .) A food processor would have worked fine either for slicing or grating. For only a pound of carrots, however, in my world, the food processor wasn't worth the trouble (getting it out even though it's handy, making room in the dishwasher, putting it away ... you get the picture!) June 2006 Note: These were just as good the second year! Next time I'll get out the food processor and cook up two or three pounds to keep on hand. I used only a teaspoon of peanut oil. The verdict

Day 40: Easy Refrigerator Salad ♥

Today's easy make-ahead vegetable salad: A 'concept' recipe for a refrigerator salad that keeps, made from frozen vegetables and chopped onion, celery and pepper. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point or no points. Not just vegan, " Vegan Done Real ". ~recipe updated & reposted 2008, updated 2012 ~ ~ more recently updated recipes ~ 2005: Another make-ahead recipe, another keeps-awhile recipe - this time from my mother who kept a jar in her fridge year-round. Her favored frozen vegetable mix was that classic round peas, square carrots and oval corn combinations. But it was good! Tonight I used what was in the freezer, broccoli and cauliflower. But another time I would use the stir-fry mixes that the supermarkets carry. But I'd experiment, too: lima beans, anyone? 2008: My friend Mary recently shared a favorite recipe, one she calls "Weight Watchers Festive Vegetable Salad". The ingredient list was so familiar: sure enough, it was nearly the same

Day 39: Coconut Yams

Pretty good! Tonight I took advantage of a microwave bag of yams picked up at Trader Joe's last week. Cooking couldn't have been simpler: slit the bag, toss it in the microwave for eight minutes, mash the contents, then start doctoring. The bag's doctor directions called for 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and 6 tablespoons of butter. OH MY! Of course it's good with that much sugar and fat! My version is considerably lighter and certainly tastes like - surprise! - yam because its own flavor isn't masked by sugar and fat. And my version would probably make your real doctor happier, too. Even so, Coconut Yams are higher in calories than I prefer for an every-day vegetable. Yams do taste a bit like the sweet potatoes we're more used to. Their texture is different, starchier and heavier, though not unpleasantly so. COCONUT YAMS Active time: 5 minutes Time to table: 15 minutes Makes 6 half-cup servings 20 ounces Trader Joe's diced yams in microwavea

Day 38: Summer Dill Salad ♥

~recipe & photo updated in 2007~ Scary thought but this has been a summer favorite for 14 years - the original recipe card is dated July 1991! Like Swedish Beets , it's made ahead and refrigerated until serving time. It makes a lot so lasts a few days. Does this recipe stray from A Veggie Venture's intent? Heavens, it's even called a 'salad' -- that's no 'vegetable'! Hmmm. Decision time. Here it is: the main ingredient is a vegetable. Since A Veggie Venture's real intent is to help us get out of a rut, look for similar recipes in coming weeks, especially since they're so well suited to relaxed summer cooking and eating. Are we agreed?! PHOTO UPDATE 2007: The dill in my small herb garden is very sad-looking but the basil, now the basil is happy -- and so is this salad, with basil as a substitute for dill. SUMMER DILL SALAD Active time: 15 minutes Time to table: 2 hours Makes 6 cups Water to cover 1 teaspoon table salt 2 pounds frozen peas 1/

Day 37: Roasted Salmon & Asparagus

Tonight was a special supper, a one-dish meal, fish and vegetable all in one. It's available here , as a Kitchen Parade extra.