It's the time of year when I leave behind the keyboard at five o'clock and happily head straight outside -- where I throw a frisbee for the dog who's not getting a good walk and then haul mulch, transplant ferns and hostas and perennial flowers, edge gardens, pick up &*$%# sweetgum balls, train rose bushes along the fenceline and ivy up the trellises, and ... and ... Just before dark, I move inside, glad that supper's waiting, something light and fresh and as spring-like as my garden ministrations. Add a glass of wine and ... let's just say a great night's sleep is next on the list! This is Asian Chicken Salad , just now published online from the 2003 Kitchen Parade column archives. It's also my contribution to ARF Tuesdays at Sweetnicks, a wonderful collection of ARF-rich inspirational dishes from all over the world. (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

No veggies today! Instead, try this simple raspberry cake . It's perfect for Mother's Day and is featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column. Looking for more food inspiration for Mother's Day ... breakfast in bed? a family dinner? both?! The Kitchen Parade Recipe Box has many recipes perfect for Mother's Day celebrations. (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

Today's vegetable recipe: Fresh asparagus roasted with thin slices of lemon. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. ~ recipe updated 2008 ~ 2006: This is tactile cook's dream. Just imagine a room already heady with lemon scent, then kneading your hands to roll the fat spears of local asparagus in sweet olive oil and fragrant oregano and thin-sliced slippery lemons and sweet Maldon salt, your fingers emerging sweet and salty and pungent and -- entirely lickable. This is a lovely treatment for asparagus! NEXT TIME I'll start roasting the lemons first, giving them 5 - 10 minutes head start. And the thinner the slices, the quicker they brown. NUTRITION NOTES I splurged and used the full 2 tablespoons of olive oil suggested by the inspiring recipe. But about half was left behind in the pan after roasting. So the full 2 tablespoons makes it easier to coat and roast the asparagus but isn't actually consumed -- unless you lick the pan?! FOR ST LOUISANS This is my first local vegeta

My dear Auntie Gloria -- one of the best cooks ever -- taught me how to assemble plates with a little bit of this and a tiny bit of that, all leftover from a day or a few days before. Add a sandwich or a bowl of soup and wow, it's like a smorgie (you know, a smorgasbord) on a plate. So starting about this time in spring, the fridge becomes home to two or three cold salads at a time. I'm always looking for new ideas for quick-prep and healthful salads. This particular carrot-spice salad didn't work for me on Day One. It did improve considerably by sitting overnight. Chef-Girl.net , who inspired the concoction, thinks resting helps, too, "It has a really nice flavour to it once it’s sat for a little while." KITCHEN NOTES ... Think about ... using lemon juice vs orange juice ... and skipping the dill seed entirely since it didn't soften and seemed off, somehow, combined with coriander and chili powder. FOR the RECORD ... This is my contribution to ARF Tue

Perfect for the local asparagus that are out in thick and thin, perfect for a quick supper, perfect for a Mother's Day brunch ... it's the Asparagus Custard Tart in this week's Kitchen Parade column. (It's also this week's contribution to May's Asparagus Aspirations at Seriously Good.) And the Kitchen Parade Recipe Box has many recipes perfect for Mother's Day celebrations. Breakfast in bed? A family dinner? Both?! (c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade

My recipe makeover for a simple bean salad, just beans and a few vegetables in a red wine vinaigrette. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real . Naturally Gluten Free. Without my recipe makeover, Tuscan Bean Salad would be a complete disaster nutrition-wise. A special problem is that at a quick glance, the inspiring recipe doesn't look "that bad". Just look at the primary ingredients, all healthy! Beans – beans are good! Tomato & spinach – vegetables are good! The oh-so-chic Mediterranean diet ingredients – olive oil & olives are good! But oh man, before I gave the recipe a makeover, a HALF CUP added up to an unbelievable 350 calories! A full cup of the pre-makeover Tuscan Bean Salad, as seemed right for a vegetarian main dish salad atop other greens (until I did the math), would gobble up 95% of a whole day's worth of calories for someone in 'lose weight' mode on Weight Watchers. If a bean salad is your idea of an occasional indulgence? The orig

Another keeper! More specifically: another quick vegetable side dish another low-calorie side dish another low-carb side dish another simple side dish another healthful side dish! NEXT TIME ... It's clean-out-the-freezer-time around here so this version was made with a bag of slightly freezer-burned broccoli -- it's safe to assume it'd be even more delicious with fresh broccoli! FOR THE RECORD ... This is my contribution to the weekly antioxidant-rich round-up over at Sweetnicks . It's an easy-easy event to contribute to -- and helps us all keep our eyes on increasing especially healthful ingredients to our diets! The inspiration for this simple broccoli dish came from Gourmetish who, I just now noted, adapted the recipe from a recent issue of Eating Well. That makes two Eating Well posts in a row -- Eating Well is fast becoming a go-to source for easy, healthful recipes, my kinda cookin'! FROM THE ARCHIVES ... Check out Just a Vegetable