Pretty good! And easy! And fast! Thus: a keeper! Cooking the spinach in the lemon and honey -- vs adding them afterward -- inserts a brightness I've not noticed before. And I really liked the underlying bite from the red pepper flakes. LEMON & HONEY GLAZED SPINACH Active time: 20 minutes (including 7 to clean farmer's market spinach) Time to table: 20 minutes Serves 4 with small portions, 2 with generous portions 1 pound spinach greens (see ALANNA's TIPS) 1 tablespoon olive oil (see TIPS) 1 tablespoon garlic (from a jar!) Zest of a lemon Juice from about half a lemon 1 tablespoon honey (next time, try doubling) 1 teaspoon kosher salt Red pepper flakes Salt & pepper Clean greens well, removing tough stems. (See TIPS.) Heat a large skillet on MEDIUM HIGH. Add olive oil and let heat. Add garlic, zest, lemon juice, honey, salt and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, then stir a bit. Add about half the greens and stir well continuously. As the greens b

Wondering what to make with that door weight called a rutabaga that showed up in your CSA box? LOL, start here, a silky-smooth mash of apples and the golden-colored root vegetable called rutabaga (or swede, a much prettier name, yes?). It has gorgeous color and is a lovely side dish or better still, an "under dish". Real Food, Fresh & Seasonal. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian. Naturally Gluten Free.

Tonight's Lesson: No matter what your mother used to say, it's perfectly okay to "play with your food". On Saturday, I made an early trip to Soulard, the big St Louis farmers market. My favorite farmer is Charles, who has the best rhubarb, spinach and basil in the market. This week his stand also displayed bundles of greens tied with string. 'Poke' read the hand-written sign. I wondered out loud, What in heavens is poke? and another shopper answered, Don't you know that old song, Poke Salad Annie? (I didn't but listened to it here .) There was no leaving the poke behind! No matter that I hadn't a single clue how to cook it. Online I learned that 'poke salad' is a citified 'poke sallet', that Harlan County, Kentucky holds an annual Poke Sallet Festival , and that most recipes call for a 'mess of greens' and specify cooking the tender-looking shoots in fresh water three times, then cooking them with onions in a 'heap of b

~ recipe updated & photo added in 2006 ~ Tonight was good, completely worth repeating. It was tasty, easy and fast - and a great way to take advantage of the piles of fresh asparagus that are at farm stands and the supermarket. Tonight I served this atop mostly-white omelettes: delicious. Leeks have an almost-sweetish onion essence. Paired with butter, they are delicious. When seeking a sweet touch of onion, why not use a "sweet onion" like a Vidalia? Sweet onions lose their onion-oomph when cooked so are best used raw. Leeks, however, will impart that sweet touch. LEEKS & ASPARAGUS Active time: 5 minutes + occasional stirring Time to table: 15 minutes for thin spears, 25 for fat spears Serves 4 1 tablespoon butter 1 large leek or 2 small leeks (see ALANNA's TIPS) 1 pound asparagus, thin or thick spears, woody ends removed, and if thick, stripes of skin removed with a vegetable peeler Salt & pepper Melt butter in a skillet over MEDIUM HIGH. Reduce heat to MEDI

~ recipe updated & photo added in 2007 ~ A keeper, magnificent in its simplicity especially on nights when the oven is already hot. Roasting is especially good for fat spears of asparagus and takes only a few minutes to clean, trim and prep the asparagus and then only a few minutes in the oven, too. Two great kitchen tools were put to use tonight: Mister - Put your favorite olive oil in a non-aerosol olive oil mister , then spray vegetables, salads or pans. The mister makes a light, even coating of oil - the theory is (and I believe it) that you use less oil. I especially like the mister when roasting vegetables for it's easier to coat a big pile of vegetables with a light spray than tossing them in a tablespoon or two of oil. Microplane - A microplane makes a big pile of fluffy parmesan in a flash. It's ten times better than your best grater. Multi-tasks with citrus zest, chocolate and coconut too. [Update 4/07 There are several models and I have now invested in two differ

Quick 'n' easy, with ingredients already in the pantry. Okay, except for the beets -- canned, mind you! - that are easy enough to keep on hand. And the ruby color can't be beat! Canned beets are pretty good -- not as good as fresh cooked but not awful, like canned peas or canned carrots. I tried two brands tonight, one a national name brand, another a local chain's house brand. There was a 10 percent price difference but no discernible difference in taste. BEETS IN ORANGE SAUCE Active time: 10 minutes Time to table: 15 minutes Serves 4 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon butter (omitted, didn't miss at all!) 1 cup orange juice 2 15 ounce cans beets Salt & pepper Place medium saucepan on MEDIUM heat. Working quickly while saucepan heats, mix brown sugar, cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in the saucepan with a wooden spoon, working out the lumps. Slowly add

Oh, you're so going to love this easy vegetable combination, the best thing to happen to mashed potatoes since, well, mashing potatoes. But the recipe has moved to a new location, please see Mashed Potatoes & Carrots at Kitchen Parade, my food column. Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables . Join " veggie evangelist " Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special. © Copyright Kitchen Parade 2005, 2011 (repub), 2016 & 2020 (retire)