Best Vegetable Recipes of 2012 ♥ Personal Favorites

The best vegetable recipes of 2012 from A Veggie Venture, just one per month, all in one handy spot for easy reference.

It's that time of year, the week when we food bloggers look back over a year's worth of recipes and pick our favorites! I love-love-love this process! It really helps us hone our recipe collections, highlighting the best of the already very good, especially for sites like A Veggie Venture and my food column Kitchen Parade which by design, already post only really good recipes, the ones that work, the ones that are special or especially useful. (Here's the 2012 favorite recipes from Kitchen Parade too.)

But I also love all the many sources of "best of the year" lists for movies, books, gadgets, etc. So this year, I'm collecting "best of the year" lists on Pinterest. Follow me there and you'll see all the new entries over the next couple of weeks on this board, Best of the Year Lists & Favorites.

But okay, here you go, my favorite recipes for 2012. Do we share some favorites? Have I completely missed one you loved? Let me know in the comments!
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Good Luck for 2013: New Year's Soup Recipe ♥ with Black-eyed Peas & Collard Greens

Today's soup recipe: Easy, healthy and satisfying, a good way to kick off the new year (even a few days early!) after the indulgence of the holiday. For Weight Watchers, just 2 points (PointsPlus) and 1 point (Old Points).

So how did 2012 treat you? Mine was just swell, thanks for asking. (And yours? Do tell!) Should credit be given to this lovely little soup that I cooked up for New Years a year ago? Maybe! You see, by southern tradition, black-eyed peas bring "good fortune" to the new year and greens – any green, that's collard greens, turnip greens, kale, chard, etc – bring "financial success".

And no bitter medicine, this soup. It really hits a sweet spot with just a tiny touch of underlying heat. It's a vegan soup, though no one will likely notice. On the other hand, a little ham or bacon wouldn't hurt here (Note to Vegetarians). Meat isn't needed, mind you, but it would just add a protein component and calories that might especially satisfy, say, the menfolk at the table.

DO BLACK-EYED PEAS NEED TO SOAK BEFORE GETTING COOKED? Great news, they don't! So this soup is easy to make right now, ASAP. You might even have all the ingredients on hand!
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Easy-Easy Healthy Holiday Appetizers: Party Rye with Tomato & Cucumber ♥

Today's easy appetizer recipe, red and green for the holidays but fresh and festive for summer, too. Just one Weight Watchers point!

Scramble mode, that's me just before a party's to start, that rush-rush hour or so when there will be exactly enough time to get everything done but not a minute, not a second, more. How does that happen anyway?

But here's an appetizer I used to keep in my back pocket, just in case I really ran short of time and the appetizer I'd planned, more elegant but more fussy, just wasn't going to happen. But now I just put these out on purpose, because people like them. There's nothing unfamiliar or mysterious about this, you also can tell, hey, it looks fresh and healthy. So these just go, one by one, some people back for seconds and thirds, until the platter is empty.

I hesitate to call this a recipe, really, it's more like a visual suggestion, an eyeball reminder. Buy a packet of those small party squares (I'm partial to the rye ones, more flavor), slather on a little Boursin or something similar, then add thin slices of tomato and cucumber. The real trick though? The bit of seasoning salt on top!
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Turning Veganise, I really think so....

So, to anyone who still pops by to say "Hi" (and we do still read all of your comments!), Paul and I have become Vegan! But the blogging fun doesn't stop there. We have decided to recreate many of our favourite meat-filled recipes to suit our new vegan lifestyle. And, of course, we're blogging about it:
vegankitchentable.blogspot.co.uk
So pop on over if you're thinking about making the switch or just want to give your body a rest from dairy or meat for a while. Or even if you just want to say "Hi" again.
You'll be glad you did :)

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Silky Smooth Corn Pudding ♥ Recipe

Today's extra-easy Thanksgiving vegetable recipe: An oh-so-smooth custardy corn pudding that takes all of ten minutes to throw together. Now don't turn up your nose that it starts with a can of creamed corn. The resulting custard is slightly sweet, oh-so-smooth that I promise, no one will know. Everyone will think you are a kitchen magician!

Have you developed your own style, a personal preference for taste and timing? I sure have. When it's supper for one or two, my style is to make it fresh, eat it asap, no setting the slow cooker in the morning, no putting aside meals for the freezer.

But for parties and family gatherings? I am the make-ahead queen. That's why virtually every single Thanksgiving recipe here on A Veggie Venture includes tips for making a dish the day before. Last year's Thanksgiving, I cooked and prepped so much on the Wednesday that by Thursday morning, all that was left was to "cook" was the turkey my grandmother's butterhorns in the oven: talk about a relaxing day!

This easy corn pudding recipe strays from style but compensates by prepping – assembling, really is all – in a flat ten minutes. For such simplicity, the results are astounding, this dish looks and tastes like the cook spent time and effort coddling a custard.

T MINUS NINE DAYS Who's still looking for ideas for Thanksgiving recipes? I've got lots to share, from Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Favorite Vegetables to Vegetarian Entrées for Thanksgiving to a full Six Thanksgiving Menus.
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Simple "Sweet Potato" Potato Salad ♥ Recipe with Hardly Any Mayonnaise

Today's healthy sweet potato salad recipe, made with a bare minimum of mayonnaise, just enough to hold the salad together. Great crunch from celery, a touch of sweetness from honey and a few chopped dried cranberries. When made with vegan mayonnaise, not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

Two things to know about this sweet potato salad.

It's really a classic potato salad, except that it's made with sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. Why don't we do this more often?
It's "barely dressed" with hardly any mayonnaise, just enough to hold it all together. This makes the taste and texture all about the softness of the sweet potatoes, the crunch of the celery and the "tiny bit" of sweetness from the dried cranberries. Why don't we do this more often?

But make that three.

You want to make this salad, you really do. It's so simple and somehow, it just works. Besides, you know, don't you? that the sweet potato is the favorite vegetable for Thanksgiving? It is, I tell that story here in Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Favorite Vegetables. This salad? It totally makes the list.
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Quinoa Pilaf with Kale & Corn ♥ Recipe

Today's new favorite kale recipe: Quinoa and kale cooked in one pot, then tossed with a bright lemon vinaigrette and a few kernels of corn. You might serve it on the side, you might choose it for Meatless Monday.

So. Confession time. You know that household chore you put off and put off and put off some more and then when you finally buck up and just do it, well, it takes all of ten minutes start to finish? (Except for the four months it took to get around to it in the first place.) Kale is like that for me, it's a bit of a chore, something I ought to buy/cook/eat more of but always put off. Then when I finally do, I'm half surprised to realize all over again, that "Hey! Kale is really good stuff!" And no chore at all!

Enter this quinoa, just quinoa and kale cooked at the same time in the same pot – yay, just one dish – then tossed with raw corn kernels and a lemon vinaigrette and topped with a few toasted walnuts and feta. That's it. Why did I put this off? You don't want to make the same mistake.
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Fried Zucchini Sticks vs Baked Zucchini Sticks ♥ Recipe

<< Today's vegetable recipe: My friend Helen's recipe for Fried Zucchini Sticks (what she calls just "Fried Zucchini") plus my test of the same recipe, but baked, so Baked Zucchini Sticks. It's a face-off, Fried vs Baked in taste, calories and Weight Watchers points. Which recipe wins out, the Fried Zucchini Sticks or the Baked Zucchini Sticks? You might just be surprised. >>

Are fried vegetables the "gateway" technique for vegetable haters? I admit a weakness for fried plants: fried onions, fried green beans, fried pickles, fried okra, fried eggplant. Fried eggplant? Yes, it's been known to turn self-proclaimed "we are not eggplant people" into fried-eggplant fiends.

So why no fried vegetables on A Veggie Venture? Well, it's a healthy-eating thing. Because we all know that fried food is bad, right? Right?

Well maybe it is, maybe it isn't. These Fried Zucchini Sticks were fried in a skillet that started with 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) of vegetable oil. When they were done, 5-1/3 tablespoons (1/3c) of vegetable oil was still in the pan. That means that exactly 2-2/3 tablespoons of oil were used to fry the zucchini sticks.

Now granted, 2-2/3 tablespoons of oil is considerably more than the 1 tablespoon of oil I typically allow for a pound of vegetables. But it's also considerably less than the 1/4 cup of oil I often see used in vegetable recipes in magazines and cookbooks.

That said, I really did want to see how Fried Zucchini Sticks and Baked Zucchini Sticks compared, taste-wise, goodness-wise. The verdict?
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Baked Oatmeal with Pumpkin & Pears ♥ Recipe

Today's healthy breakfast recipe: Oatmeal baked with pumpkin plus fall fruit, pumpkin-pie spices and nuts. There's just enough pumpkin for color and moisture without making the oatmeal dense and heavy.

Come October 1, American-based food blogs take on a fevered orange tinge – pumpkin orange, that is – as we go cra-zee for pumpkin recipes. I have my own collection, My Favorite Pumpkin Recipes but am always happy to add another! "Never look a gift pumpkin in the face," I say, especially when it's a healthy pumpkin recipe. :-)

The last few weeks, I've been made one pan of Easy Baked Oatmeal after another, twice with blueberries and bananas, twice with apples and pears (and the all-important bananas), then twice more with pumpkin and pears (and more bananas). It took some tweaking to get the right amount of pumpkin and pumpkin-pie-type spices and the baking time right, but the last batch was just excellent.
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Roasted Whole Red Onions Recipe ♥ with Sweet Potatoes & Rosemary

<< Today's colorful vegetable recipe: A double punch of vegetable color from small whole red onions and the cubes of sweet potatoes, roasted together in a sherry-sweetened broth with pungent rosemary. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real". >>

Wow. Talk about a flavor pop, both the onions and the sweet potatoes, roasted in a hot oven. Plus I love cooking two vegetables at the same time, fewer moving parts getting dinner on the table.

The trick is to find small red onions, I don't see them often, these came from the garden of our Minnesota friends the Rassmussens. But once you have small red onions, they're so pretty, it seems a shame to just cut them up. So this was a really special way to use small red onions, showing off their shape and color, really making the onions themselves stand out. If you had enough, you could do a dish with all red onions too, no sweet potatoes. Either one would add color to a buffet table, say. Plus people really like cooked onions!

FYI the photograph was taken before the dish went into the oven but the colors stayed really true out of the oven too.
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Slow Cooker Butternut Squash with Ginger & Dried Fruit Recipe ♥ Recipe

Today's Thanksgiving recipe: A plain-looking but anything-but-plain tasting butternut squash side dish, bright with ginger and slightly sweet with orange and dried fruit. It's cooked in a slow cooker, oh-so easy and oh-so good.

On Saturday, I stood in the detergent aisle at the Walmart, already confounded by too many choices only to be blasted by a perky Jingle Bell Rock from the sound system. As if the detergent decision wasn't enough, to hear, you know, Christmas music in September, I could have melted into an anything-but-red-and-green puddle right then and there.

But an early Thanksgiving? Bring it on! American Thanksgiving is early this year, which actually makes the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas almost manageable. But the Canadians are even more sensible with an October Thanksgiving, this year a week early too, on October 8. Most years, I cook a turkey for Canadian Thanksgiving, a sort of prelude to the big family gathering in November: not so this year, I fear.

But this is an easy, oh-so-tasty side dish for Thanksgiving, especially since it's cooked in a slow cooker because we all know how quickly the oven gets overloaded cooking that big meal.
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Pennsylvania Dutch Green Beans with Bacon ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: A hearty late-summer or fall side dish. (Thanksgiving? Yes that too, especially Canadian Thanksgiving which falls in mid October when it's often still quite warm.) The beans are topped with a sweet 'n' sour sauce, crispy bacon and a chopped egg.

Cookbooks are always welcome gifts but The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food by Ian Knauer was an inspired choice. For starters, these inscriptions were penned by two of my favorite cook's grandchildren. Yes, they brought tears:

Dear PopPop, I like gardening with you. Teach me how to cook from the garden. I love you, A.J.
Dear Grandpa, I like your garden! Here's a book on how to cook with it! Love, E.

Two days later, "PopPop" aka Grandpa and the kids selected recipes from the cookbook, shopped for groceries and set up to cook dinner. What a feast! A venison loin rubbed with mustard, oil and fresh herbs. Homemade biscuits, light as air! Green beans topped with a sweet-sour sauce, bacon and a chopped egg. "How are the green beans?" I asked at the table. "Fantastic!" murmured E., reaching for another bite.

Twas grand.
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Swiss Chard Skillet Supper Recipe ♥ with Tomatoes, Corn, Feta, Fresh Dill & Toasted Walnuts

<< Today's vegetarian supper recipe: A quick 'n' easy way to cook Swiss chard with other vegetables, here, tomatoes and corn. One of the best vegetarian dishes I've made all year! Low carb, low fat, and just Weight Watchers 3 points. Healthy and delicious, no beating that combination! >>

Call me late to this party, the online project that health-conscious food bloggers launched while I was off for awhile this summer. The idea is to explore a new "power food" every week following the list from Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients. I'm arriving near the tail end of the vegetables, these are the ones the book identifies as "power food" vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beets, bell peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, kale, mushrooms, spinach, sweet potatoes, swiss chard, tomatoes, winter squash. Of all these? The one I have the least connection with is Swiss chard so after all, the timing is excellent.
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Mighty Perfect Cabbage & Broccoli Coleslaw ♥ Recipe

Today's healthy coleslaw recipe, a mix of colorful fresh cabbage and broccoli, cooked a little - just a little - in the microwave before adding a low-calorie vinaigrette. It's a slaw recipe with ambition, eager to please. Pretty green broccoli slaw? Yep. Low carb slaw? You bet! Weight Watchers-friendly slaw? Of course! Plus not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

So let's talk straight about all the things that can go wrong with a coleslaw recipe, the things that so easily and all too often do go wrong with a coleslaw recipe, turning out cole slaw like this:

Too soggy, too watery. (How many coleslaw recipes are victims of this?)
Too raw and well, cabbage-y.
Too bland and unseasoned. (Such a waste of good cabbage, these coleslaw recipes!)
Too much dressing which translates into "too many calories". (How many coleslaw recipes turn out to be complete disasters, calorie-wise?)
Like a plain-jane slaw with not enough going on, but some times, a cole slaw that just tries too hard, with too much going on. (Poor sad things, these coleslaw recipes.)

This coleslaw recipe fixes all those cole slaw problems! (Maybe we should put the Cooks Illustrated folks onto the European debt crisis.) This recipe is all about technique. (You could even apply the steps to your own favorite recipe.) There are two extra steps:
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Forrest, Victoria - great from every angle

Forrest, Victoria, Australia. Interesting facts: Population 238 -  dog lovers, beer connoisseurs and mountain bike fanciers. On my count there are about 1:15 official mtb tracks per resident of Forrest.

We've just returned home after four nights in Forrest with a few close friends to celebrate my hubby's birthday. In summary; an action packed, fun and very comfortable long, long weekend.

We stayed at Forrest Church Retreat on the main drag. Great location - walking distance to the Brewery and a short ride to the many MTB trails.

The Forrest Church Retreat has four separate sleeping areas (two private, with double beds, another double bed on mezzanine (although open to the house), plus four bunk beds in an open rumpus/entry area. It cost us $1500 for 4 nights - pretty good value split between the 5 of us. The Retreat was well equipped for riders with a lockable bike shed, plenty of under cover bike racks and a big washing machine to clean those filthy riding clothes! The house (a converted church, amen) has a big, functional and open kitchen which was a lot of fun to use. Pretty much everything we needed was there - coffee plunger, dishwasher and ample pots and pans. All linen was provided (and was clean - bonus!). Wood fire, and ducted heating kept us toasty on the winter days and nights. 3 bathrooms made things comfortable too. The house can sleep 10, but noise and headspace would be a consideration. No pets, yard is not secure so leave the kids at home. Overall, very happy and we hope to get back there.

Visits to the Forrest Brewing Company became a daily ritual for our little cohort:
Thursday: coffee and lunch - smashing steak sangers, savory pastry selection and interesting soup... fuel for a big afternoon of riding... but more on that later.
Friday: beers and salty chips after a muddy ride in the late afternoon, sitting outside under the tin roof listening to the rain and studying the enormous trail maps affixed to the brewery wall.
Saturday: dinner, including confit pork belly with smoked beetroot and local spuds; thai style fried rice; and the obligatory steak/chips/salad combo. Sticky date pudding with a birthday candle made our night.

It wasn't a fluke. The place was consistent - with the great team working the welcoming magic, keeping the fire going, turning out the great food, beer and impeccable service. Read more or check out the video on the FBC website. Top beers on tap included pale ale, red ales and blocksplitter stout. Also a few local wines on offer. A triumphant local gem.

Anyhoo... the main reason I'm writing about Forrest isn't the beer, or the accommodation, it's the bike adventures! Might be going away from the traditional homeharvestcook focus... but what the heck! It's about celebrating the good things in life.

This was our fourth visit to the Forrest mountain bike tracks in the past few years. We are drawn by the technical trails, fast flowing loops, and overall variety. Heaps of useful information and maps here: RideForrest.

A riding highlight for me was a one-on-one lesson with Jess Douglas [accomplished world champ endurance MTB-er]. Read all about her here: Jess Douglas. Yep she knows how to ride a bike. What a treat! Jess runs MTB Skills, a growing business which currently runs group and individual courses in Victoria, Tasmania, NSW and Queensland. Lots of info on the website.

It had been raining in Forrest for most of the week leading up to my scheduled lesson, and we almost bugged out on account of the wet and cold... but after a hearty lunch at the Brewery, we decided to suck it up and make the most of a gap in the rain.  Rugged up in thermals and multiple layers we headed out on the Yaugher trails. Jess patiently coached me through cornering, correct positioning and technique, and helped me overcome some fears. A few hours coaching with Jess was a great way to kick off the long weekend of riding, and I had a few solid days afterwards to practise and reconcile.

Here's a happy snap after the lesson. I was totally exhausted, albeit inspired, and elated to have knocked over some of my biking demons.  I highly recommend this experience for anyone wanting to improve their riding skills.

Over the following few days, we covered plenty of ground on the Yaugher trails - unfortunately the Southern loop was too wet and we didn't want to risk damaging the tracks. The Forrest Mountain Bike & Cycling Club are a committed bunch, running events and working with DSE and local landowners to maintain the trails. Let's not ruin them in the wet, ok?!

In addition to great riding and the brewery, Forrest has limited facilities (but that is part of the charm). There's a pub and a general store with limited opening hours. We heard a whisper there's a new bike/coffee store coming soon - The Corner Store - for bike hire, maintenance (including help if stranded on a trail - brilliant!) as well as cake and coffee. I will look forward to checking it out next time we're in town.

While away, I enjoyed a yoga class in nearby Apollo Bay with the ever smiling and positivity-oozing Natasha Sikand. She runs regular classes as well as retreats. Delicious porridge for brunch at Cafe 153 in Apollo Bay after yoga. Coffee was good too!

We also checked out the small nearby town of Birregurra, perusing local produce at the Birregurra Farm Foods and Provedore and eating ah-mazing burgers from the general store.

All in all, a magnificent and action packed, super-sized weekend in a beautiful corner of the earth.

Forrest, thanks for having us.

E

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/346/1647728/restaurant/Victoria/Apollo-Bay/Forrest-brewing-company-Forrest"><img alt="Forrest brewing company on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1647728/biglink.gif" style="border:none;padding:0px;width:200px;height:146px" /></a>

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Summer's Best Corn Chowder ♥ Recipe

A simple corn chowder recipe, packed with our favorite fresh summer vegetables like onion, carrot, red pepper, potato and sweet potato and of course, the soup's real star, kernels of sweet corn. As bright and colorful as crates of fresh vegetables lined up at the farmstand. Perfect for CSA members because the corn chowder recipe uses so many fresh vegetables, all at once.

In winter, big pots of simmering soup are a given, hearty bowls to warm us from the inside out. But what about summer soup, do you make summer soup? Summer soups are just different, aren't they? Lighter and livelier, more likely to be all about the fresh vegetables that are so alluring during these heady summer months.

For me, summer just isn't summer without at least two must-make summer soup recipes, Tomato Gazpacho, the chilled tomato summer soup that turned me into a seasonal eater, and this corn chowder recipe, bits of summer vegetables and sweet kernels of corn in a milky broth. It's takes a little chopping, we do love to cut vegetables, don't we? :-)

I like this corn chowder served warm, not hot, the better to really taste the individual vegetables, bite by bite. It's similar to Finnish Summer Soup, one of my very oldest recipes. Add shrimp and scallops and bits of fresh tomato for Summer Seafood Chowder, another summer chowder.

All fans of summer soup will definitely want to check out my collection of Favorite Summer Soup Recipes, some chilled, some warm, all filled with summer vegetables (and fruit too!) and summer color.
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Corn & Cucumber Salad with Fresh Blueberries ♥

Today's summer salad recipe: An intriguing blend of corn (for sweetness), cucumber (for bulk) and blueberries (for tart) in a vinaigrette spiked with a little cumin, which adds just the right amount of underlying smokiness. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

What a difference a single ingredient can make! I made this salad a few weeks back, making what I thought was a "safe substitute": inexpensive blackberries for expensive blueberries. The texture was right, the size was right, the color was right but with blackberries? The salad underwhelms.

Then, laden with more blackberries and peaches than was prudent for someone leaving on vacation in a few days, I was chatting up a woman in the pay-up line out at Wind Ridge Farm not far outside St. Louis. She'd arrived early and clutched several quarts of blueberries. Masking my blueberry-envy, I asked her plans for them. First, she said, she'd make her favorite corn and blueberry salad, then ticked off all the ingredients you see here.
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Cooler Corn: How to Cook Corn in a Beer Cooler ♥

How to cook fresh summer sweet corn in a cooler – and more importantly, why you want to cook those gorgeous ears of corn in one, whether you're camping or not.

Now let me confess right off, I got some grief for cooking corn in a beer cooler. "You might as well cook that corn in the dishwasher," was the less-than-excited response. But a real veggie evangelist will press on even under pressure, ever on the hunt for new and interesting – and always, useful – ways to cook vegetables.

Besides, I was pretty sure my dear Auntie Karen was onto something when she sent me the "recipe" awhile back. (Ha! Is something this easy a recipe? Yes, if it's life-changing, you bet.)

It felt like a good idea for cooking corn outside, camping, say, or for a shore lunch when fishing.
It felt like a good way to cook a whole mess of corn for a crowd with practically zero fuss and muss.

But here's the thing, why this is my new way to cook corn:
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Creamy Feta Mousse with Greek Salads ♥

Some times, a salad isn't as much about the vegetables as what's served on the side, in this case a creamy-tangy "mousse" made with feta cheese. It's almost an excuse to make an extra-special salad, one that's as beautiful as it is appetizing. That said, the creamy feta spread is one of those little "something I cooked up" that's great to have in the fridge. You'll find ways to use it, I promise. And Weight Watchers? While it tastes ever-so-rich, a whole quarter cup is only 3 points.

My friend Cindy loves the feta mousse at the St. Louis restaurant Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar, but so far, Chef Lisa Slay is loathe to share a recipe with Special Request, my weekly restaurant-recipe request column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That's okay, I respect this chef's choice: some recipes, you just want to keep in the family. Well, maybe not bloggers. When we find a recipe we love, we can't wait to share it ...

So somewhere along the way, Cindy found a recipe in Food & Wine that she thought might be close to the feta mousse at Remy's. It called for feta and heavy cream, she found this too rich. I made it with feta and buttermilk and well, honestly, fell in L-O-V-E.

If you love feta, you'll love this "mousse" – though honestly, I'm not sure that mousse is the right name, for this isn't marshmallow-light. It's got that wonderful feta tang, made smooth, made spreadable, made try-not-to-gobble-it-by-the-spoonful.
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Ragubbit or Rabbigu?

Making my first rabbit ragu - it's in the oven as I start this post. For some reason the unusual and uncommon meats seem to make us squirmish. Fear of the unknown? Trying to challenge that attitude by proving that rabbit can be awesome. Time will tell.

After reviewing my cooking library and taking some inspiration online, I decided to freestyle it.

Found these recipes helpful: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/meat/recipe/pappardelle-with-rabbit-ragu-20111019-1m68w.html (because it didn't suggest using the kidney - baby steps!)

and

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rabbit-Ragu-233984 (because it included bacon!)

Contemplating making my own pasta, but not sure I have enough eggs... or energy! Would be a good opportunity to give the food processor (that I pined over last christmas and have barely used), a run. Hmm. But the ready-made stuff is so easy.

The rough-and-tumble recipe:
Preheat oven 170 degrees celcius.
Chop: 1 rabbit into 6 pieces - [husband, cleaver or both are very handy at this point].
Chop: 2 brown onions, 4 garlic cloves, 3 sticks of celery, 1 large mushroom*, 150g bacon; 3 carrots.
*[not sure this is too traditional, but we love mushies, so why not!]

Heat olive oil in a heavy pan (which has a lid and is suitable for the oven). Brown the rabbit pieces in the oil. You may need to do this in two batches depending on the size of your pan. You don't want to overcrowd the meat during browning process. Once browned on all sides, remove meat from the pan.

Add a little more olive oil, throw in onions, garlic, celery, carrots, mushroom and bacon. Fry for a few minutes, stirring. Add some fresh sage and rosemary leaves, and a bay leaf. Add a cup of white wine to deglaze the pan and scrape all the sticky bits off the bottom so they get into the stew and don't burn. Cook for a few more minutes, the veges should be softening. Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 cup tomato passata, and 2 cups chicken stock. Return the rabbit to the pan. Add a little more stock or white wine (depending on taste) so that there are no sneaky bits of meat sticking out of the liquid.

Pop in the oven and cook for 2 hours. Remove meat from the pan, pull meat away from bones and discard bones. Return meat to the pan. Put on stovetop and cook until the liquid is reduced.

Serve with pappardelle pasta (interesting fact: 'pappardelle' comes from the Italian word 'pappare' which means 'to gobble up' or 'tuck into' - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pappare)

Looking forward to it! Time for a glass of wine methinks!

____________


The finished product

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Farmers Market Quiche with Crispy Potato Crust ♥

A great quiche that's packed with bits of a variety of fresh summer vegetables, whatever's on hand. The eggs are sweetened with fresh corn, the quiche's crust is thin layers of potato, really good and crispy like good hashed browns. For Weight Watchers, the potato crust adds just 1 point to the quiche, versus 4 or 5 points for a typical pie crust.

Okay, okay, I get it, I finally get it! It really does take extra diligence to manage the constant arrival of new vegetables from a CSA. Week in, week out, it gets hard to keep up. At the end of the week, with another box due too soon, you don't want to still have last week's vegetables hanging around. So this summer I'm extra-keen on recipes that use up bits and pieces of vegetables since often, there's not enough of any one vegetable in each week's delivery to really "cook" on its own, just a small bag of green beans here, a smaller bag of broccoli there.

My master recipe for Homemade Vegetable Soup is a godsend, so is Summer Vegetable Stew and Finnish Summer Soup. But I'm looking for other recipes too, everyday healthy recipes. Like quiche!

"Like quiche, Alanna?" I imagine you questioning. "When did quiche get fast and healthy?" And you are exactly right, a traditional pastry crust adds a time element and calorie addition that makes quiche too time-consuming and too rich for every day. This Crustless Quiche is excellent, but y'know, some times you miss having a quiche crust!

Enter the potato crust. It's healthy – and uses the potatoes which have been in the last two CSA deliveries!
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Pudding Pudding PUDDING!

Winter. It's that time of year where puddings are essential! Warm, soft cakey gooeyness with custard, cream or (and) icecream. Don't mind if I do!

My favorite pudding, of all time, without question is my Mum's self-saucing chocolate pudding. It tastes like saucy, dark chocolate heaven with a crunchy top... oh I want some NOW! Reminds me of our little family :)

A tried and tested left-over too, although usually didn't make it through the morning after - yep, breakfast of champions!

That recipe is staying firmly under lock and key...

But here are some other puds that are rocking my winter world:

1. Roly Poly Pudding (Nigella) - a mid-week cinch  http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/roly-poly-pudding-70

2. Chocolate and Madacamia Nut Pudding (Matty Hayden)http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/12646/chocolate-and-macadamia-nut-pudding

3. Caramel Croissant Pudding (Nigella again!) Just in case you have some spare pastries to deal with
http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/caramel-croissant-pudding-38

4. Butterscotch, Banana and Pecan Pud Pud - I wonder whether a crumbly top would add value to this... pondering. http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/13685/butterscotch+banana+and+pecan+pudding

5. Citrus Passionfruit Delicious Pudding - fresh and zesty!http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/922/citrus+passionfruit+delicious+pudding

What's your favorite pudding?

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The Miracle of Squash Blossoms

"I blog, therefore I learn. I learn, therefore I blog." That's been my yin-yang mantra here at A Veggie Venture since 2005, a long time ago in blogging years! So hey, let's learn about squash blossoms, shall we? Now I'm not the gardener, I'm not the farmgirl, this is just me, a curious cook, learning a little bit more about the plants emerging from the garden – learn with me and together we'll never take a "simple" zucchini for granted again!

PHOTO COLLAGE [Top] Two zucchini, the "blossom" ends on the left, the "stem ends" on the right. [Left] Squash blossoms hidden amid the plant's leaves. [Right] Two bees collecting nectar from a male zucchini flower, at the same time gathering pollen.

MALES & FEMALES Squash plants flower with boy squash blossoms and girl squash blossoms. Squash plants produce more boys than girls but just like in humans, it's the girls who bear the "babies" - the fruit of the plant, what we cooks call zucchini and other kinds of squash. (Aha! This actually makes the Famous Zucchini Baby even more funny than it already is! That shot is from Iron Stef, a fellow St. Louis food blogger. From now on, for simplicity, I'm going to call that fruit, that baby, "zucchini".)
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Scarf Community Monday Night Pop-Up Restaurant

I recently spent a few days in Melbourne. I have been wanting to check out 'Scarf Community' dinners for some time, and this visit things worked out!

Monday night winter dinners with 'Scarf Community' http://scarfcommunity.org/, is a social enterprise helping marginalised young people with barriers to work get a foot in the door in the hospitality industry. My impression was positive, and this is testament to the effort and care of the volunteers and other supporters.

Last Monday night's edition was hosted in the lovely Libertine restaurant in North Melbourne.

My friend Andrea and I shared an entree board, with delicious olives, smoked salmon, meatballs and miniature pot pies [and some other treats that we inhaled without noting!]. We both opted for the paella for our main, which wasn't quite as impressive as the entree. It arrived more like a seafood risotto, although a very delicious one! If it had been advertised as a risotto, it would have been wonderful - 'paella' raised great expectations!

Service was very friendly and attentive (albeit a little nervous). Mentors quietly and patiently guided the trainees, assisting them to competently keep the patrons fed and watered. The trainees managed all of the contact with us, with the mentors quietly observing and giving suggestions and advice throughout the night. I noticed one trainee adjust his approach after serving us, based on feedback from his mentor, and do something differently at another table.

I applaud the organisation, the restaurants that lend their kitchens, all the volunteers and supporters, and most importantly, the trainees - taking a chance in the hospitality industry and making the most of it. I hope to get to another Monday night dinner before the winter months are over, and encourage you to do so too. Only $35 for a two course meal - pretty great value, and supporting a wonderful program. Check out the website for more information - http://scarfcommunity.org/

Libertine's dining room was gorgeous - and I hope to check it out on a normal opening night for some delicious french cuisine. http://www.libertinedining.com.au/

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Make-Ahead Smoothies ♥

A great tip for smoothie makers, how to make them ahead of time: Just make 'em, that's it.

So am I the last smoothie lover to figure out that smoothies can be made ahead of time?! If so, sorry, move on with your day, I'll try to do better next week. :-) Otherwise, join me in this life-changing smoothie revelation:

Easy prep ahead of time, all that washing and chopping done all at once and out of the way for the week (or at least three or four days).
Good-sense portion control, a great feature since I don't know about you, but a blenderful of smoothie just calls to me, "Drink me nowwww, NOW I say!"
An easy on-the-go, out-the-door breakfast, a quick after-swim snack all ready and waiting in the fridge.
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