Today’s recipe: A two-step technique for roasting potatoes that produces potatoes crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. So I’ve been thinking about Chocolate & Zucchini’s post for Perfect Roast Potatoes for two months now. Seriously, Clotilde, …

Today’s vegetable snack: Fresh kale rubbed with a little oil and mustard (or a vinegar, anything with a little acid) and then baked until crispy and salty. Weight Watchers 1 point.A couple of St. Louis restaurants are famous for their flash-fried spina…

Just a quick post on this manic Monday to reflect on a weekend of good eating. The overall theme was “mush”, thanks to my new friend the food mill, which I can see is going to be invaluable in mashing roots and legumes. Sweet, potato, black …

There’s much to be said for the minimalist kitchen. Over the last few years, I’ve been trying to pare down my kitchen the the absolute essentials. In this time, I’ve learned that I can live without a garlic press, bread machine and mandolin grater. I cannot, …

Today’s butternut squash soup recipe: Just four ingredients plus water and salt, yet the butternut squash soup that emerges is luxuriant, silky-smooth and almost custardy. And oo-la-la, if it doesn’t taste like butternut squash too! This stuff is so el…

Watching television during meals is a bit of a no-no these days, but can I help it if I find it extremely comforting to, for example, make a big batch of tacos, refried beans, and a massive salad, and curl up with some quality programming like The River …

Today’s soup recipe: A quick ‘n’ easy cauliflower soup, spicy with spice, not spicy with heat. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. Vegan.Can’t say I know, exactly, what gruel is, but I suspect it might look a lot like a pot of Spicy Cauliflower soup, sm…

Today’s tagine recipe: A magical pairing of sweet potatoes and butternut squash, healthy ‘bright orange’ vegetables married with a medley of Moroccan spices, cooked in a tagine and served tableside. Beautiful color to banish the mid-winter blues! Works…

Four ways to cut Brussels sprouts. One method works best for cooking Brussels sprouts whole, another way works best for roasting, still another for quick-cooking just the leaves. Step by step photo illustrations of each technique.Some times, you look a…

Today’s vegetable recipe: How to make bouillon from scratch using fresh vegetables, a few herbs, lots of salt and a food processor. No cooking required! Keeps in the freezer for everyday use, makes a great homemade food gift.In 2006, no-knead bread zoo…

Today’s hearty soup recipe: Homemade lasagna in a bowl, all the flavors, but for post-holiday dieters like me, skipping the cheese. (No missing it, promise.) Weight Watchers 3 points.The new year is a sort of relief, isn’t it? Not so much that 2009 was…

Sunday is the last day to enter to win a kitchen scale!This week, I dusted off the tips and techniques I used in 2002 to lose 30 pounds using Weight Watchers, see How to Lose Weight with Weight Watchers.I invited readers to share their best tips too an…