Vegetables

For decades, those with high cholesterol have been given a list of don'ts when it comes to their diet: Don't eat cholesterol-rich eggs; don't eat butter; don't eat red meat or regular ice cream. Well, now researchers have identified a list of do's for the diet that may work to lower cholesterol levels better than avoiding those don'ts. In a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that eating cholesterol-lowering foods like nuts, soy protein, and certain fiber-rich items result in bigger drops in "bad" LDL cholesterol than avoiding...

Serves 4 with leftovers MARINADE ¼ cup soy sauce 2 tablespoons sweet red chili sauce 2 tablespoons lime juice 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1½ teaspoons dark brown sugar 4 scallions, thinly sliced ¼ cup dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped 1 piece (2...

Serves 4 3 parsnips 1 rutabaga 3 purple-topped turnips 4 carrots 2 large onions, cut into wedges 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Salt and pepper, to taste 1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Cut the parsnips, rutabaga, turnips, and carrots into 1-inch chunks.

Thirty plots are available for residents to grow vegetables and plants at the EMC Park community garden created by high school student Max Vumbaca for his Eagle Scout service project. The 10-by-10-foot plots are available for $30 a year. Water is provided at the site, and a deer fence is in place. The community garden also contains a large space for volunteers to grow vegetables for Project Just Because to provide fresh produce for families using the food pantry. The garden will be open from dawn until dusk.

Serves 4 Combine the last of the garden vegetables — green beans, cherry tomatoes, Swiss chard — with chicken stock and a handful of dried flageolets, the small French beans, for a hearty bowl on chilly nights. Allow time for the beans to soak overnight and use Navy beans if you cannot find flageolets. The recipe lends itself to whatever vegetables you have on hand. Try green or yellow squash in place of green beans, or 1/2 cup of rice instead of potatoes. The soup is also delicious with 1/4 pound of chopped ham added at the end. Grate a generous portion of Parmesan on top, then get cozy, and dig...

Serves 4 with leftovers Salt and pepper, to taste 2 pounds (7 medium) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled 2 pounds (16 medium) carrots, cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces 3 tablespoons butter 1/2 small onion, finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 box (4 ounces) oyster crackers, crushed into crumbs 2 tablespoons chopped fresh...

Serves 4 Olive oil (for sprinkling) 2 sweet potatoes, unpeeled and thickly sliced 1 large turnip, cut into 10 wedges Salt and pepper, to taste 1 butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thickly sliced 12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and...

FRESH & FAST VEGETARIAN: Recipes That Make a Meal By Marie Simmons Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 256 pp., $17.95 In the cookbook world, love stories about vegetables abound this time of year. There are high-end, dramatic productions like Nigel Slater's "Tender," or Yotam Ottolenghi's "Plenty. " There are farmers' market cookbooks, with their inspirational tales of family farm harvests. And then there are books like "Fresh & Fast Vegetarian," practical, un-showy volumes with a lot of good recipes.

Serves 6 Parsnips, celery root, turnips, carrots, and pearl onions fill this vegetarian version of shepherd's pie. The top is made from mashed potatoes (use russets, which are starchy and beat up nicely), mixed with chives, parsley, and cheddar. POTATOES 3  russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks   Salt and pepper, to taste  3/4  cup milk, heated until hot  1  tablespoon unsalted butter, cut up  2  tablespoons chopped fresh chives or scallion tops  2  tablespoons chopped fresh parsley  1/2...

Serves 6 A typically Roman springtime vegetable dish, vignarola is named for orchard workers. Sylvia Poggioli's recipe comes from the vegetable stand Da Claudio a Campo de' Fiori, in the heart of Rome, where she shops regularly. Similar recipes are on Italian websites. The dish begins with guanciale, a thickly sliced bacon cut from pig cheek (here we use olive oil). Cooking time depends on the quality of vegetables; if they are very fresh, the dish should be ready in about 30 minutes.

At its most innocent, the bake sale is a longstanding tradition that raises money for school causes, disaster relief, and fighting disease. Unlike chemicalized commercial confections that rattle the teeth with their sugar content, baked goods at a local charity sale are homemade, and an expression of community spirit. So as the Aug. 1 deadline loomed in Massachusetts for schools to cease the sale of sweets within 30 minutes of class hours, grassroots pushback was inevitable. Elected officials listened: Lawmakers and Governor Patrick stepped in to preserve bake sales.

Serves 6 A typically Roman springtime vegetable dish, vignarola is named for orchard workers. Sylvia Poggioli's recipe comes from the vegetable stand Da Claudio a Campo de' Fiori, in the heart of Rome, where she shops regularly. Similar recipes are on Italian websites. The dish begins with guanciale, a thickly sliced bacon cut from pig cheek (here we use olive oil). Cooking time depends on the quality of vegetables; if they are very fresh, the dish should be ready in about 30 minutes.

Serves 8 4large eggs1pound small new potatoes orfingerling potatoes2tablespoons olive oilSalt and pepper, to taste1pound green beans, trimmed1bunch asparagus, ends snapped off1bunch slender carrots, halved1bulb fennel, very thinly sliced4small Armenian cucumbers orpickling cukes or 1 Englishcucumber, thinly sliced1small jicama, halved and very thinly slicedExtra olive oil (for sprinkling) 1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Use a slotted spoon to ease the eggs into the water.

DIGHTON — It may not look like a field of dreams, but to Jim Buckle, these 13 acres are exactly that. Last fall, when he bought the property in the southeastern corner of the state, some of the soil was rocky, some was overgrown with wild roses and grapevines. The 175 blueberry bushes were almost buried under dead growth. A few broken-down trailers dotted the landscape, and the barn was filled with garbage. To Buckle and his girlfriend, Wendy Mainardi, the place was a dream come true, land to establish Buckle Farm.

Volunteers toil for their vegetables at Somerville's first urban farm, located on South Street, and organized by Groundwork Somerville. By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent After Somerville rolled out a plan to promote urban agriculture , some green-thumbed volunteers pitched in to raise the city's first urban farm Saturday. About 40 turned out to build raised wooden garden beds and ready soil for planting at Groundwork Somerville's South Street Farm.

Chef Dante de Magistris is already cooking with spring's first vegetables from local farms, plus wild porcini mushrooms from New Hampshire. The porcinis are prepared in a light cream sauce and served with potato gnocchi; a sautee of ramps, green peas, asparagus, and fava beans sits on top. It's being served at both of his restaurants. — Rachel Travers DANTE > Royal Sonesta Hotel, 40 Edwin H. Land Boulevard, Cambridge, 617-497-4200, restaurantdante.com IL CASALE > 50 Leonard Street, Belmont, 617-209-4942, ilcasalebelmont.com

CHICAGO -- Hopes that a diet low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables could prevent the return of breast cancer were dashed yesterday by a large, seven-year experiment in more than 3,000 women. The government study found no benefit from a mega-veggies-and-fruit diet over the US-recommended servings of five fruits and vegetables a day. Researchers noted that none of the breast cancer survivors lost weight on either diet. That led some specialists to suggest that weight loss and exercise should be the next frontier for cancer prevention research.

SAUTEED ARTICHOKES, POTATOES, AND SHIITAKES Serves 4 as a side dish 2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 pound small potatoes (about the size of walnuts), halved 8 small artichokes (about 5 ounces each), leaves and stems trimmed to yellow, quartered, and chokes removed, if necessary 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed and caps halved (about 2 cups) Salt and pepper 1/3 cup dry white wine 2 garlic cloves, minced ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, bring the broth and oil to a...

For the nearly 12 million cancer survivors in the US, the toughest part after the initial diagnosis and treatment is dealing with fears of a recurrence. Several new research findings presented this week at the American Association of Cancer Research's annual meeting in Chicago provide some reassuring news for cancer survivors -- and possible steps they can take to lower their risk of having a relapse. Here's a roundup: 1. Nearly half of cancer survivors never die of cancer. They die of unrelated conditions such as heart disease,...