Carrots

KITCHEN TIP "Avoid storing carrots next to apples in the refrigerator. Apples give off a gas that carrots absorb, giving the carrots a bitter taste." "Cooking Healthy Across America," by the American Dietetic Association grouprecipes.com This site is an online community for food lovers where members can post and rate recipes, discuss food topics, post their own cooking videos and search recipes based on a particular flavor rather than an ingredient. The site even recommends new dishes based on recipes members have already seen.

Ryan's Daughter 600 E. Belvedere Ave., Belvedere Square -- 410-464-1000 Hours --11 a.m.-2 a.m. daily Restaurant's estimate --10 minutes Ready in --10 minutes A flaky pastry shaped like an oversized beer cozy held a small portion of ground beef, peas and carrots covered in mashed potatoes. More meat and vegetables sat next to the pastry. But the $13.64 dish was not as hearty as we would have liked and could have used more seasoning. Know of a good carryout place? Let us hear about it. Write to sam.sessa@baltsun.

If you're like most of us, you could go to your refrigerator right now and they would be in the bin: carrots, celery and parsley. The "forgotten" produce.You almost always have to buy too much for a single recipe, so you store the leftovers. And they seem to keep forever. Now, it's time to think out of the bin.Carrots, with their bright, sweet taste, celery with its salty crunch and pungent parsley are bold enough to star in dishes of their own. You just need a sprinkling of imagination.We asked several cooks and cookbook authors what they do to give these humble vegetables top billing at mealtime.

* Item: Fresh Express salad mixes* What you get: 4 servings* Cost: About $2.79* Preparation time: Serve straight from bag* Review: Just in time for the summer salad season, those innovative people at Fresh Express have added two more pre-washed, pre-cut salad mixes to their line. Veggie Lovers features snow peas, carrots, radishes and red cabbage in a mix of iceberg and romaine lettuces. Fancy Field Greens offers radicchio, curly endive, frisee and romaine with shredded carrots. Both mixes are fresh, flavorful and convenient.

* Item: Green Giant frozen vegetables* What you get: 1 to 3 servings* Cost: About $1.75* Preparation time: 4 1/2 to 6 minutes in microwave, 13 to 15 minutes on stove top* Review: Green Giant has retooled old favorites and added new flavors to its extensive repertoire with great results. Among the new offerings in the easily recognized 10-ounce box are Southwestern Style Corn & Roasted Red Peppers and Teriyaki Vegetables. The corn includes julienne strips of roasted red and cooked green peppers in a very light tomato-based sauce that's a tad more elegant than the average corn medley.

Mint-flavored vegetablesLooking for something to do with fresh mint besides putting it in iced tea? Use it to dress up a couple of common vegetables.Minted Carrots and ZucchiniServes 21 tablespoon butter2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin2 small zucchini, sliced1 tablespoon finely chopped mint leaves or more to tasteIn a small saucepan, melt the butter and cook the carrots, covered, in a little water over low heat until they begin to soften. Add the zucchini and cook, covered, until just tender.

Carry on with carrotsYour mom told you carrots are good for the eyes; she didn't know they also help fight cancer and heart disease. Here are some easy ways to work them into your family's diet:* Puree cooked carrots and use to thicken soup.* Finely grated carrots will add vitamins and reduce the acidity of commercial tomato sauces.* Chopped leftover cooked carrots can extend meatloaves or meatballs.* Grate carrots and toss them with lemon juice and black pepper, as the French do. Serve alone or with diced pickled beets as an appetizer.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost-cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilySmoked Turkey Salad With Bulgur, Olives, Raisins and Pine Nuts (see recipe)

Editor's note: Three hungry soldiers come to a town where all the food has been hidden. But once their soup of water and stones is done, the town enjoys a feast.When the peasants heard that three soldiers were coming down the road, they talked among themselves."Here come three soldiers. Soldiers are always hungry. But we have little enough for ourselves." And they hurried to hide their food.They pushed sacks of barley under the hay in the lofts. They lowered buckets of milk down the wells.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost-cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyYou'll have ample opportunity for family fun when you serve easy Chicken With Yogurt and Mustard (see recipe)

Afew months ago, while my husband and I were in Paris working for several weeks, I noticed an unusual soup listed on the chalkboard outside a cafe in our neighborhood. I wasn't planning to eat lunch there but was so intrigued by the sound of a carrot-and-coconut soup that I stopped in. The waitress asked if I wanted the potage cold or warm, and I opted for the latter. Several minutes later, she returned with a bowl of piping-hot soup that was thick, creamy and a lovely orange hue. One sip and I knew I wanted the recipe.

From "My Guy Barbaro: A Jockey's Journey Through Love, Triumph and Heartbreak with America's Favorite Horse," by Edgar Prado with John Eisenberg. Copyright(c) 2008 by Edgar Prado. Reprinted by arrangement with HarperCollins Publishers. When you get into the racing business, you learn not to get too attached to any horse. That's the first commandment. Be careful, you're told, they'll only break your heart. This is a tough, competitive business, not a romance novel. If you're a jockey, just get on them, get off them, and move on. When Barbaro came along, I broke that commandment, shattered it into a thousand little pieces, like a stone tablet that had been hurled to the ground.

KITCHEN TIP "Avoid storing carrots next to apples in the refrigerator. Apples give off a gas that carrots absorb, giving the carrots a bitter taste." "Cooking Healthy Across America," by the American Dietetic Association grouprecipes.com This site is an online community for food lovers where members can post and rate recipes, discuss food topics, post their own cooking videos and search recipes based on a particular flavor rather than an ingredient. The site even recommends new dishes based on recipes members have already seen.

Cecile Michaud, who cooked and cleaned for the priests of St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church in Prince George's County until she was 89, died Tuesday of complications from dementia at the Household of Angels assisted-living facility in Crofton. She was 96. Cecile Reny was the youngest of seven children raised on a small farm in Winslow, Maine. While accompanying her brother on milk deliveries, she met her future husband, Raoul Michaud, a baker. They were married in 1933. As a young woman she worked as a warper for a wool mill, loading fibers onto a machine that spun them into thread, said her daughter, Evelyn Leclerc of Gambrills.

Ryan's Daughter 600 E. Belvedere Ave., Belvedere Square -- 410-464-1000 Hours --11 a.m.-2 a.m. daily Restaurant's estimate --10 minutes Ready in --10 minutes A flaky pastry shaped like an oversized beer cozy held a small portion of ground beef, peas and carrots covered in mashed potatoes. More meat and vegetables sat next to the pastry. But the $13.64 dish was not as hearty as we would have liked and could have used more seasoning. Know of a good carryout place? Let us hear about it. Write to sam.sessa@baltsun.

Now that it is cold, or supposed to be, I have been eating parsnips. Parsnips fall in the category of "winter vegetables" because their flavor fully develops when the roots have been exposed to near-freezing temperatures. The blast of cold weather turns the parsnip's starch into sugar - a reaction to winter weather that is exactly the opposite of mine. Parsnips look like albino carrots but they taste sweeter than their orange-skinned cousins. While this was news to me, parsnip eaters have known it for centuries.

Irish Charities of Maryland, which also sponsors the Baltimore Irish Festival at Timonium Fairgrounds, recently held a "What's in Your Guinness?" recipe contest to find the tastiest ways to use the Irish beer Guinness in food. Six restaurants entered; this hearty dish from Jeffrey Smith, chef/owner and operator of the Chameleon Cafe in Lauraville, won top honors. BRAISED SHORT RIBS WITH VEAL STOCK GUINNESS REDUCTION Serves 6 to 7 1/2 cup flour salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 2 pounds beef short ribs 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 pound onions, chopped 8 ounces carrots, chopped 3 cups veal stock 4 garlic cloves 1 bay leaf 4 peppercorns 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 can Guinness beer 1/4 cup each, diced: turnips, carrots, rutabaga, parsnips Season flour with salt and pepper.

How we take carrots for granted. We munch them unthinkingly all year long, counting on them to be ever-present at the markets as other vegetables come and go. When fall comes around, they're eclipsed by other root vegetables like sweet potatoes and parsnips, more distinctive harbingers of the season. But the common carrot still holds a few surprises. Though we think of it as bright orange, this member of the parsley family is sometimes sunny yellow or dark red or even purple. What we didn't know is that all these colors -- even orange -- have been bred in, according to Barbara Kafka in her book Vegetable Love.

Treat yourself and family with this colorful fall dinner. Salmon fillets are baked and topped with a black-olive-and-shallot sauce. It's served with black beans and orange carrots. The tastes and textures are a treat. Diane Goodman, Miami caterer and author of The Plated Heart, suggested this festive meal in a recent interview. It's full of flavor and fun and only takes a few minutes to make. The trick to cooking this salmon is to make sure the oven is at the right temperature before putting in the fish.

Few side dishes divide people like potato salad. We like just enough mayonnaise to coat the hunks of potatoes and chopped celery and onions, but we're open to other recipes as well. While we're sure none of these four orders is as good as your mother's or grandmother's version, each has redeeming qualities. Edmart Delicatessen Inc. 1427 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville -- 410-486-5558 Hours --8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays In and out in --4 minutes This was the only order to include shredded carrots - a tasty addition - with the diced celery and mayonnaise.