Saturday, Dec. 21, 6:30 p.m.

Brady Theater brings Thirty Seconds to Mars to the stage at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21. The rock band led by actor Jared Leto is just one of four acts booked for the night at 105 W. Brady St., Tulsa. Wear your ugly Christmas sweater and look for New Politics, Filter and IAMDYNAMITE before the main act. Tickets are $35-$37.50 and available in advance at www.bradytheater.com.

Closes Saturday, Dec. 21

Living Arts of Tulsa concludes its The Four Elements show this weekend. Five artists exhibit pieces from clay, fiber, metal and wood for the annual show that interprets nature in surprising and beautiful ways. The show opens Friday, Dec. 6, with a reception with the artists from 6-9 p.m. at Living Arts, 307 E. Brady St., in the Brady Arts District. Artists participating are Milissa Burkart, Peggy Upham, Teresa Wilbur, Frank Campbell and Barbara Buell. Visit www.livingarts.org for more information.

Continues through Jan. 5

Are you up for the challenge of a candy cane rock wall or the North Pole climb? You can try them and other attractions at Santa’s Adventures on the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City’s Boathouse District, 725 S. Lincoln Blvd., on the Oklahoma River. You’ll find adventures such as the SandRidge Santa Zip zip line, Rudolph’s Launch jump apparatus and the Rumble Drop free-fall experience. Consider it your elf training. Santa’s Adventures runs through Jan. 5. Tickets are $15 for ages under 12 and $25 for everyone else. Purchase them at the Chesapeake Finish Line Tower or online at www.boathousedistrict.org.

I'm going to admit something that isn't easy, particularly for a writer blogging about his healthy eating/weight-loss journey. I'm not a fan of cauliflower. Or, at least, wasn't.

Sure, sure, I know many people would nod their heads in agreement and feel their position justified. Well, it isn't.

Cauliflower isn't easy to love. For one thing, it's white, which just doesn't seem right for a vegetable. Secondly, of all the veggies, from what I have read, it isn't tops when it comes to nutrition. Oh, it's healthy and nutritious, but when compared to some of the "super food" traits ascribed to some other vegetables, its characteristics lack the real "wow" factor.

The thing is, though, it's incredibly diverse in handy when used in different applications, which really ups that wow factor. Think kapow!

And this time of year, it really has a chance to shine. The key is application.

Winter is soup season – or should be, even for those of us who are single and don't have a brood for which to cook. For a single, it's practical and economical. Spend a couple of hours on a weekend making fresh, healthy soup and have the basis for take-to-work lunches the rest of the week and a quick dinner option. If you think soup isn't a potential dinner, consider partnering it with a salad and a wedge of locally produced whole-grain bread and you'll have a cold and flu season nirvana.

The thing with soups for me is, while I love lighter varieties, I have a love of hearty, rich and creamy soups. Obviously, prepared your usual ways, cream and flour based soups don't qualify as the healthiest of home cooking. That's where, of all things, cauliflower steps in.

It isn't glamorous but cauliflower is a great natural thickener that can "replace" cream and flour in crafting a hearty bisque, chowder or other "creamy" soup – while adding nutrition, not bleached carbs and dairy. The specific recipes are potentially limitless, but it's the application that is most important.

Brown, steam or roast a head of cauliflower, broken into as small of pieces as possible until fairly soft. If you brown, consider using a little olive oil to start for its health benefits and underlying taste in the final product. I brown mine with chopped garlic and shallot because, basically, garlic appears in almost everything I cook. I also use a little salt and pepper and perhaps a dried herb, depending on which soup I am whipping up. Once softened, remove and let cool. When cooled a little, toss the cauliflower into a blender with a little bit of water or broth and blend to the point where is has nearly the consistency of mashed potatoes.

By this day and age, many people have tried mashed cauliflower as a mashed potato substitute. However, this is just a base.

From there, the sky is the limit. In future blogs, we will discuss specific recipes but they are almost moot – the sky is the limit. What's important is that virtually any soup can be transformed into a creamy bisque or chowder by adding the pureed cauliflower in lieu of things like butter, flour and cream. Cauliflower absorbs the flavors around it, so it isn't obvious in the final product unless you want it to be. It's effectively a taste-neutral, healthy way to enjoy the kinds of soups we shouldn't if we're committed to everyday healthy eating.

So, cauliflower might not be the sexiest of vegetables. But in the right environment, it can help you reach a sexier you.

-Michael W. Sasser is Oklahoma Magazine’s senior editor and an award-winning journalist. Neither a medical nor a nutrition expert, he shares his personal weight loss journey exclusively with Oklahoma Magazine readers. Reach him at [email protected].

Saturday, Dec. 14, 8 p.m.

It just wouldn’t be Christmas in Tulsa without a little Okie twinge on the holiday sound. Cain’s Ballroom’s 18th Red Dirt Christmas is back with the Red Dirt Rangers, John Fullbright and John Moreland on stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. The Rangers return to rock the night along with favorite John Moreland and John Fullbright, Oklahoma’s rising star of Americana and a 2012 Grammy nominee. Tickets are $18-$30 at Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St. They’re also available online at www.cainsballroom.com.

Saturday, Dec. 14

Even if you aren’t running in the SandRidge Santa Run on Saturday, Dec. 14, watching on the sidelines is enough to make you feel like a participant. The event includes a 5k race an a one-mile fun run through downtown Oklahoma City beginning at Leadership Square, 211 N. Robinson Ave., where the race also ends. Runners are encouraged to dress up in festive holiday-themed costumes, which makes the day fun for runners as well as spectators. There will also be a costume contest, a free Santa Claus Kids Dash and appearances by Rumble the Bison and the Thunder Girls. Race time is 9 a.m. To register and learn more about this and other Downtown in December events, visit www.downtownindecember.com.

Saturday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m.

It’s not just Chris Cringle who’ll be paraded through downtown Tulsa this weekend. Look for your friends and neighbors on spectacular floats, marching in school bands, walking happy hounds and making the 78th Tulsa Downtown Parade of Lights a true community event. The annual evening parade begins at Fourth Street and Elgin Avenue. It then travels west along Fourth Street before turning right on Denver Avenue in front of the BOK Center. The route makes its final turn right on First Street and east back to Elgin Avenue. The parade celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah and other holidays of the seasons in one big festival of light, which is what it’s all about really. Read more at www.tulsaholidayparade.com.

Ends Saturday, Dec. 14

The 28th Annual Barrel Racing Futurity World Championship continues with spectacular ranch sports action through Saturday Dec. 14. More than $40,000 in “future fortunes bonus money” will be paid out at Oklahoma State Fair Park, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., for the sake of a barrel racing sports. Created to enhancing competition in one of the world’s premiere riding events, the futurity event is for horses between the ages of 4-6 years. As an institution nearly three decades strong, BRF looks to be securing a place for barrel racing in professional and amateur sports. For more, visit www.okstatefair.com.

Opens Friday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

Oklahoma City Ballet’s second show of the 2013-14 season could easily get lost in the mix of Christmas and holiday themed shows that are all over stages in December. Yet its traditional rendition of The Nutcracker – that classic ballet of fairies, toy soldiers and dancing mice in a fantasy land of candy canes and gum drops set to Tchaikovsky’s magical composition – has made it a stand-out production. Oklahoma City Ballet opens its perennial favorite at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13. The Nutcracker continues with seven more performances through Dec. 22 at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. Tickets are $15-$61, available at www.myticketoffice.com. For more about the company, visit www.okcballet.com.