Category Archives: Side Dishes

May15

Grilled Vegetable and Steak Kabobs

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Grilled Vegetable and Steak Kabobs

We love vegetables and I was uber excited to grill some up on our new grill. We went from propane to charcoal and I couldn’t be happier! I have always wanted to have a charcoal grill and fortunately (hee, hee, hee) our grill was shot and we had to get a new one. I somehow convinced my Star to go with charcoal. Actually, it wasn’t really that hard. He is so amazing, “if that is what you want and you will be happy, than that is what you will get. Love him!

So this is what we made the first day we got it. Grilled vegetables and steak kabobs. Yummy!

Ingredients:

1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
Some baby bella mushrooms
Small heirloom tomatoes
Filet Mignon (cut into bite size pieces) or any type of steak meat
Extra virgin olive oil
McCormicks Perfect Pinch Southwest flavor

Cut the steak into bite size pieces. You can marinate the steak or season with the Perfect Pinch. Keep the meat separate from the vegetables.

Chop the peppers into bite size pieces and place in bowl with mushrooms and tomatoes.

Drizzle EVOO and sprinkle with the McCormicks Perfect Pinch. Toss gently and place on skewer. I usually put the meat on a skewer all by itself. Don’t really like the raw meat touching the veggies.

On a side note….the platter is stainless steel made in Sweden. It was my mom’s until my last visit when I asked my mom if I could have it. She has a few of them and they just remind me so much of my childhood that I wanted to take one home. :) It’s what she always used when grilling up some food and I shall treasure it and pass it on to my daughter someday (maybe).

Grill over medium heat and turn as needed. This can be a difficult task, as trying to get them all to turn at the same time. Just be patient and do the best you can. Not a huge deal. :)

Serve with rice. Such a simple, quick and easy dinner. Enjoy!

Mar4

Sauteed Broccoli

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Sauteed Broccoli

This is such a quick, simple, and tasty side dish. We made this along side Star’s famous Chicken Cordon Blue and it was absolutely perfect!

2 heads of broccoli (chop into florets)
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese (or more, if you are like us, we just grate till one of us says “that’s good”)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (if desired)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Chop the broccoli into florets. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, add the broccoli. Allow the broccoli to cook for 1 to 2 minutes until just tender.

Heat extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir to coat the broccoli and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Grate Parmesan cheese, add brown sugar and combine.

Remove from heat and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese mixture.

Feb25

Roasted Spicy Cauliflower

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Roasted Spicy Cauliflower

This is hands-down my favorite way to eat vegetables, roasted! The red pepper flakes give it a great kick, but you can easily leave them out if you’d rather not feel the burn! Star and I love cauliflower and this was the perfect side dish for the two of us, as our children, won’t eat it (like we didn’t know that). So I would say one head is enough for two people, use two for a family of four and so on.

Ingredients:

1 Head cauliflower, chopped
2 Tablespoons EVOO
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1/4 Teaspoons Onion Powder
1/2 Teaspoons red pepper flakes (or not)
Kosher Salt And Pepper To Taste
1/4 Cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss cauliflower in olive oil, garlic, onion powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and spread out evenly on baking sheet.

Roast for approximately 20 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven and top with parmesan cheese. So good!

Feb19

Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I found this recipe on Food Network. I had some sweet potatoes and wanted to do something different with them and this one caught my eye. Very easy to make and has lots of flavor from the honey and lemon.

Ingredients:

2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces and put in a 9 by 13 baking dish.

In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, honey and lemon juice. Pour mixture over potatoes and toss to coat.

Sprinkle with the salt, and bake, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, until potatoes are tender.

Dec31

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

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Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

First, I want to say this is my first post with my new Canon EOS Rebel t3i camera that my Star got me for Christmas.  I am still learning all the settings and different ways to shoot pictures, but I must say these pictures came out pretty darn good! :)

Okay, now on to this easy recipe…..we love asparagus!  We have wrapped them in bacon and now we are wrapping them in prosciutto.  A simple, yet elegant way to prepare asparagus.

Ingredients:

1 bundle of asparagus (or 2)

1/2 pound prosciutto

extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Wrap prosciutto around asparagus.  Place on cooling rack (or not), drizzle with EVOO and cracked black pepper.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes.  We served ours with filet mignon.  Yummy!

Nov25

Candied Sweet Potatoes

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Candied Sweet Potatoes

My Star created this recipe “on the spot” for Thanksgiving. He loves candied yams and last year we made them from the can (yes the can), but this year we bought the box of sweet potatoes that were on sale for I think $2.99 and Joe just created this awesome side dish. I think this was the winner for the night! Everyone was raving about this dish, so sweet and delicious.

Ingredients:

1 box of sweet potatoes (about eight)
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground all spice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 stick of cinnamon (broken in half)
Mini marshmallows (about half the bag)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Pierce sweet potatoes with fork and wrap in foil. Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to handle. Peel potatoes by inserting knife and making a shallow slice.

Cut potatoes in chunks and place in 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Melt one stick of butter in saucepan add sugars, molasses, vanilla, all spice, nutmeg and cinnamon. Heat until almost boiling. Lower to med/low and simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour over sweet potatoes, add the remaining stick of butter (yes, more butter..but it’s soo good) cut into 8 slices and place on top.

Bake covered with foil for 30 – 35 minutes, basting as needed. If you want to add marshmallows, remove half of the syrup and top with mini marshmallows and bake for the remaining 10 minutes.

Nov25

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

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Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

I bought asparagus for our Thanksgiving dinner and was thinking and googling what do with it and really didn’t find anything that spoke to me. :) I love making roasted asparagus and grilled asparagus during the summer when it is fresh and thought why not take bacon (which I had in the fridge) and wrap some asparagus and roast it? Hello awesomeness!

Ingredients:

Fresh Asparagus (I used two bundles)
Bacon (any flavor)
EVOO
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse asparagus and cut. The easiest way to do this is take one stalk and snap it in half. Use that stalk as a guide and line up with the remaining asparagus and chop. You can save the ends for soup, just freeze them for later.

Place the asparagus in large bowl or pan and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. I decided to make bundles of 8 spears of asparagus, as we had 6 people for dinner. If I had more people over, I probably would have made bundles of 4. Take one strip of bacon and starting from the end wrap around til you get to the top.

Place on foil lined cookie pan with rack on top. I use one of our cookie cooling racks, which works out just perfect. Make sure you spray the rack with Pam so they don’t stick.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes until bacon is crispy or to your liking.

Sep29

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

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Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

We just love potatoes in this house. Mashed, smashed, roasted, boiled, baked, twiced baked, cold, hot. One of my Star’s favorite lines from The Lord of the Rings is “Po-Ta-Toes, boil ‘em mash ‘em stick um in a stew.” :)

This recipe is so versatile, in which you can add different ingredients and change it up. Sometimes I will add Old Bay seasoning, fresh garlic, or chipotle powder to make it a little spicy. Depending on how I make them, I will top them with different cheeses, such as mozzarella, mexican, or cheddar. You cannot mess this recipe up. Make your own creation, have fun!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds potatoes (red or white skin)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh minced rosemary (approximately 2-3 sprigs, you can substitute for dried)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (you can omit this ingredient)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and add to bowl.

Add the fresh rosemary. To remove the rosemary leaves, hold the top of stem with the leaves pointing upwards. With your other hand run your fingers down the stem pushing gently against the rosemary leaves. Gather together and mince.

Next add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese.

Toss until well coated. Place on baking sheet and spread out into one layer.

Roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until crisp. Flip during cooking to ensure even browning.