Side dish – Page 9 – Rosemary and the Goat

Cauliflower Mash with Kale

Oh how I love mashed potatoes.

Very good side dish for my roasted chicken.

I’m really trying to be good with this new year just beginning. I’ve been going to the gym 3 times a week and have drug out my Zumba tapes that I paid a fortune for and clumsily trying to do the dance steps in my kitchen (with no one watching of course).

I do dream of mashed potatoes (not really). We never eat potatoes much since our kids have left home because we really don’t need to be eating them. I remember as a kid loving to lick the pan. In fact, I would rather have licked the mashed potatoes out of the pan than have a big heaping pile in my plate.

Mashed potatoes are great for holding all kinds of gravy and even sauerkraut (for my sister) or to put on top of a shepherd’s pie. I always loved the little lumps my mother would leave when mashing the potatoes. Sure way to tell that she did not use instant potato flakes. There’s just something about cold weather (and we are having some now here in Texas) that makes me crave something mashed and smooth and comforting to go with roasted chicken and this cauliflower mash with kale hits the spot and not too many calories either.

I know a lot of people have mashed cauliflower to make mock mashed potatoes, but they don’t fool me. We had Giada’s recipe for mashed potatoes with kale with our prime rib for Christmas dinner and it was wonderful; but this recipe is healthier and I have added parsnips to the cauliflower mash to give it a little more character. See what you think of this recipe. If you try it, please leave a comment below.

January 20, 2012 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Baby Carrots with Dried Apricots

Looking for a new carrot dish? Here it is.

Apricots and carrots compliment each other and look so pretty together.

Rainnnn, we finally got it yesterday and it lasted all day long. I was stranded at the mall for an extra hour and while there discovered that to get the new iPhone I will have to get in line at least by 7:00 a.m. What I won’t do for the new gadget.

So, back to this recipe.

Several years ago when in Napa we visited the Goosecross Winery. I love Napa and could go back again and again. A lot of my favorite wineries have recipes on their websites and this recipe came from Goosecross.

I have to admit that I haven’t tried a lot of carrot recipes. Besides maybe eating them raw with some kind of yummy dip or simply boiling them and then adding some butter and parsley, that’s about it. I do remember from a class in culinary school where we cooked the carrots in a flavored water like lemon or grapefruit water and that does flavor them somewhat.

So, this is my attempt to try something different. I think the colors are so fallish and I hope will be another recipe I add to my menus in the future.

October 10, 2011 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Side dish/ Vegetables

Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potatoes

The Good, The Bad and The Delicious!

I have to say The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was one of my husband’s favorite movies. He loves Clint Eastwood and actually wanted to name our first son, Clint. I vetoed that right away because I imaged seeing a baby walking around in cowboy boots, hat and a stick horse saying yee haw.

Come fall, and I start thinking sweet potatoes sound pretty good on any menu. How many ways have you done sweet potatoes? I have mashed, of course, and have folded the mashed sweet potatoes into mashed white potatoes, very pretty and good. Who hasn’t made sweet potatoes with marshmallows all toasted on top or a nut crumb topping. Other than those recipes, I have baked sweet potato wedges with olive oil and rosemary and that’s about it.

These sweet potato fries are “Good, Bad and Delicious”. Of course, everyone knows that sweet potatoes are good for you. They are full of Vitamin C, B6, complex carbs, fiber and beta carotene. The bad part is the bacon. BUT, it’s so little bacon and unless you eat the whole pan of potatoes, I think you’ll will be ok.

This recipe actually came from one of my daughter’s paelo websites. I can’t say I have a paelo lifestyle (far from it) but these potatoes are delicious. I made a few adjustments and added a sage leaf out of my herb garden and some maple syrup on the plate for dipping. And, when I put one in one of my Asian soup spoons with a syrup for dipping, I thought — Wow, another Amuse Bouche recipe. Or, just make a big pan full and pile them on a platter and watch them disappear.

Some of these I used a toothpick to hold the bacon on and some I just used more bacon so it would cover more of the sweet potato. Hope you will try some of these for your next party. Everyone knows that bacon in/on anything makes it taste oh so good.

October 1, 2011 By Sherry

Entree/ Side dish

Sweet Corn Risotto with Blue Cheese

Creamy, Cheesy, Corn Risotto and with Blue Cheese to boot.

Crisp corn, cream risotto, delizioso!

Fall is just screaming “lets start cooking”. And, what better way to meet a cool autumn night than with a big pot of risotto. (The cool autumn nights is about a month away for us here in Texas.)

I can’t believe that I have only posted one Risotto recipe before. I love making risotto and I think just the slow method of making it is what makes the dish so comforting. Making risotto is fairly easy but it not as quick as going out and throwing a steak on the grill, but oh so relaxing as you stand and slowly stir in your broth, wine and other ingredients. You don’t rush risotto and you don’t want to make it ahead and reheat it.

You definitely don’t want to have your husband/spouse stirring your risotto during a football game. The pot may get neglected and turn into mush. The word Risotto really refers to the method of cooking and not the dish — rice cooked with broth to a creamy consistency. Recipes will always call for arborio rice which is a short stubby grain. Risotto dishes always cook AT LEAST 20 and up to 30-35 minutes.

When our friends came over the night we made this I told my friend, “I didn’t tell you that I have never made any of these recipes and I was waiting for you to help me cook.” I was lucky that night because everything turned out great.

Learning to make a good risotto is like riding a bike; practice makes perfect. And you can put just about any ingredient into the finished risotto from meats, cheese, and cheeses. It’s a good way to use some of your leftovers in a new and creative way. After making this recipe, I’m yearning to try more risotto recipes during the fall and winter months.

September 27, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Hatch Corn and Chile Cheese Pie

It’s that time of the year again.

This time of the year I wait with anticipation for the Hatch chiles to start appearing in our local grocery stores. They are wonderful peppers whether you buy chiles that are freshly roasted over a hot open fire outside the grocerry store or if you buy the fresh ones and roast your own.

There are all kinds of products made with Hatch chiles from Hatch chili flavored popcorn, to Hatch chili pesto, canned Hatch chiles. You name it, they make it with Hatch chile peppers. Hatch green chiles come from Hatch, New Mexico and they are know for being the home of “The World’s Best chili pepper”. They are best prepared by roasting oven an open flame, which is the type I bought at our local HEB grocery.

Each year during chili season dozens of chile vendors can be found lining the streets of Hatch roasting the local chile. On Labor Day weekend the annual event of The Hatch Chile Festival kicks off in Hatch New Mexico. I think next year maybe I want to make that trip.

This dish is great as a side dish or it would be wonderful for a vegetarian meal of just the Corn and Chile Cheese Pie, some sliced tomatoes and a nice green salad.

September 14, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish

Grilled Tomatoes and Onions

Got burgers on the grill? Try these.

Can we ever get enough burgers in the summer time. There’s just nothing like a good grilled burger with just about anything you want to put on it. Last Sunday night we were invited to friends’ house and had some delicious grilled burgers and it got me thinking that we don’t do burgers nearly often enough at our own house.

Seems like when our kids were still home we had hamburgers once a week. Then it got to where I hardly ever fixed them for just the two of us. If you were from the town we grew up in, Caruthersville, MO and you ordered a burger it would almost certainly have mustard, pickle, onion and slaw. Yes, slaw. Not really coleslaw but a grated cabbage with a little Miracle Whip, sugar, and mustard.

My mother always made thin crispy burgers and those were really good but now I really like a thick juicy burger with a lot of stuff piled on top with a toasted bun and the toasted bun really makes a difference.

I love making our doubled stuffed burgers which are two very thin patties with a slice of tomato, onion, jalapenos and cheese in the middle, grilled, put on a toasted bun and ready to ooze cheese all over you when you bite into it. The double stuffed burgers are also great with caramelized onion, Swiss cheese and mushrooms.

We decided to do some burgers a few nights ago with no bun (gotta cut those calories someplace because I have several ice cream recipes I want to try this summer) and I was looking for something else to throw on the grill. The tomatoes and onions were perfect. The tomatoes were the on the vine type and I just cut them in half. The onions were our Texas 1015 which is Texas’ version of the Vidalia onion from Georgia.

June 25, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Jalapeno Potato Salad

Some like it hot!

A roasted red pepper makes the perfect vessel for this potato salad. This may look like an ordinary potato salad but it has a lot of punch.

I know, we are having hot enough days as it is this summer and why make anything a little bit hotter. BUT, it is summer and you just have to make potato salad once this summer even if you are trying to get into that swimsuit. You aren’t going to eat the whole bowl and a small serving of anything isn’t going to kill you.

Have you ever thought of all the things you can do with a potato. It has to be the most versatile vegetable ever. It is made into all kinds of dishes that are fried, baked, boiled, steamed, broiled, hashed, torted and even stamped (?). The potato is made into all kinds of chips, different shaped fries and even potato flour. They can be the star of a pot of potato soup or just have a supporting roll in a big pot of stew. Gnocchi is a great main dish and it is totally made of potatoes.

You can make vodka from a potato. A slice of potato will take away your puffy eyes. A potato can cure warts, help you sleep, relieve a headache, clean rusty knives, remove stains and I’m sure a million other uses. Hey, it’s the miracle vegetable.

As a kid I remember cutting a design into the bottom of a potato and using it as a stamp with an ink pad to make beautiful patterns on paper. Seems like we made do with what we had because we didn’t have all the nice craft stores to shop at like we do now.

You kind of wonder what more can be done with a potato that we don’t even know about. A potato contains no fat and 80% water. Now, how can that hurt us. I guess it is what we have done to the potato that makes it bad for us.

June 16, 2011 By Sherry

Morning Foods/ Side dish/ Vegetables

Sweet Potato Hash

Hash of a different color.

Everyone knows how good sweet potatoes are for your health. They are full of potassium, Vitamin A, low in fat and high in omega 6 fatty acids. Did you know that one small sweet potatoes provides you with twice the daily recommended amount of Vitamin A. That’s amazing.

Several decades the sweet potato was introduced in the southern United States and since that introduction, oh what we have done with them. They are delicious mixed with herbs and spices and different flavorings. They are in every thing from baby food to main dishes, casseroles, salads, and pies like Sweet Potato or even Sweet Potato Pecan Pie. I have done an appetizer with sweet potatoes (coming soon). This past weekend, for my daughter’s birthday dinner, I did a Bobby Flay recipe that had sweet potatoes mixed in with grits and topped with shrimp. Just another delicious sweet potato recipe. This recipe for Sweet Potato Hash is good with just about anything.

June 1, 2011 By Sherry

Salads/ Side dish

Asparagus and Mushroom Salad

Fresh asparagus and mushrooms make a great salad.

Anyone who lives in the north and has dealt with inches or I should say FEET of snow this past winter is excited to see the crocus pop up in the Spring. I remember when we lived in Iowa and had 120 days of snow cover and spotting our first crocus popping up through the snow and I knew that Spring was just around the corner. Now summer is here and I’m looking for more salad recipes to try with our great bar-b-q that my husband will be doing all summer long. This would be a great additional to your Memorial Day celebration. Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

Asparagus is one of those Spring vegetables that I can hardly wait for because I know the price will get much lower than what I have to pay in the winter months. The day I made this recipe I paid $1.77/lb. So, I have quite a few asparagus recipes I’m going to be posting.

Most people tend to think that only the tiny thin asparagus is tender but that’s not true. I have bought asparagus as thick has my finger and it has been just as tender as the thinner variety. You will also see white asparagus and when we were at a farmer’s market in Chicago last spring, we bought some purple asparagus which was beautiful and wonderful. Now that would make a pretty salad, purple, green and white asparagus. That is, if you could find all three varieties at the same time.

May 28, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Dressing

Can be prepared ahead of time and just waiting for your guests.

Whatever you are planning for your Memorial Day celebration, these vegetables are easy to make and will be a hit at your party.

I loved grilled vegetables mainly because I don’t have to cook them. Usually, anything grilled falls on my husband. For this recipe though, I decided to do them on my cast iron grill top inside because sometimes my husband tends to over grill vegetables leaving them charred and burned.

I did make a cool discovery doing these vegetables. I used my waffle cutter to cut my vegetables. So when I put the vegetables on the flat top grill, the waffle cut of the vegetables left marks on them like they had been done over a grill.

For some reason every time I make grilled vegetables (and I posted some roasted root vegetables back in the fall) I can never get a good picture of them. They taste wonderful but do not photograph well. I’m thinking if you see a beautiful picture of roasted or grilled vegetables in a magazine, the photographer must have waved his magic wand and created some magical setting that took a great picture of a heap of grilled vegetables. Maybe a little torching, painting with oils, I don’t know but I want to eat mine, not just look at them.

So I hope you will try this recipe even though the pictures don’t do justice to the recipe.

May 24, 2011 By Sherry

Pasta/ Side dish

Firey Angel Hair Pasta

Fire in the pasta!

I love pasta. Even though we don’t eat it often. When I do, I want my pasta simple with a lot of flavor.

I saw Giada do this on Everyday Italian a couple of years ago and knew instantly that it would meet our criteria of simple and spicy.

This dish is great served on it’s own or as a side dish to any meal. We love it with my husbands grilled salmon that we do with olive oil, lemon pepper and lots and lots of dill weed. He smokes this over a wood fire and is delicious along side this pasta or vise versa the pasta as a side with the salmon. It’s hard to decide who is the star of the plate.

My other favorite to serve with this combo is Giadas Italian chopped salad which has white beans, romaine, sun-dried tomatoes and radicchio. I will be posting that recipe soon because I think it will become one of your favorites.

April 26, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Potatoes Colcannon

Poor man’s dish but fit for a King!

In honor of my husbands family tree I decided to make this potato dish this week for St. Patrick’s Day to go along with some corn beef.

Back before the Irish Potato famine the average Irishman ate 5.5 lbs. of potatoes each day. Potatoes were a staple diet for rich and poor and with dwellings being so small, there was not a lot of room for kitchens like we have today for storage of food. A meal of potatoes need only to be dug, washed and either boiled or roasted. Potatoes Colcannon is an Irish dish similar to the British dish Bubbles and Squeak and potatoes contain almost all the vitamins we need. We just can’t eat too much of a good thing.

Back when my husband was in college at the University of Missouri – Rolla, St. Pat’s weekend was one of the biggest party weekends of the year. The main street would be painted with a green stripe down the center and all the fraternities would work on these elaborate mechanical floats (this was an engineering school) for the St. Patty’s Day parade and like I said in an earlier post, they dyed everything green. If the guys didn’t have a nice beard grown by St. Pat’s, they would get a green beard painted on their faces. So, whenever St. Pat’s rolls around each year, it brings back memories of party weekends I attended while he was at school.

My sister gave me this recipe a few years ago. I love cabbage, I love mashed potatoes, and combine the two along with some milk, butter, onions, and cheese you have a wonderful side dish to your evening meal.

March 16, 2011 By Sherry

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