Sweet Potato and Shaved Brussel Sprouts

A healthy tasty side dish to any meal!  I served it with breaded chicken breasts :)

1 sweet potato (heat in microwave for  2 min; peel and cut into cubes)

1 cup shaved brussel sprouts

cilantro or cilantro paste

garlic

2-4 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

In a frying pan add olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and shaved brussel sprouts.  Cook until heated through and brussel sprouts are bright green.  Place aside in a bowl.  To frying pan add another tsp of olive oil, sweet potato cubes, salt, pepper and cilantro.  Cook until heated through and begin to crisp up.  Add brussel sprouts to pan again 5 min before you serve to heat through and mix flavors. 

Smashed Potato Salad

A new spin on the classic potato salad!

1lb small red potatoes
1 red bell pepper, chopped
scallions; chopped
1lb bacon; chopped (baked @ 415 degrees for 20 min. or until crispy)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
salt and pepper

Cut potatoes in quarters.  Boil until a fork smoothly comes out.  Reserve 1/2 of potatoes.  With half of the boiled potatoes in the pot, add the sour cream, mayo, salt, and pepper.  Mash it all up together.  Once you have it to a good mash/smash, add the other half of potatoes, scallions, red pepper and bacon.  Chill and serve :)

Sprinkle Extra Bacon on top for an extra crunch!

Enjoy:)

Potato, Bacon and Grilled Corn Salad

Bacon makes everything better!

8-10 large red potatoes; cut into eighths 
2 corn on the cob
12 oz. applewood smoked bacon


Dressing:
fresh parsley
1-2 TB Dijon mustard
1-2 Tb. red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper


Boil Potatoes.  When potatoes are cooked through let  cool before adding rest of ingredients. Meanwhile, cook bacon on a cast iron grill.  Place on plate with paper towel to soak up grease.   Chop into small pieces.  Keep fat in grill pan and grill corn in bacon fat (YUM!).  Cut corn off of cob.


In a food processor add all ingredients for dressing.  Puree.  

Add all ingredients, expect for bacon, together in a large serving bowl.  Add bacon on top.  Garnish with extra parsley.


Enjoy :)

Arugula and Spinach Pesto Pasta Salad

1 pound of Cellentani pasta (one of my favorites!)
1 cup of roasted tomatoes (Wegmans Olive Bar!)
1 cup mini mozzarella balls
1 can of marinated artichoke quarters (cut in half again)


Cook pasta, add tomatoes, artichokes and mozzarella balls.  

Pesto:  (give or take ingredients to your liking... I never really measure, so this is just a guess of what I used :) )
1/2 bag of arugula and spinach mix
1/2 cup roasted garlic cloves (Wegmans Olive Bar!) or roast 2 heads of garlic with olive oil for 1 hour
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
2 Tbs. pine nuts


Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.  Mix well with pasta and veggies.


This is a new favorite and very healthy...minus the pasta!  ENJOY :)

Potato Salad with Cilantro Lime Pesto

1 bag of small red potatoes

green beans

2 medium tomatoes

1 lime

1 bunch cilantro

olive oil

1 shallot

salt and pepper

1 tsp. honey

Cook potatoes, blanch green beans in water for last minute potatoes are cooking.  Let cool for 20 min.
While cooling, in a food processor add: shallot, 1/4 cup olive oil (or a little less), salt, pepper, a good hand full of cilantro, honey and the juice of 1 lime.  Mix until smooth!
Cut up tomatoes into small bite size pieces.  In a large bowl, add potatoes, green bean, tomatoes and mix well with pesto.

Corn and Frito Salad

This is an extremely easy salad you can whip up in a flash and be the hit of a party! Why you ask...it's a Paula Dean recipe, of course it's delicious with the perfect amount of crunch! 

Pictured BEFORE adding the Fritios

3 cans of sweet corn (you can use frozen or fresh as well!)
1/2 large green pepper; chopped
1/2 large red pepper; chopped
1/3 red onion; chopped
1 cup mayo
salt and pepper
1 bag chili cheese Fritos; barely crushed 


Mix first six ingredients.  Add Fritos right before serving.  It's a bit crazy, but surely a great combination!  Enjoy!

Herb Stuffing

Ingredients

2 cups finely chopped onions

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1 cup finely chopped celery with leaves

1 package (12 ounces) unseasoned bread cubes

1 teaspoon each dried basil, thyme and savory

salt and pepper

1/2 cup chicken broth

Additional butter, melted

Directions

• In a large skillet, saute onions and celery in butter until tender. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the bread cubes, basil, thyme, savory, salt, pepper and broth; toss to mix. Just before baking, loosely stuff turkey. Place remaining stuffing in a greased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish; refrigerate.
• Skewer openings of turkey; tie drumsticks together with kitchen string. Place on a rack in a roasting pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180° for turkey and 165° for stuffing. Bake additional stuffing, covered, for 45-60 minutes or until heated through.
• When the turkey begins to brown, baste with drippings (if turkey browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil). Cover turkey and let stand for 20 minutes before removing stuffing and carving. If desired, thicken pan drippings for gravy. Yield: 6-8 servings (10 cups stuffing).

Prosciutto Green Beans

If you are looking to spruce up your green bean side dish, this will have you going back for seconds!  Crispy green beans with salty prosciutto.  Need I say more?!

Serves 8


1  large family bag of fresh cut and cleaned Wegmans green beans, or about 5-6 cups fresh green beans.
1 pre cut package of fresh chopped prosciutto (I. Love. Wegmans.) About 1/2 cup chopped prosciutto.
Olive oil
Fresh cracked pepper
Sea salt


In a skillet, saute prosciutto until almost crispy.  Put aside in a dish while you cook green beans.  Saute green beans in the same pan.  It will pick up the flavor of the prosciutto. Yum.  Add fresh pepper and sea salt.  Cook until heated through, but still crispy.  Place in a serving bowl.  Top with crispy prosciutto bits.  Serve immediately!  ENJOY :)

Potato-Fennel Gratin

Copyright 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, All Rights Reserved

Y.U.M.  Creamy, cheesy and a definite comfort food!  Here is another great way to use fennel!

Ingredients

• 2 small fennel bulbs
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 pounds russet potatoes (4 large potatoes)
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese (1/2 pound)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter the inside of a 10-by-15-by-2-inch (10-cup) baking dish.

Remove the stalks from the fennel and cut the bulbs in half lengthwise. Remove the cores and thinly slice the bulbs crosswise, making approximately 4 cups of sliced fennel. Saute the fennel and onions in the olive oil and butter on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until tender.

Peel the potatoes, then thinly slice them by hand or with a mandoline. Mix the sliced potatoes in a large bowl with 2 cups of cream, 2 cups of Gruyère, salt, and pepper. Add the sauteed fennel and onion and mix well.

Pour the potatoes into the baking dish. Press down to smooth the potatoes. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream and 1/2 cup of Gruyère and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the potatoes are very tender and the top is browned and bubbly. Allow to set for 10 minutes and serve.

Fried Cheesy Potatoes

After a BBQ are you ever left with tons of leftovers, one of them being salt potatoes??  Well, when wanting to use up everything in the fridge I started with chopped onions in a frying pan and soon added salt potatoes (halved), bacon bits, and fresh grated white cheddar cheese.  YUM!

Try it out!

For 2:

6-8 Salt potatoes
1 cup cheddar cheese
2 TB bacon bits (real ones, of course)
1/2 small cooking onion, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

Fry onion in olive oil, add potatoes, heat through, add bacon bits.  Add cheese about 2 minutes before you want to serve.  Enjoy :)

Pesto Orzo Salad

Pesto Orzo Salad:

(can substitute any of the following vegetables for others of your choice)

Ingredients: 

Orzo Pasta

2 Ears of Corn (Grilled)

1 cup Cherry Tomatoes sliced in half

1 head of broccoli (cut into bit sizes)

Fresh Basil (a good hand full)

Fresh Mint (a good hand full)

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

olive oil

Pesto:

In food processor pulse together the pine nuts, garlic, basil, and mint and cheese.  While pulsing, slowly add olive oil until it looks like its saucy and not a paste.

Cook Orzo pasta as indicated on box.

Mix together, veggies, orzo and pesto.

ENJOY :)

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

3 Tomatoes

3-6 mozzarella balls (depending on size)

fresh basil leaves

roasted garlic cloves

1/2 small cooking onion, diced

olive oil

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut out the center of each tomato.  Wrap mozzarella balls with a fresh basil.  Stuff basil/mozzarella ball in tomato, stuff with roasted garlic clove.

In a skillet, saute onion and olive oil.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  Top each tomato with bread crumb mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Enjoy :)

Potato Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1 1/2 lbs fingerling potatoes
• 3 slices bacon or real bacon bits
• 1 red pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Dressing

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2-3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1 Peel potatoes if you wish, then cut into bite-size chunks. Place in a large saucepan of salted water, set over high heat and bring to the boil. Partially cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

1. 2 Drain well, then set aside in a bowl.
2. 3 Meanwhile, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate, then crumble.
3. 4 For dressing, whisk mayonnaise with sour cream,and  buttermilk in a bowl.
4. 5 Stir in ½ cup (125 mL) blue cheese, fresh cracked pepper and garlic. Taste and if desired add remaining blue cheese.
5. 6 Stir dressing with cooled potatoes until mixed. Add bacon, red pepper and green onions.

ENJOY :)

sicilian cauliflower salad

insalata di rinforzo

http://lacucinaitalianamagazine.com/recipe/insalata_di_rinforzo

I cut this recipe in half for 2 servings

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 (2½ pound) head cauliflower, cored and cut into 1-inch florets
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 large roasted red peppers (from a jar), drained and thinly sliced
• ⅓ cup green olives, pitted
• ⅓ cup cornichon pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 6 anchovy fillets, rinsed and halved  (I didn't use anchovy fillets)
• 3 tablespoons salt-packed capers, rinsed, soaked in cold water, then rinsed again
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add cauliflower and cook until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Add oil and vinegar, lightly season with salt and toss together. Add peppers, olives, pickles, anchovy, capers and parsley; toss to combine. Serve at room temperature.

Herb Potato Salad

2 lbs Red Potatoes

1 cup fresh parsley chopped

1/4 cup sliced scallions

salt and pepper

Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 TB Dijon mustard

2 TB red wine vinegar

1 small shallot diced

Mix ingredients and toss with potato mixture.

ENJOY :)

Olive oil and Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries

For two:

1 sweet potato/yam

olive oil

salt/pepper

fresh rosemary

St. Pete's blue cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Microwave for 2-3 minutes to soften.  Cut into semi-thick slices.  Drizzle olive oil, salt pepper and rosemary on sweet potatoes.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until browned.  Top with blue cheese crumbles and enjoy :)

Soy-Ginger Italian Long Green Beans

My favorite new vegetable!

For Two:

-a few handfuls of fresh beans

-fresh ginger grated

-soy sauce

-garlic minced

Mix ingredients and saute until heated through, yet still crunchy and full of flavor! Enjoy on the side of a pork cutlet :)

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

One word, YUM!  Stuffed baked potatoes are a delicious side to any meal.  Here it goes...


2 Large Potatoes
cheddar cheese (about 2/3 cup)
milk (about 1/4 cup)
sour cream (about 1/4 cup)
2 TB butter
real bacon bits (about 2 TB)
chives (about 1 TB)


Here is my trick, after washing the potatoes and putting them in the oven to bake, pop them in the microwave for 5 minutes to get the process started.  Now, you only need to bake the potatoes for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.  On the week nights, this is a great option! 


After you let the potatoes rest, cut in half. Scoop out potato and place in a bowl.  In bowl, add cheddar cheese, milk, butter, sour cream, chives and bacon bits.  Mash all together, add less or more milk until potatoes are at the consistency you like.

Add filling to potato halves, top with cheese and chives, bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. ENJOY :)