Archive for the Category » Vegetables «
20
Oct 2011
Oct 2011
Twice Baked Potatoes need little introduction. The basic recipe’s been around forever. But it took my youngest daughter Blair to remind me that I don’t make this straightforward and deliciously simple side often enough.
Blair is a foodie in her own right … has been ever since she took a stance against jarred baby food at the ripe old age of 9 months. She eats everything and anything and is quick to assess when too much time has passed since her last helping of a favorite dish (and there are many)! Last week while digging in the pantry for an [ ... ]
Category: Side Dishes, Vegetables
2 Comments
12
Oct 2011
Oct 2011
A few years back, we joined a Community Supported Agriculture program. I thought it would be a cool way to eat healthier, support our local farming community and teach our kids where their food really comes from. If you’re unfamiliar with them, CSAs connect farmers with consumers to share the risks and rewards of running a farm. At the beginning of each growing season, members pay a set fee to a farmer in exchange for a weekly share of whatever they harvest. The fees help small farmers build working capital so they can earn a living while providing families [ ... ]
Category: Side Dishes, Vegetables
One Comment
11
Aug 2011
Aug 2011
I grew up eating sweet potatoes one way–candied. My mom prepared them every Thanksgiving and Christmas with brown sugar, cinnamon, a little Karo syrup and lots of butter and marshmallows. To this day, that’s still my favorite way to eat them. I’m sure it’s partly because that dish is tied to so many fond memories of my family gathered around the holiday table and partly because sweet potatoes baked with a heavy glaze of sugar and spice and everything nice are so doggone good! Over the years, I’ve discovered other delicious ways to prepare them–ways that [ ... ]
Category: Salad, Side Dishes, Vegetables
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22
Jul 2011
Jul 2011
This Tomato-Pesto Tart is a deliciously savory hand-me-down recipe. My sister’s mother-in-law Pat handed it down to my sister Giselle who handed it down to me. Maybe what I should have said is that my sister simply handed it over to me since we’re of the same generation. Either way, I’ve got a copy and I’m sharing it with all of you!
This tart could easily be called “Summer Pie” because it hits two of the most vibrant flavors of the season, tomatoes and basil. For the best tasting tart, use the freshest ingredients. If you can get your [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Vegetables
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21
Jul 2011
Jul 2011
Last weekend, we returned home from our family vacation in Destin, Florida to find a handful of summer squash (yet another family garden project) eager to be picked. They were beautiful, but in an odd way. Their pale orange color and firm, bumpy skin made we question if we had planted what I thought was yellow crooknecks. I didn’t think much more about it until I went to prepare the squash for this recipe Their usually tender skin was tough to penetrate with the knife. So I decided to peel the outer layer, which did make for easier slicing. [ ... ]
15
Jul 2011
Jul 2011
I have no intentions of preheating the oven or even lighting up the grill today. It’s just too doggone hot to play with fire inside or out, if you know what I mean. So, I’m planning three no-cook meals beginning with fresh strawberries and a hard-boiled egg for breakfast and ending with Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus and a refreshing cocktail for dinner.
Now I don’t know about you, but I was raised on only a handful of fresh vegetables and asparagus wasn’t one of them. No, the asparagus I was familiar with came from the grocery store shelves. I’m not [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Salad, Vegetables
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30
Jun 2011
Jun 2011
If you want to add some sizzle to your summertime side dishes, serve this Bourbon Creamed Corn at your next cookout. Sure beats the canned “cream style sweet corn” we’re all too familiar with. It’s also a pleasant change from the grilled or boiled corn on the cob that frequents most backyard bashes.
This recipe is my best attempt at recreating a restaurant side I ate many years ago. I had to make it a couple of times before I got the cream-to-bourbon ratio just right. But I think I’ve finally nailed it. I also faced the challenge of balancing out [ ... ]
07
Jun 2011
Jun 2011
One of the many things I’m proud of is my kids’ affinity for fruits and vegetables. Among the three of them, they eat almost all of them. Unfortunately, though, they don’t all favor the same ones. That means some days I’m preparing two or three different fruit bowls or vegetable sides. But that’s okay. While I will not succumb to the demands of different meals (thankfully, that has never been an issue in this house), preparing two or three different fruits or vegetables a couple of days a week is no big deal. Most of my fresh fruit [ ... ]
18
May 2011
May 2011
When the portobello mushroom craze hit the food world in the late 1980s, I reluctantly embraced it. Like most New Orleanians, I wasn’t easily swayed by this trendy new ingredient. And quite honestly, that balsamic marinated grilled version that initially flooded restaurant menus was hardly appetizing–especially when compared to the delectable seafood stuffed white buttons I was accustomed to. At the same time, however, I felt compelled to like them and learn how to successfully cook with an ingredient which, up to that point, I had only read about in the food mags. Well it’s [ ... ]
06
May 2011
May 2011
Shoepeg Corn Dip is a quick-fix, crowd-pleasing finger food perfect for Fridays or any other day of the week. Since my parents and in-laws are heading into town today to attend my youngest daughter’s First Communion and celebrate Mother’s Day, I’m doubling the recipe so we can graze on it throughout the weekend.
Shoepeg corn is nothing more than those small, narrow, white kernels of corn. You know, the ones that look like baby teeth? They hold up well in dips and salsas thanks to their thin yet firm skin. If you’re considering replacing the white corn with yellow in this [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Snacks, Vegetables
Tags: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays 3 Comments
