Green Beans are a favorite at our house. This elegant version elevates basic green beans to a whole new level. This dish is great for entertaining because it looks and tastes like you spent a lot more time on it than you actually did. Roasting the green beans assures they will be crisp tender and full of robust flavor. As an added bonus, the extra virgin olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese greatly enhances the natural appeal of this classic side. Green Beans are actually the seed pod of the common bean plant — though I’m not really sure that fact makes them taste better! Names vary according to their characteristics of growth -- string beans, snap beans, pole beans, bush beans or French beans. Green beans are low in calories and carbs but high in nutritional value. They ... [Read More]
Vegetables
Wicked Good Unusual Baked Corn Chowder
Last spring, my niece graduated college so we did the family thing and threw a day of eating to celebrate. Her dad (my brother) Gene, and wife Deb drove all the way from North Carolina to the middle of the Great Plains where we live. Deb dashed out to the local store and grabbed a bunch of groceries to put together their contribution to the celebration. Unusual Corn Chowder was one of the dishes she prepared. Now y’all know Deb is from New England. She said it’s also called Corn Pudding up in the northeastern corner of this big country. Here in the Great Plains it’s sometimes called Scalloped Corn. Although my elderly aunt once scoffed at that because “everyone knows if you scallop something, it’s got crackers in it and this doesn’t”. She called it Corn Casserole. My sister Bee ... [Read More]
Bacon Wrapped Grilled Asparagus
Bacon wrapped grilled asparagus was on the menu when we were guests at a birthday dinner early in spring. My mother loved asparagus. Wheels loves asparagus. Me -- no. I would buy it for them, but eat it. . . emphatically NO. Not at all. Never. No asparagus crossed these lips. I had tasted it. Once. Bad memory. Even the name – *shudder*. However, this time the grill meister handed me the plate to carry to the table and casually said, this is pretty good stuff. Maybe it was the enticing smell of the bacon. Or the festivities. Or my good manners kicked in. Whatever it was, I put a bundle on my plate as it came by during dinner. Wheels raised an eyebrow and kindly gestured that he would rescue me from the asparagus ever so discreetly since I surely had taken it by ... [Read More]
Crunchy Pea and Cauliflower Salad with Ranch Dressing
We like the crisp crunch of cauliflower. Add celery and peas and ranch dressing, a bit of tangy onion and crispy bacon, a handful of chopped cashews -- a quick and easy, delicious and colorful Crunchy Pea Salad. You can thaw the peas in the fridge ahead of time. Or not. (I usually don’t.) Break or cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces. I like the looks of the little florets in the salad, but sometimes a knife is needed to keep the pieces small enough to eat easily. Crisp the bacon yourself and crumble. Or use about 3 tablespoons of genuine crumbled bacon off the shelf to save time. Add cashews, just slightly chopped for a bit of texture and taste to “fancy” it up, if desired. I don’t usually keep cashews on hand because they disappear long before they can go into a recipe. (oh, ... [Read More]
Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad with red wine vinegar dressing
Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad is a springtime hit with berries fresh from the garden and fresh salad greens. Of course, you can make it any time of year with berries and greens from the grocery. Use your favorite salad greens. Leaf lettuce or Bibb lettuce from the garden, spring green mix, iceberg pieces, spinach, romaine. Or a mixture of any mild flavored green. Add a handful of chopped kale to each plate, if you like. Generally, a serving of salad is about one cup (pressed down) of fresh greens. Or, the number of servings in a 16 ounce bag of greens is often listed as six. This recipe will make 6 side salads or three generous dinner salads. The dinner salads are the choice at our house. The dressing is the star of the show. And I don’t eat dressing on my salads!!! I’ll have ... [Read More]
Maple Glazed Baby Carrots
They are really good, my sister Vee said, when telling me about the glazed carrots she’d made. That was a couple of years ago and I’ve had the recipe in my “let’s try this” stack ever since. Last time we visited her family, she made Maple Glazed Carrots with Pecans. And she was right – again! They are good! But let’s just keep that between us okay – she doesn’t need to go gettin’ the big head!* I’ve gotten lazy and grab a package of frozen vegetables to microwave instead of cooking the real deal. This recipe starts with baby carrots – no need to peel and slice. Put a cup or so of water in a medium pan, add carrots, cover and bring to boil. Steam/boil until carrots are crisp tender when pierced with a fork. That only takes about 15 minutes. So easy, it was not worth the fussin’ on my ... [Read More]
