Side dishes

Recipes / Side dishes / Vegetables — No Comments
02
Feb 11

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

I had Brussels sprouts for the first time at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago. They were dark and caramelized, sweet and surprisingly delicious. I must have listed to everyone out there who said that Brussels sprouts tasted like socks. My mom never made them when I was a kid, so I simply had no experience with them. (Also, they kind of looked like brains.) And since I am not big on cabbage, either, I figured I would not like these mini-cabbages, either. Oh, how wrong I was.
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Recipes / Side dishes / Vegetables — No Comments
09
Nov 10

CUCUMBER SALAD

A cucumber salad is a crisp, cool side dish that pairs well with many main courses. It is simple to make and offers an elegant option to bring to a potluck dinner. When you get sick of green salads, this dish is refreshing alternative. Try to use smaller cucumbers, which tend to be a bit sweeter in flavor. Homegrown or farmers’ market ones are freshest, and supermarket cukes usually have a waxy coating. If you are leaving the skin on, give it a scrub with a vegetable brush when washing.
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Recipes / Side dishes — No Comments
05
Nov 10

BASIC POLENTA

Polenta is just a cornmeal mush that is sold ready-made in tubes. But why buy it when you can make it fresh? It only has a handful of ingredients, but is a versatile option for a grain or starch at dinner. While polenta is a bit work-intensive—it requires about 10-15 minutes of stirring—it is quite simple to master.
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Main dishes / Recipes / Side dishes / Vegetables — 4 Comments
06
Oct 10

ROASTED DELICATA SQUASH

I live in a neighborhood that goes nuts for holiday decorations. And I don’t mean Christmas—at Halloween time, inflatable pumpkins, stringy spider webs, and fake gravestones take over my street. My neighbors even have a giant inflatable snow globe that contains ghosts that spin spookily. (Just wait until Thanksgiving, when the inflatable turkeys descend.)
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Meat / Recipes / Side dishes / Snacks — No Comments
01
Oct 10

ROLL TIDE IN A ROLL: HOMEMADE PIGS IN A BLANKET

I am not a Southerner. I am not a born-and-bred Alabama fan. I grew up in the Midwest and found myself in graduate school in Tuscaloosa. Suddenly I was deciphering accents, being called a Northerner, dodging pickup trucks, rolling tide, etc. etc. etc. Four years later, I have (mostly) embraced my football fate—after all, I married a die-hard Crimson Tide fan. If you can’t beat ’em…
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Main dishes / Recipes / Seafood / Side dishes / Vegetables — No Comments
24
Sep 10

LEMON-BAKED SALMON WITH SIMPLE ZUCCHINI

Fish cooks so quickly, we should all keep it on hand for fast dinners. I buy frozen, wild-caught salmon when it comes on sale at the grocery store so I can have it ready. (I still have to think ahead and thaw it, but I can usually remember to do that much.) You can also bake from frozen, or run a fillet under cold water for 15 minutes to thaw it quickly, as well—just read your package directions. The beautiful thing about fish is that all it needs is salt and pepper, a little olive oil, and a lemon. That’s it.

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Main dishes / Recipes / Side dishes / Vegetables — 3 Comments
20
Aug 10

PURPLE-HULL PEAS

Our little garden has started producing purple-hull peas, which are sort of a purple-ish black-eyed pea. I had never heard of the things. My husband grew up shelling and eating more peas than he could count; he even went to school with purple thumbs after nights of shelling peas. (Those are his thumbs in the pictures.) To shell them, Ira sort of unzipped the length of the bean and dropped them into a bowl. I sent him off to work with purple thumbs again! Continue reading →

Lunch / Recipes / Side dishes / Vegetables — 3 Comments
13
Aug 10

BAKED FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

Now that I live in the Deep South, I have the chance to find out what all this Southern-cooking hype is all about. I have to admit—some of the dishes I’ve encountered have been fantastic, and it is fun to recreate them at home. Other times, I have to lie down because of all the grease I have consumed. (Fried okra, fried catfish, fried chicken…)  I had some beautiful green tomatoes on my counter, but I have a deep-seated fear of deep-frying. I decided to try another option—baked fried green tomatoes.
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Lunch / Main dishes / Recipes / Side dishes / Vegetables — No Comments
06
Aug 10

STUFFED PEPPERS

Green peppers can get boring—they are inexpensive, so it is easy to buy too many of them. I had a couple of good-looking ones, but didn’t want to put them into a stir-fry or spaghetti, so I tried these stuffed peppers. They taste fresh and light, and are quick and easy enough to make on a busy weeknight.

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Main dishes / Recipes / Side dishes / Vegetables — No Comments
27
Jul 10

TOMATO-CORNBREAD COBBLER

This week, I was invited to a local food potluck. Guests were asked to bring something that was made using ingredients from our backyards, or nearby farmers’ markets. I was a little afraid it would be a buffet of grilled zucchini, zucchini bread, and zucchini fritters. To my surprise, the potluck was full of delicious treats. Figs with goat cheese, peach and apple cakes, local cheddar, and blueberry-fig-nut concoctions. The meal was surprisingly diverse. I recommend trying it with your friends—it’s a great way to take advantage of what the summer has to offer.

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