A Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dish – Sweet Potatoes and Apples

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side dish, Sweet Potatoes and Apples, Thanksgiving, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian

About 20 years ago (man, I’m old!), I was at an office potluck and a co-worker of mine brought the most wonderful sweet potato dish. Keep in mind, prior to this I did not like sweet potatoes. My mom didn’t cook them much at all growing up, so my only exposure was that dish where they’re covered in marshmallows and to top it off, I don’t like marshmallows much either! Anyway, this dish my coworker brought was both sweet and savory. In addition to the sweet potatoes, there were apples in the dish.

I asked her for the recipe and she said she didn’t have it. Her mother had made the dish for her to bring, so I asked her to please ask her mom for the recipe. She comes back into work and tells me that her mom won’t give her the recipe. It’s a “secret” family recipe. What’s a girl gotta do to get that stinkin’ recipe!?! Thanksgiving was coming and my friend said that her mom would make those sweet potatoes every year, so I gave her marching orders to hover around her mother and take copious notes. Well she came through!!!

This dish has been a family favorite for the last 20 years and it always gets rave reviews when I share it with others. I’ve taken it to a few church potlucks and the such.

Not only is this dish delicious, it’s also pretty darn easy to make. Nothing complicated, but the flavors come together wonderfully! The recipe I have is pretty rough and these days I usually just make it from memory. It’s kind of a vegetable lasagna as you’re simply layering the ingredients and it’s easy to increase/decrease the recipe based on how many people you’re feeding. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do!

Sweet Potatoes and Apples

4-5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in half, short-ways

2 – 15 oz cans apple pie filling
Butter or margarine
Brown sugar
1 tbsp Brandy
Place sweet potatoes and 1 tbsp brandy into large pot of water making sure to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove potatoes from hot water and slice into ½ inch slices. Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray and spread one layer of sweet potatoes, then thinly cover this with a layer of pie filling (about ½ can or more if you need it), spoon dots of butter over apples about a teaspoon or so 2-3 inches apart. You just want them spread apart. Then sprinkle about 1/3 cup brown sugar. Now repeat these layers. I usually try to end with the brown sugar on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes until warmed through and bubbly. If you’re making a bigger batch, it may need to cook longer.
You really can’t go wrong with the amounts of the ingredients, so play with it and see what looks good to you. It’s amazing how much flavor that little bit of brandy in the water adds!

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Broccoli with Garlic, Bacon, and Parmesan – Even the Picky Eaters Can’t Resist This Veggie!

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Bacon, Broccoli, garlic, parmesan, side dish, taste of home, vegetable

I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of broccoli. My husband loves the stuff, so I try to cook it on a regular basis. My youngest daughter, who is a lover of all things bacon,found this recipe in one of my Taste of Home cookbooks. It is packed with flavor and is absolutely delicious! The title of the recipe says it all! Broccoli, garlic, BACON and Parmesan. It’s all good!!! This is a broccoli recipe that even I enjoy! We have made it a few times at our house. If you’re looking for a way to get your picky eaters to eat some broccoli, give this recipe a try!

Broccoli With Garlic, Bacon and Parmesan

1 teaspoon salt

2 bunches broccoli (about 3 pounds), stems removed, cut into florets

6 thick-sliced bacon strips, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 to 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

Fill a 6-qt. stockpot two-thirds full with water; add salt and bring to a boil over high heat. In batches, add broccoli and cook 2-3 minutes or until broccoli turns bright green; remove with a slotted spoon.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Discard drippings, reserving 1 tablespoon in pan.

Add oil to drippings; heat over medium heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until garlic is fragrant (do not allow to brown). Add broccoli; cook until broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in bacon; sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Enjoy!

Confetti Vegetable Terrine – A Beautiful and Delicious Party Dish

Tags

Cheese, crackers, Cream Cheese, Feta, spread, terrine, vegetable, vegetarian

I recently made this dish for my daughter’s college graduation party. I hadn’t made it in years. Why did I wait so long??? I forgot how fabulous it is!!! Between the cream cheese, sour cream, feta cheese and finely diced vegetables, this is some creamy goodness on a cracker!!! It is a visibly beautful dish. It’s not too difficult too make and it’s one of the best cheese spreads I’ve had. Even my food loving brother-in-law loved it and said it beat out any cheese ball or log he’s ever had!

I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but I cannot. This came out of a 1993 Better Homes and Gardens magazine. The recipe is older than the graduate we were celebrating!

I hope you and your loved ones enjoy it as much as we did! I did try to cut the fat by using reduced fat cream cheese, sour cream and feta cheese. It still tasted fabulous!!! I also chose to double the recipe and made two loaves of this. We had 50 people at our party, so wanted to make sure there was plenty.

This can be made up to 24 hours ahead, so it’s a great party dish! Gotta start that prep early when you’re feeding a large group!

Confetti Vegetable Terrine

2 – 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

1/2 cup chopped roasted sweet peppers or canned pimientos (I bought jarred roasted red peppers)

1/3 chopped black olives

1/2 cup snipped parsley

Edible flowers

Assorted crackers

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Line bottom of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan with foil. Grease sides and set aside.
• In a medium mixing bowl (I used my kitchen aid mixer here), beat cream cheese till south. Add feta cheese, garlic powder and ground red pepper. Beat well. Add sour cream, eggs, and lemon peel. Beat just till blended. Do not over eat. Stir in onion, roasted peppers and olives. Pour into prepared pan; spread evenly. Place loaf pan in a larger baking pan. Pour boiling water into the larger pan to  a depth of 1 inch. I put the pans in the oven and then poured in the water. Didn’t want to spill boiling water on myself when trying to move the pan.This worked out well.
• Bake for 50 minutes or till center is soft set and stays firm when shaken. Transfer loaf pan to a wire cooling rack.Cool completely (about 1 hour). Cover and chill for 4 – 24 hours.
• To serve, slip a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen, then invert onto a serving platter. Remove foil. gently press parsley onto sides of the terrine and garnish with edible flowers. We have a society garlic plant in our back yard and I’ll usually use the flowers from that. Serve with crackers.

Enjoy and party on!



Twice-baked Sweet Potatoes

Tags

Cooking, Food, recipe, side dish, Sweet potatoes, twice baked, vegetable, vegetarian

  Thought I would share this post from another author. I had never thought of making twice baked potatoes with sweet potatoes. Enjoy!

Twice-baked Sweet Potatoes Sweet potatoes, spinach, chickpeas, Italian cheese blend, garlic plus seasoning, salt, pepper I used this recipe   This dish was even better than I expected! I love love love chickpeas and sweet potatoes, so when I stumbled upon this yummy vegetarian recipe I knew I’d hit the jackpot. All the flavours work […]

https://foodannmadetoday.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/twice-baked-sweet-potatoes/

Creamed Kale with Mushrooms – A Warm Soothing Veggie for Your Winter Dinners

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Cooking, Creamed Kale and Mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, Food, healthy, vegetable, vegetarian

  
Kale is fairly new on the scene for me and I’m still experimenting with using it in a variety of dishes. I’ve mainly  had it in salads and stir frys, but last night I branched out and made Creamed Kale with Mushrooms. I received my organic produce delivery and it contained a beautiful bunch of kale and a pound of crimini mushrooms. I wanted a warm, but healthy vegetable dish and this is the dish that resulted from that beautiful produce!

I know you probably hear “creamed” and think “Oh no! This will be fattening!” But I used one of my favorite secret ingredients, fat free half and half. I always have it on hand, because I use it in my morning coffee. I have found it is a great substitute in recipes calling for heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. I’ve used it in my quiche recipe and my Lemon Cream Chicken. You can find both of these recipes in my earlier blog posts.

Creamed Kale and Mushrooms

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped

1 shallot, diced or 1/2 medium red onion, diced

2 tbsp lemon zest

3/4 cup fat free creamer

4 garlic cloves, pressed or diced

8 crimini or baby bella mushrooms, finely sliced

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Warm olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add kale and shallot and stir until kale is wilted about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Tips Part 6 – Sweet Potatoes and Apples Are The Best!!!

Tags

apples, Cooking, Food, recipe, side dish, Sweet potatoes, Thanksgiving, Tips, vegetable

  
About 20 years ago (man, I’m old!), I was at an office potluck and a co-worker of mine brought the most wonderful sweet potato dish. Keep in mind, prior to this I did not like sweet potatoes. My mom didn’t cook them much at all growing up, so my only exposure was that dish where they’re covered in marshmallows and to top it off, I don’t like marshmallows much either!
Anyway, this dish my coworker brought was both sweet and savory. In addition to the sweet potatoes, there were apples in the dish.

I asked her for the recipe and she said she didn’t have it. Her mother had made the dish for her to bring, so I asked her to please ask her mom for the recipe. She comes back into work and tells me that her mom won’t give her the recipe. It’s a “secret” family recipe. What’s a girl gotta do to get that stinkin’ recipe!?! Thanksgiving was coming and my friend said that her mom would make those sweet potatoes every year, so I gave her marching orders to hover around her mother and take copious notes. Well she came through!!!

This dish has been a family favorite for the last 20 years and it always gets rave reviews when I share it with others. I’ve taken it to a few church potlucks and the such.

Not only is this dish delicious, it’s also pretty darn easy to make. Nothing complicated, but the flavors come together wonderfully! The recipe I have is pretty rough and these days I usually just make it from memory. It’s kind of a vegetable lasagna as you’re simply layering the ingredients and it’s easy to increase/decrease the recipe based on how many people you’re feeding. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do!

4-5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in half, short-ways

2 – 15 oz cans apple pie filling

Butter or margarine

Brown sugar

1 tbsp Brandy

Place sweet potatoes and 1 tbsp brandy into large pot of water making sure to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove potatoes from hot water and slice into ½ inch slices. Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray and spread one layer of sweet potatoes, then thinly cover this with a layer of pie filling (about ½ can or more if you need it), spoon dots of butter over apples about a teaspoon or so 2-3 inches apart. You just want them spread apart. Then sprinkle about 1/3 cup brown sugar. Now repeat these layers. I usually try to end with the brown sugar on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes until warmed through and bubbly. If you’re making a bigger batch, it may need to cook longer.

You really can’t go wrong with the amounts of the ingredients, so play with it and see what looks good to you. It’s amazing how much flavor that little bit of brandy in the water adds!

Best Ever Green Bean Casserole – Not Your Grandma’s Canned Casserole!

Tags

Alton Brown, Cooking, Food, fresh, Good Eats, Green Bean Casserole, side dish, vegetable

  

 Now I love grandma’s  old green bean casserole as much as the next person! Those canned french cut beans drowned in cream of mushroom soup topped in canned french fried onions are somehow comforting and satisfying. But we all know this can’t be healthy for us! This old version is packed with fat and sodium.

In my organic produce shipment last week, I received some beautiful, fresh green beans and onions. A green bean casserole sounded great, so I hit the internet in search of a recipe. One of my favorite Food Network stars provided exactly what I was looking for. Mr. Alton Brown has provided the recipe for what he calls “The Best Ever Green Bean Casserole”. He demonstrated how too make this dish on his show Good Eats.

On a side note, if you haven’t checked out the show Good Eats, I highly recommend it. Old episodes are available on Netflix. This is a tongue in cheek look at cooking that often examines the science and history behind cooking. It’s a lot of fun and very educational. It’s a perfect show for kids and adults that like to cook.

Best Ever Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients

• For the topping:

• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• Nonstick cooking spray

For beans and sauce:

• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

• 1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 12 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 1 cup half-and-half

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Combine the onions, flour, panko and salt in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the onions on the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Toss the onions 2 to 3 times during cooking. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F.

While the onions are cooking, prepare the beans. Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. Top with the remaining onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots – Delicious and Healthy Side Dish

Tags

Carrots, Cooking, Food, healthy, low-fat, potato, potatoes, recipe, side dish, vegetable

 

As you can see by my photo, I’m still getting the hang of this food blogging thing. For example, I need to take pictures of the delicious food BEFORE my family devours it! Or I can keep posting pictures like this one to prove my family really does like my cooking!

Anyway, what’s not adequately shown here are the roasted potatoes and carrots that I made the other night. I was grilling some nice, big sirloin steaks, rubbed with my basic barbecue rub (See earlier blog entry for recipe) and was trying to decide on a good side dish.

Our family loves potatoes; mashed, baked, twice baked, barbecued! Love them all! Since we like them so much, we tend to eat them a lot, so I was trying to think of something new to do with them. I also always serve some sort of vegetable with dinner, even if it’s just a salad. I’ve always tried to stress the importance of balanced eating with my kids. It must have worked pretty well, as both of my girls are not terribly picky eaters.

On this particular night, I had organic carrots on hand again, so I thought why not combine the two! I don’t much care for cooked carrots (I seem to be cooking them a lot lately though!) and my younger daughter isn’t either. I thought this combo might make the carrots more palatable for both of us, and sure enough, it did!!!

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

5 Russet or 7 Red potatoes, washed and cut into bite-size pieces (I left the skins on)

5 carrots, washed, peeled and sliced

2/3 of a white onion, diced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive oil spray

Spray a baking pan with olive oil. Add potatoes, carrots and onion to the pan. Spray ingredients with more olive oil and toss. Season with salt and pepper and toss some more. Roast in a 400 degree oven. Toss mid-way through cooking. Make sure potatoes and carrots are fork-tender before removing from oven.

Garlic Carrots – So Tasty!!!

Tags

Carrots, Cooking, Food, garlic carrots, healthy, low calorie, low-fat, side dish, vegetable

 

I REALLY don’t like cooked carrots! Let’s just say my mother got new carpet when I was a kid, because my father forced me to eat my carrots and I didn’t make it to the bathroom in time. I’ll let you use your imagination.

As an adult, I do try new things and I try things in new ways to see if I like them. My husband and son-in-law both love cooked carrots, so I do make them occasionally, so they can get their fix.

Our family has also fallen in love with the multi-colored carrots (yellow, purple, etc.). You can see them in the photo above.

This particular carrot recipe is my favorite so far! They were really delicious! And that’s from a carrot hater! I hope  you enjoy!

Garlic Carrots

8 full size carrots, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tbsp ollve oil

2 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped or through garlic press
  

Boil carrots for 10 to 15 minutes until softened. Add remaining ingredients to a sauté pan and sauté for about five minutes in medium high heat. 

Enjoy!