Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Toasted Garlic

She seems to have a penchant for spicy foods, or at least tolerates them, which is exciting for Ryan and me, as we prefer our food with quite a bit of heat. I made this spicy broccoli side dish before Brecken was eating solids, but something tells me it'll get her stamp of approval next time I make it. Looking at the ingredient list, you'll notice this dish is simple, but bold. If you're like me, you don't have time to make a fifteen ingredient side dish, but you want something a little more flavorful than steamed broccoli. If your little ones (or big ones!) can't tolerate a little heat, skip the red pepper flakes during the cooking process and add them at the end to individual servings!

One Year Ago: Freekeh with Thyme-Roasted Grapes, Chickpeas, and Spinach
Two Years Ago: Sautéed Cabbage with Red Onions and Bacon and Nacho Black Bean Burgers
Three Years Ago: Salty Caramel Ice Cream and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Capers, Walnuts, and Anchovies
Four Years Ago: M&M Cookies and Shakshuka
Five Years Ago: Cereal Dessert Bars and Black Bean Burgers

Sweet Bell Pepper and Onion Salad

Strawberries and Fresh Mozzarella with Mint Pesto Drizzle

One Year Ago: Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Omelets and Chicken & Vegetable Pressed Sandwiches with Goat Cheese and Pesto
Two Years Ago: Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies and Zucchini Quiche
Three Years Ago: Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip and Spinach Salad with Nectarine, Blueberries, and Lime Balsamic Vinaigrette
Four Years Ago: Blueberry Crumb Bars and Mexican Couscous Dinner

Shaved Carrot Zucchini Salad

 I really like efficiency. There are times when I want to linger and enjoy the scenic route, but 97% of the time, I’m looking for ways to be more efficient. It’s an innate personality trait (flaw?). Striving for efficiency means I iron and lay out my work outfits over the weekend, simply to save those 5 minutes each morning when I’d normally frantically pull something from my closet and run the iron over it a few times. Striving for efficiency means I often eat the same breakfast over and over again, simply because it’s one less thing to think about when I’m doing the dreaded chore of packing my lunch each day.


One Year Ago: Sausage and Egg Casserole with Mushrooms, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Mozzarella
Two Years Ago: Banana Nut Granola Bars with Dried Cranberries and Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Three Years Ago: Loaded Baked Potato Dip and Asian Edamame Salad
Four Years Ago: Southwestern Chicken Salad and Whole Chicken on the Grill

Rosemary Roasted Beets and Carrots

 I realize roasted vegetables are typically more of a fall or winter thing. If you ask Ryan, he'd prefer to keep it that way...not because he has anything against roasted vegetables, but he isn't crazy about me turning on the oven in the heat of summer.
Of course I see where he's coming from. It certainly doesn't make sense to heat up the house while simultaneously blasting the air conditioning, but I just can't quit roasted vegetables! We do our fair share of grilling veggies all summer long, and these could definitely be adapted to be made on the grill, but I couldn't resist going the roasting route. Roasted carrots are such a nice change from the raw baby carrots I eat most days, and as you've probably noticed by the number of beet recipes lately, I can't get enough of the vegetable! Rosemary is one of my favorite ways to season just about anything (bread. chicken. scones. nuts. you get the picture!), and this side dish was no different!
If you find yourself with a cooler summer evening, or you're willing to turn the oven on for a little while, you should definitely give these rosemary roasted beets and carrots a try.

One Year Ago: Baby Potatoes with Tomato Corn Saute and Spinach Bacon Cheese Calzones
Two Years Ago: Parmesan, Pea Pesto, and Fresh Herb Pizza and Sourdough Pizza Crust
Three Years Ago: Pineapple Brown Sugar Frozen Yogurt and Asparagus Goat Cheese Gratin
Four Years Ago: No Bake Peanut Butter Balls and Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Green Beans with Feta and Mint

One Year Ago: Chocolate Butter Pecan Sandwich Cookies and Thai Chicken Salad Pitas
Two Years Ago: Raspberry Jam Squares and Raspberry Caramelized Onion Chicken
Three Years Ago: Coconut Almond Apricot Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and Mango Ice Cream
Four Years Ago: Crockpot Pulled Pork (from pork chops) and Coconut Fluff Dip

Asparagus and Tomatoes with Feta

One Year Ago: Crispy Candy Bar Cookies and Summer Salad with Walnuts and Raspberries 
Two Years Ago: Cook's Illustrated Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Three Years Ago: Broccoli Pesto Dip and Warm Avocado Salad
Four Years Ago: Baked Pear and Gorgonzola Salad and Whole Wheat Focaccia with Olives and Tomatoes

Spinach Teriyaki Pasta Salad

This is actually a very slight twist on a recipe hidden deep in the archives of the blog. And by slight, I mean I omitted the chicken. It's actually just as good with the chicken, but I was bringing it as a side dish to a party and chose not to include it. This pasta salad was such a hit with everyone there that I knew it deserved to be reposted, especially since the original pictures are pretty pitiful!
This makes a great picnic or party dish because most of it can be done ahead of time. I cooked and marinated the pasta, storing it in one bowl, and prepared the remaining ingredients and stored them in a separate bowl. Just before serving, I combined the two with a bit more of the dressing and was ready to go! You could just as easily throw it all together at once and let it sit for a bit if you don't want to dirty multiple dishes, but I wanted to keep the ingredients as fresh as possible.
Judging by how many people came up to me during the party to rave about this pasta salad, it's safe to say you'll witness similar feedback!

Broccoli, Grape, and Pasta Salad

One Year Ago: Banana Cream Pie and Spiced Lentil, Sweet Potato, and Kale Pockets
Two Years Ago: Tiramisu Ice Cream and Favorite Spring Dishes
Three Years Ago: Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Four Years Ago: Make Ahead Lasagna and Breakfast Bulgur

I buy carrots at the grocery store every week. They're our 'ol standby when it comes to easy vegetables to throw into lunches or munch on when hunger strikes when I'm cooking dinner. During the winter, they find their way into soups and stews, but it's rare that they're featured on their own in a side dish! It wasn't until I searched my site that I remembered I once made a shredded carrot salad.


I'm pretty excited to have another way to use my weekly stash of carrots, especially because it can get kind of boring to always eat them raw. These carrots only take minutes to prepare, but they're so flavorful thanks to honey and cilantro. If you haven't figured out your Easter menu yet, you might want to contemplate including these, especially since the recipe is relatively hands-off, leaving you to worry about the ham or the potato gratin or anything else you're serving!


One Year Ago: Broccoli and Chickpea Salad and Blue Cheese, Pecan, and Cranberry Stuffed Chicken
Two Years Ago: Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans and Chocolate Marshmallow Butterscotch Bars
Three Years Ago: Cake Batter Blondies and Blue Cheese & Fig-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Four Years Ago: Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Turkey Burgers with Goat Cheese

Honey-Glazed Carrots with Cilantro
from Everyday Food Jan/Feb 2012

Ingredients:
-6 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
-1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
-1 tbsp honey
-2 tbsp dry white wine, low-sodium chicken breasts, or water
-2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1. Combine carrots and olive oil in a large skillet. Add enough water to cover the carrots (about 2 cups). 
2. Cook carrots over medium-high until water is evaporated and carrots are tender, 15 minutes. Cook, tossing often, until carrots are light golden, 2 minutes. Add honey and wine (or broth or water), and cook for 2 minutes or until carrots are glazed. 
3. Stir in cilantro and serve. 

Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts Salad

In the days after Brecken was born, my mom was in town and manned the kitchen for a few days, preparing fantastic homecooked meals while I literally sat on the couch not lifting a finger. There is nothing more special than having your mom take care of you while you figure out your first few days of being a mom!
By the time she left, my fridge was a state for sore eyes. It wasn't anything she'd done, simply the combination of leftover ingredients from meals she'd made combined with the miscellaneous things I'd bought at the grocery store the day before I headed to the hospital. As I started to feel a little more capable with each day that passed, I was itching to get back in the kitchen and finally decided to make something of some of the odds and ends remaining in our refrigerator.

As luck should have it, I had all the ingredients for this Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts Salad, a recipe I'd pulled from a recent issue of Cooking Light magazine. It was just the thing to ease me back into cooking, one week postpartum, because it took a total of ten minutes to prepare. A quick whirl of the vegetables in the food processor, tossed with a few other ingredients, and I had a simple side salad that Ryan and I enjoyed for lunches for the next few days. I think I'd been worried about how I'd ever find time to cook again and this recipe helped prove to me that so long as I choose the right kind of recipes, homemade food is absolutely still doable! You don't need long or fancy ingredient lists to make good food, as this simple but tasty salad demonstrated!

One Year Ago: Pork and Greens Stir Fry and Citrus Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
Two Years Ago: Carrot Cake Bundt and Mini Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream Sandwiches
Three Years Ago: Marbled Black and White Banana Loaf and Edamame Succotash
Four Years Ago: Chinese Chicken Salad and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies 

I really like peas. I love the sugar snap kind that you eat raw, but I'm also totally okay with bags of frozen peas (I've even been known to munch on them frozen). Thing is, they far too often get overshadowed by trendy vegetable faves (cough-beets and kale-cough) and I rarely make a recipe that features them. In fact, I think the only time they've starred in a side dish was in this Spiced Peas with Cilantro and Lime last April. 
Now there'll be two pea side dishes to choose from if you too love 'em. Here they're paired with crispy prosciutto and feta, both of which add a nice saltiness to the rather bland peas. I'm sure you could use bacon if you don't have any prosciutto on hand, but I loved how thin and crispy the prosciutto was. I know you have a bag of peas in the freezer that you use for an ice pack, but save that for the frozen corn and make this instead!
One Year Ago: (Black Bean) Chili (Sweet Potato) Fries and Spinach Artichoke Egg Paninis
Two Years Ago: Lemon Ice Cream Cake with Vanilla Wafer Crust and Recipes for World Nutella Day
Three Years Ago: Cheddar and Sage Crackers and Curried Chicken Saute
Four Years Ago: Steak Fajita Pitas and Crockpot Lentil Soup

Cornbread with Caramelized Onions and Apples

While Ryan is not one to gush or show exorbitant amounts of emotion, he does love to speak in hyperboles. I frequently tease him because everything is always "the worst _______ of all time" or "the largest ________ you've ever seen". Telling you this, you're probably going to raise your eyebrows when I tell you that he claimed this cornbread was "the best cornbread of his life". Normally I'd roll my eyes, except that he was speaking truth...and I couldn't agree more!
This really is the best cornbread I've ever tried. Forget every dry, crumbly, flavorless cornbread you've ever choked down alongside your chili. This is not that cornbread. Butter AND buttermilk keep this tender, and the sautéed apples and caramelized onions bring in an exciting taste element. I could honestly make a meal out of this stuff! Instead, I exercised some self-control and ended up freezing half of it. Thawed and reheated (via our toaster oven) a few weeks later, it was just as good as fresh! Whip up a batch to eat alongside soup, chili, or on its own and I bet you'll be making similar declarations! 
One Year Ago: Amish Baked Oatmeal and Green Bay Packer Snackadium
Two Years Ago: Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut Pretzel Caramel and Turkey Quinoa Chili
Three Years Ago: Cinnamon Apple (Breakfast) Cake and White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip
Four Years Ago: Coconut Shrimp and Kale Chips

Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon-Parsley Dressing

Sleeping while pregnant is way more complicated than I ever anticipated. There are the (multiple) trips to the bathroom each night. There is a whole host of extra pillows in bed, not just propping me up every which way, but also forming barriers between Ryan and me (True story. Love you Ry!). There are the random nights when pregnancy insomnia strikes and I'm tossing and turning, debating whether to get up and be productive or stay in my toasty bed (the warm bed always wins).
Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. My pregnancy "woes" are few and far between, and sleep disturbances are totally worth the end result...not to mention the years of sleep disturbance I have ahead of me! Okay but wait, I am complaining about one thing: stomach sleeping. I miss sleeping on my stomach more than anything else. Most people dream about that first glass of wine...I'm dreaming about that first night I sprawl on my stomach comfortably!
So yes, sleep during pregnancy is a little complicated. What isn't complicated is this cauliflower side dish! (How's that for a transition?!) Roasted cauliflower is tossed in a basic mixture of parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper, all of which help transform the basic vegetable into something bright and interesting. I've already whipped this up as a side dish for dinner multiple times, and may never eat plain roasted cauliflower again!

One Year Ago: Chocolate Orange Buttermilk Scones and Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken Stew
Two Years Ago: Cake Batter Truffles 
Three Years Ago: Soft Gingersnaps with White Chocolate and Crockpot Chicken Wings
Four Years Ago: Cranberry Orange Nut Bread and Sweet Potato Chili