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

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

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

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

 When Ryan and I first started dating (seven years ago!), one of the first questions he asked me was whether or not I liked spicy food. I told him I didn’t really think I did and he was immediately concerned, since he preferred foods with a lot of bold, spicy flavors. As it turned out, I actually did like spicy food, I just didn’t know it. From the start of our relationship, we’ve been all about exploring new foods and as I tried different cuisines and expanded my culinary horizons, I discovered I was all about spicy food! Today, I’d go so far as to say I actually like a bit more spice than Ryan!

One Year Ago: Easy Crockpot Recipes for College Students
Two Years Ago: Peanut, Peanut Butter, Pretzel Bonbons & Pineapple Ginger Granola Bars
Three Years Ago: Greek Turkey Burgers & Sweet & Spicy Citrus Tilapia 
Four Years Ago: Frozen Peanut Butter Pie & Eggplant Lasagna


Flash Roasted Broccoli with Spicy Crumbs
from Food & Wine December 2012

Ingredients:
-2 oz. sliced pepperoni
-1 sliced garlic clove
-1 cup panko breadcrumbs
-1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
-2 lbs broccoli, trimmed and cut into long spears
-salt
-2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425F. In a food processor, pulse the pepperoni with the garlic until finely chopped. Add the panko, pulsing just to combine.
2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the crumb mixture, cooking over moderate heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until crisp and golden. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, toss the broccoli with the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and season with salt. Spread the broccoli on a baking sheet lined with foil and roast for 15 minutes, turning halfway through, until tender and beginning to brown.
4. Spread the mustard on one side of the broccoli and press the broccoli into the crumbs. (I used tongs to dip in the mustard and then in the crumbs). Transfer the broccoli to a platter, sprinkle with remaining crumbs, and serve immediately.

Marinated Summer Vegetables

 I know everyone's thoughts have already rushed full steam ahead to fall, but don't let that dissuade you from trying these veggies. You can fully embrace pumpkin and apples while still taking advantage of the zucchini you still have! We've had some of our hottest days here in St. Louis since the calendar turned to September. I actually prepped these vegetables as part of a picnic spread that ended up being moved indoors because of a severe heat advisory!
While they're perfect for a picnic (especially when packaged in a mason jar like I did), they'd also make a great side dish for just about any dinner, even if it does feature pumpkin! The vegetables require a bit of pre-work (chopping and roasting), but then they soak in vinaigrette and can be made up to three days ahead of time. We ate them on day three of their soak and they tasted perfectly fresh. They seem fancier than they are--like they belong on the salad bar at Whole Foods or something! You can swap out different herbs (the original recipe called for oregano, not thyme) to take advantage of whatever you still have growing in your herb garden. 

One Year Ago: Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad & Tomato Bacon Basil Pizza Rolls
Two Years Ago: Red Onion & Kalamata Tuna Salad & Chocolate Liqueur Brownies
Three Years Ago: Banana Oatmeal Date Cookies & Chicken & Artichokes in a White Wine Sauce
Four Years Ago: Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

 I've played around with sauteed zucchini from time to time, and I recall last summer adding it to my sweet potato hash quite a bit. The problem was that I wasn't really draining excess moisture from it, so it was turning my hash into a bit of a watery mess. This recipe wisely has you salt the zucchini and let it sit for awhile and then squeeze all moisture out of it. The result? A flavorful, non-watery side dish!
The pecans add crunch, the red pepper flakes heat, and the Parmesan a touch of salty, cheesy goodness. You can sub out another nut for the pecans (the original recipe called for almonds), and omit the red pepper flakes if you're serving to kids. Good alongside just about anything, this is a great way to use up summer's bounty!

One Year Ago: Nectarine and Prosciutto Pizza
Two Years Ago: Southern Banana Pudding Cheesecake
Three Years: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles with Blueberry Syrup

 I’d fallen out of my love affair with kale recently. It wasn’t anything personal, I think I was just sick of my usual ways of preparing it. I was still picking up large bunches of the stuff every week, but aside from throwing it in smoothies, I started to notice it was going bad before I was finishing it off. Who was I?!
One Year Ago: Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream
Two Years Ago: Sweet and Salty Brownies
Three Years Ago: Raspberry Citrus Bars

This is a remake on The Sweets Life, because I was getting sick of our regular green salads and it's about that time of year when you're looking for ways to use up the pounds and pounds of zucchini in your garden or that you picked up for super cheap at the farmer's market or grocery store. 
We liked this as much as we did the first time we tried it, a few summers ago. It's easy to shave zucchini into thin strips and after tossing it with a simple lemon vinaigrette and some pine nuts and parmesan, you've got yourself a simple, but elegant side dish.

One Year Ago: No Bake Meals for Summer
Two Years Ago: Carrot Zucchini Muffins with Candied Ginger
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes

 
In our house, we buy way more sweet potatoes than any other variety. I never run out of ways to use them, in part because we're always turning to sweet potato hash when we need a quick meal. When I buy other potatoes, I find myself having to search for ways to finish the bag. It's not that we don't like them, and I know there are a million ways to prepare them, I just struggle to use them before they go back.
Lucky for me, the June issue of Cooking Light featured 4 different potato side dishes, meaning I won't have this problem for a little while now! This is the first of the four that I tried and if all else fails we can make this again and again. This side dish is quintessentially summer to me, as is anything with corn and tomatoes. It's simple, and oh so tasty, with just about any grilled entree!  
One Year Ago: Sourdough Pizza Crust
Two Years Ago: Pineapple Brown Sugar Frozen Yogurt
Three Years Ago: Corn and Black Bean Salsa