Side Dish Recipes
Grilled Balsamic Carrots with Rosemary and Thyme
When they appear on the dinner plate, cooked carrots don’t always elicit oohs and aahs. When carrots are grilled or roasted, however, their flavor is enhanced and they don’t become mushy. They are really quite good! I occasionally roast carrots in the winter and love to use my Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette as a marinade. Grilling is…
Baked Pineapple Casserole
A delicious addition to a holiday table and anytime ham is served, this quick and easy recipe may be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch casserole. Can Easter really be less than a week away? After a weekend of delightful weather－so welcome after the long, cold, snowy winter－it’s actually starting to feel a bit…
Amazing Parmesan Garlic Bread
Spaghetti for dinner is always a hit here. If I take a few extra minutes to make this special garlic bread, the smiles are twice as wide! For ease, I usually make the fried garlic a night or two before for this broccoli side dish. But as mentioned below, roasted garlic may also be used.…
Baked Cheddar Broccoli Rice Cups
Convenient shortcuts and great taste highlight this veggie-packed recipe that’s destined to become a family favorite! What started as a way to use the Minute rice my husband bought in place of long grain rice has become something of a sensation. When I shared this recipe shortly after I began The Fountain Avenue Kitchen,…
Warm Broccoli Salad with Fried Garlic
This bright green side dish is a recipe I made often in the early years of my marriage after stumbling upon Ina Garten’s very first cookbook. While she used olive oil in a similar preparation, avocado oil works beautifully here because of its extremely high smoke point. It’s a simple yet delicious…
Warm Yellow Lentil Salad with Double Mustard Soy Vinaigrette
Quick-cooking yellow lentils provide beautiful color and a lightly nutty flavor in this satisfying, plant-based meal, but brown or green lentils work well too. When it comes to recipes, I try not to overuse the word “favorite.” But the truth is, I have lots of favorites. Whether it is a favorite color, number, season,…
Parmesan Mushroom Polenta
A former White House chef shares his recipe for a versatile side dish, which can be easily transformed into a winning meal. A must make! Early in my marriage, my husband was amused by how I could read a cookbook as though it were a best-selling novel. Well, I recently discovered a cookbook that…
Wild Rice and Sausage Casserole (or Stuffing/Dressing)
Initially created as a side to poultry, we enjoy this hearty recipe throughout the year as a main dish. It’s equally delightful paired with a green vegetable or salad. It’s hard to believe that my year of delving into the Top 10 Food Trends as a Sargento Flavor Journey Correspondent is winding…
Fried Garlic
Whole cloves of garlic become golden and buttery and create a flavor-infused oil that can be used in so many ways. In recent months, I have posted several recipes that mention avocado oil as an option to olive oil. I have received many questions about where to buy and comments indicating an interest about…
Roasted Winter Squash
This seasonal family favorite is so easy and so good. For added ease, I like to use Kabocha, Delicata, or another variety of winter squash that doesn’t require peeling. Without the intent of overselling this simple, seasonal side dish, I will mention that my husband recently purchased some winter squash so that I would…
Farmhouse Roasted Chestnuts
Lightly salted, these chestnuts are delicious served warm and straight from the shell. They’re perfect for Thanksgiving stuffing and soups too! Autumn is the time of year when the American Chestnut Trees in the northeast drop the nuts from their prickly burrs. As an interesting bit of trivia, there are typically three chestnuts per…
Slow Cooker Maple Applesauce
A small amount of maple syrup is the key to a wholesome applesauce that allows the natural sweetness and flavor of the apples to truly shine. My grandmother was always known for her amazing applesauce. She used transparent or “early” apples–the ones that appear in farmers markets here in mid-July. Their appearance never fails…
