Category: Side Dishes

Side Dishes

Grilled Peach Salad

by Wendi20 Comments on Grilled Peach Salad

I have bad luck with peaches.  The ones I get at the store are never ripe.  So I put them in a paper bag to ripen only to have them go bad in three or four days.  Is there anything quite as disappointing as cutting into a peach only to find that the stone has split, the sugars have started to breakdown, and the inside is all fuzy with mold?  I might as well have just thrown $3.99 a pound right into the garbage.  And the ones that don’t go bad, well they just don’t taste like anything.

In that idealized, perfect world of mine, I would be able to go to the market each and every day for the freshest, most perfect produce.  I know, I know, I could make a point of getting my produce at the farmers market instead of the grocery store.  Going to the source for in season product takes one of the variables out of the equation. However, it leaves the biggest variable….me.  I would have to remember to use it right away.  No lingering or forgetting or procrastinating for days on end.  Maybe for idealized, perfect me that wouldn’t be a problem.  For real me, it’s a struggle.

So while my multiple personalities duke it out over who is running this show, I’m going to suggest that you try Pat and Gina Neely’s Grilled Peach Salad.  Because both ideal me and real me agree that grilled peaches, bacon, and balsamic vinegar are a phenomenal combination that makes even boring store bought peaches delightful and impressive.

Grilled Peach Salad with Balsamic Bacon Vinaigrette

Adapted from The Neelys

BAH Note:  The grilled peaches caramelize and provide a sweet balance to the bacon balsamic dressing.  You don’t have to have a grill, or a grill pan, to grill the peaches.  I used a 10 inch nonstick frying pan.

  • 1/4 pound thick sliced bacon, cut into lardons
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 ripe peaches, pitted and quartered
  • olive oil
  • 1 bag baby spinach or lettuce mix

Lightly coat the peach quarters with olive oil and cook in a skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until char marks form.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon from the skillet to a plate.  Add the shallot to the skillet and cook in the bacon grease until tender, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.  Stir in the mustard, vinegar, and sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the baby spinach or lettuce mix in a large bowl.  Add the grilled peaches and vinaigrette.  Top with the bacon, toss, and serve.

Side Dishes, Vegetables

Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots

by Wendi6 Comments on Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/8/09 at Exit 51.

Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots

It should come as no surprise that I plan out meals in advance.  When I do my planning, I try use a Garanimals approach.  Remember Garanimals?  The line of children’s clothing, originally from the 70’s, designed to let kids put together coordinated outfits.  From their website:

“The kid-friendly Garanimals mix-and-match separates provide a simple, coordinated system that makes clothes easy to pair and fun to wear. The Garanimals pairing system brings creativity and independence to young children as they select their own clothes and dress themselves. Through these small, successful decisions, children develop early feelings of self-confidence.”

That is so what cooking should be.  Easy, fun, and confidence building.  Which is why I totally think of recipes as separates, that when combined, make a coordinated outfit on the plate. Continue reading “Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots” →

Side Dishes, Vegetables

Intersection

by Wendi8 Comments on Intersection
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/15/09 at Exit 51.

Intersection

Here at Exit 51, like in life, it’s funny how sometimes totally unrelated things intersect.  One day I’m going on and on about pickled this and pickled that.  The next I’m gushing over my glorious mandoline.  And today, I shall bring the two together.

Because nothing makes a more perfect combo than thinly sliced cucumbers and onions bathed in a pickley brine.  Yeah, chocolate and peanut butter are two great tastes that taste great together and I do love me some salty sweet watermelon with feta.  But none of them are especially suited for the mandoline. Continue reading “Intersection” →

Side Dishes

Flashback Friday – Good Karma Risotto

by Wendi5 Comments on Flashback Friday – Good Karma Risotto

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 5/30/08 at Exit 51.

Good Karma Risotto

Ok, so maybe this risotto recipe won’t bring you good karma, but I think sharing it with you can’t be bad for mine. Besides, every time I have served it, it’s been a big hit. Huge.

The final dish is creamy with a tender grain and comes without the aggravation of having to stand over a steaming pot stirring and stirring. Cooking doesn’t have to be hard work you know? Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Good Karma Risotto” →

Side Dishes

Cilantro Lime Rice

by Wendi15 Comments on Cilantro Lime Rice

image from http://www.istockphoto.com

I don’t eat out a whole lot.  And when I do eat out, I try and avoid the fast food trap.  But sometimes, every so often, I indulge.  As a creature of habit, my fast food weaknesses usually take the form of either a Whopper Jr. with Cheese from BK or the Carnitas Burrito Bowl from Chipotle. I can’t defend either of these choices.  They are just what calls to me from the menu board.  They are the sirens that I cannot ignore.

Like secret lovers, we meet randomly.  I get my fix and then try to forget how good it is.  I will go weeks, months, without a taste of rice perfumed with cilantro and lime or flamed broiled goodness.  But I always end up going back for more.

Is there any hope for me or am I destined to live a life of fast food loving shame?  Should I don a scarlet letter to denote my flaw?  Or can I somehow be forgiven for these weaknesses?  When y’all have decided my fate, let me know.  But don’t be surprised if you have to track me down at Chipotle to tell me.  I’m a sucker for those burrito bowls like you wouldn’t believe.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Adapted from Annie’s Eats

BAH Note: My first impression of this rice is that it’s nice but not exactly as good as what the folks at Chipotle serve up.  Somehow, their rice is drier and not as sticky as mine was.  But in a pinch, when I can’t sneak out to secretly rendezvous with my beloved Chipotle’s, this will get me through.

  • 1 cup long grain rice
  • 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add the rice and stir.  Return to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.

While the rice cooks, place the cilantro, 2 tablespoons water, lime juice, olive oil, and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Blend until smooth and set aside

Once the rice has cooked, add the cilantro lime mixture and butter to the rice and stir to combine.

{printable recipe}

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Side Dishes, South Beach Diet, Vegetables

Ina’s Roasted Carrots

by WendiLeave a Comment on Ina’s Roasted Carrots

We have gotten really bad lately about incorporating vegetables into our meals.  Sure, sure, we still eat a LOT of salads for lunch but back when we first embarked on our South Beach adventure, there was veg with each and every lunch and dinner.  Now, I try and convince myself that merely thinking about making a vegetable counts. Continue reading “Ina’s Roasted Carrots” →

Chicken, Main Course, Side Dishes

Roast Chicken and Sweet Potato Wedges

by Wendi4 Comments on Roast Chicken and Sweet Potato Wedges

Roast Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

My apologies for the crazy lighting in that picture.  In the middle of winter, daylighting photos is a crap shoot.  And daylighting when the sun is bouncing off of nearly two feet of snow outside the window is even harder.  What’s not hard is Roast Chicken with Sweet Potato Wedges.  And they do make being trapped inside your house on a snowy weekend taste much better.  Of course, you don’t have to wait for a blizzard to commence in order to make this.

Roast Chicken with Sweet Potato Wedges

  • 4 chicken breasts (bone in, skin on)
  • 3 medium sweet potatoes
  • 3 – 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • Fresh thyme
  • Kosher salt
  • Pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Scrub the sweet potatoes and cut into wedges (approximately 6 – 8 per potato).  Place sweet potatoes and chicken breasts on the sheet pan.  Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and mix to coat everything well.  Place several sprigs of fresh thyme on the chicken and potatoes.

Bake for 1 hour or until the chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

{printable recipe}

Side Dishes

Butternut Risotto

by Wendi5 Comments on Butternut Risotto

Screen Shot From Our Life In The Kitchen

For Christmas dinner, I decided to shake things up and made risotto instead of our usual brown rice.  I figured if I couldn’t indulge at Christmas then when could I?  So I printed out Our Life In The Kitchen‘s Butternut Risotto recipe and was all ready to color inside the lines and follow directions.  Until I went to cook the squash and remembered that it needed to be baked at 350 but the oven was in use for an ungodly amount of time at 170 with the roast.  At that point, I started winging it.  The squash got cut into small cubes and spent a portion of the afternoon keeping the roast company in the oven.  Then it took a soak in the chicken broth as it heated on the stove. Continue reading “Butternut Risotto” →

Chicken, Main Course, Side Dishes, Vegetables

Hug It Out

by Wendi14 Comments on Hug It Out

Crispy Skinned Orange Chicken

Some people believe that your astrological sign determines facets of your personality.   If you were to ask The Mistah to describe my personality, I’m sure he’d find a polite answer that didn’t involve the phrase ‘crankypants’.  But I’ll tell you the truth, I AM a crankypants.  I must have been born under the sign of Cactus instead of Cancer because there are days, when for no good reason, I’m just all prickly.  Simple questions come out of my mouth with the tone of an interrogation.  Every question that gets put to me receives a reply drowning in sarcasm and impatience.  The Mistah has gotten good at reading the stars and knows that when Cactus is rising in the Seventh House, it’s time to hug it out. Continue reading “Hug It Out” →