Side Dish Archives - Upstate Ramblings

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Pears

This recipe for Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pears would make a great side dish for Thanksgiving!

I used to think I didn’t like sweet potatoes, because the only way I’d ever eaten them was the typical Thanksgiving side dish where they are covered with brown sugar and marshamallows. That dish is way too sweet for me, but it turns out that I love sweet potatoes when are served so that their natural flavor shines through. Now I eat roasted, bake or sauteed sweet potatoes all the time, and enjoy them quite a bit.

Strawberry Cranberry Salad Recipe

I am a member of the Balance Your Plate team and helping spread the word about CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN oven-ready pizzas. As a team member, I receive product and incentives in exchange for participating in brand-related activities.

It is no secret that the average American diet is not very healthy. But few of us probably realize how bad it is – Most Americans only meet the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for proper nutrition about 7 days out of the year! That is only 2% of the time, which is quite a disturbing statistic. And one of the most important things we can do to make our meals better is to include more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Caramel Honeycomb Snack Mix

Spicy Sriracha Lime Popcorn

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PopIntoSAMS #CollectiveBias

Popcorn is practically a staple food in my house – between me, my husband and our three kids it is a rare night when someone doesn’t decide to make popcorn! This weekend we had a family movie night featuring spicy Srirach Lime Popcorn. The popcorn was perfect for enjoying during an action filled science fiction movie!

The popcorn is easy to make using ACT II Butter Lovers’s microwave popcorn as a base. I have made spicy popcorn before, but this is the first time I have added lime to popcorn and it really gave the popcorn a nice kick, and the mild lime flavor complemented the spicy hot sauce.

Rotel’s Rockin’ Guac – Easy 4 Ingredient Recipe

Guinness Bread

This hearty quick bread recipe is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!

I love cooking with Guinness – whether it is a hearty Irish stew like Instant Pot lamb stew or a sweet treat like Guinness brownies the beverage adds flavor and excitement to many dishes.

This Guinness Bread is packed with flavor, and has an amazing moist texture. Since it is a quick bread you don’t have to mess around with proofing yeast, the carbonation in the Guinness Stout combines with the baking soda to make the bread rise.

Tropical Fruit Salad

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EasyAsPotPie #CollectiveBias

Now that it is January cold weather is really settling in around here! It is the perfect time to warm up with comfort foods like Marie Callender’s pot pies, which deliver a true sense of homemade.

And to counteract the weather I like to pair my pot pies with a Tropical Fruit Salad – an excellent reminder that warmer weather will come, eventually! It is easy to put together a fresh fruit salad while the pot pies are baking, and the fruit provides a nice sweet accompaniment to the toasty warm pot pies.

Apple Fennel Salad

I have been making lots and lots of apple desserts, but this weekend I need a side dish to take to a pot luck picnic. I wanted to bring something healthy and seasonal, so I made this Apple Fennel salad.

This salad uses fennel, which pairs well with apples because it has a nice licorice taste. The sweet blueberries and tart apples make a nice contrast to the crisp fennel, and the secret ingredient – salad turnips.

Chicken Blueberry Chopped Salad Recipe from Redpack Tomatoes

Recently Redpack Tomatoes sent me some tomatoes and delicious recipe for using canned tomatoes in summer salads. I like this idea, because around here vine ripened tomatoes are still at least a month away, and the tomatoes at the grocery store are usually picked before they ripen, so they lack flavor.

Canned tomatoes are picked ripe, which makes them juicy, healthy, and economical. Because of that, they are perfect for salads all year round. The Redpack test kitchen has developed some delicious salad recipes which incorporate summer fruit, like this Chicken Blueberry Chopped Salad.

Chicken Blueberry Chopped Salad from RedPack Tomatoes - sponsored — Photo Courtesy of Redpack Tomatoes

Raspberry Shrimp Salad

Summer is the perfect time for salads! They made a tasty main dish, and best of all they are easy to make ahead and have waiting after a busy day. This Raspberry Shrimp Salad is a simple and cool supper for summer.

I made a simple vinagrette dressing for this using Raspberries, oil and vinegar, but you could make the recipe even simpler by purchasing a Raspberry Dressing. But even with making your own dressing this can be on the table (or in the refrigerator) in less than 15 minutes.

Irish Coffee Muffins Recipe

These Irish Coffee Muffins are a great way to enjoy a seasonal St. Patrick’s Day treat. Most Irish Muffin recipes I have seen are for Irish Soda Bread Muffins, which are okay, but for me Irish Coffee is better! These muffins combine coffee, Irish Whiskey and cream for a delicious and different taste.

These muffins were very light and moist, much so more than most muffins that I have made! I think it is because they are made with sour cream instead of milk. They taste subtly of whiskey, but the taste is not overwhelming at all, there is just a hint of the flavor.

Easy to Make Last Minute Gift – Caramel Corn

Popcorn is one of my favorite foods. So when I was looking for a quick and easy last minute gift to make for friends I immediately though of Caramel Corn. Delicious sugar covered popcorn baked with peanuts is a perfect holiday treat.

Greek Olive Bread Recipe

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The Holiday season means lots of entertaining! It seems like there are parties and events all the time this time of year, both formal and informal. I like to have some simple appetizers that I can make without too much time or effort to try and reduce the stress of the Holiday season. This Greek Olive Bread is a great example since it combines some simple ingredients into a delicious holiday appetizer.

The Perfect Pairing – Week Night Dinners with Betty Crocker

Weeknight family dinners call for easy side dishes! I don’t have the time to make elaborate meals during the week, but I still want to feed my family tasty and well rounded meals. When it comes to side dishes potatoes are one of my favorites, and something I serve multiple times a week.

Quinoa Avocado and Corn Salad Recipe

I realized recently that I had a box of quinoa in the pantry that had been sitting unopened for at least 9 months. I read online months ago that quinoa was a healthy food, and bought some, but then never did anything with it! So I decided I needed to test it out. My oldest daughter has been become a vegetarian, and quinoa is an excellent food for vegetarians. It looks like a grain, but it is really a seed, and is unusually high in protein for a plant based food. So I made a southwest inspired salad using the quinoa, and it tasted very good. The quinoa has a very mild, nutty flavor, so the predominate taste was the vegetables and spices I added. Even my husband had seconds, and he is not a fan of similar dishes made with couscous or bulgar wheat.

Broccoli with Mustard Seeds and Cumin Recipe

This is a traditional Southern Indian way to serve broccoli, and it is my favorite way to eat it. One of my college roommates was from India, and she taught me how to make this years ago. You can use the same technique and spices with lots of vegetables, but broccoli tastes best to me. It is a quick and easy way to make broccoli that tastes very different from the classic American preparation.

Grilled Asparagus with Goat Cheese Recipe

This is a quick and easy side dish, combining asparagus with goat cheese for a perfect spring vegetable. I was planning to roast the asparagus, but then the hinges broke on my oven door, so I can’t cook anything in the oven right now! I decided to grill them instead, which is something I have never tried before, and it worked pretty well. I threaded the asparagus on bamboo skewers, so they wouldn’t slip down through the grates of the grill. You could just lay them crosswise on the grill, but my asparagus was a fairly skinny, so I figured a skewer would be easier.

Winter Squash Recipe Roundup

Winter squash are some of my favorite vegetables!Â There are so many kinds of dished you can make with them, as side dishes, main dishes or even desserts.Â Here are some of my favorites:

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