Side Dishes

Southern Bourbon Sweet Mashed Potatoes

Today’s recipe is courtesy of The Wave Restaurant at the Contemporary Resort in Disney World in Florida. Once again mixing food and booze, always a good thing! I don’t know if I have mentioned it before but I love Disney World. Don’t worry though I am not one of the fanatics who have their entire being transformed into Disney. Disney house, clothes, car, tattoos, etc. No, I am not like that. But Disney World is my happy place. I love going anytime of year and just wandering around the parks checking out all the new stuff as well as the old. Living in Florida I have become spoiled. We are only a little over 2 hours away by car so we can make the trek a couple of times a year at least. Plus Florida residents get a really awesome discount on annual passes. My goal is to stay at all the resorts on the property. I’ve done most of the Value and Moderate resorts and a few of the deluxe but the Contemporary has still eluded me. One day…So instead I came across this recipe for their version of mashed sweet potatoes. I have not made this yet but it looks incredible.

Don’t these look delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups diced sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons brown sugar
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
3 tablespoons Jim Beam Bourbon
DIRECTIONS:
1. Steam the sweet potatoes until well cooked. 

2. While the potatoes are cooking place butter, sugar, cream and bourbon in a small pot and heat up. Don’t boil it.

3. When potatoes are done, place them in the oven for 5 minutes or so at 350º to get some of the moisture out of them.

4. Place potatoes in a large bowl and add a whip attachment to an electric mixer, whip until desired consistency. If you don’t have a whip attachment just use a regular mixer attachment.

5. Add cream mixture and then season with salt and pepper to taste

6. Re-season with more salt, pepper or Jim Beam if you think it needs more.

Serves 4

Red Quinoa with Feta & Sundried Tomatoes

Here it is again everyone! QUINOA!!! Woo Hoo!! While in Whole Foods last weekend I wanted to get some more quinoa. Looking in the bulk aisle for it I came across the regular white/beige quinoa. And sitting right next to it was this beautiful red quinoa! Didn’t even know it existed. Then again I didn’t know quinoa existed until a few months ago. I checked the nutritional information and it had almost double the fiber of the regular kind! Sold! I bought a half pound of the stuff,  just in case we didn’t like it. I should have bought more! It is so much tastier than the regular. It had a little crunch to it and a nutty taste as well. I then searched online for a different recipe than I made last time.  I found a great one on the Cooking Books blog. She had gotten it from a cookbook called The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno and adapted it to her taste. I again adapted it to my taste.  It called for cilantro and I left it out (My husband isn’t a fan unless it’s in salsa or guacamole) and vegetable broth. I had chicken broth and used that. The recipe called for 8 sun-dried tomatoes, cut up. I found it needed more. So next time I will add more. I think about ¼ cup will do it. I liked how much feta cheese she said to put in, “as much as you’d like”. Ok, sounds good to me! Sounds good to my husband! I think it was about ½ cup in total, could be more though. I didn’t measure. But one thing I should have done was cut the recipe in half. It made a lot of quinoa for two people. We do have leftovers!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

2 minced shallots (you can use a small onion or even a few green onions if you don’t have shallots)

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth (or any broth you have), or water

1 cup dried red quinoa

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can adjust to your taste)

1 teaspoon salt

fresh ground black pepper

½ cup (or so) of crumbled low-fat feta cheese (adjust to your taste)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the tomatoes, shallots and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes until the shallots are soft.

2. Add the broth/stock and bring to a boil. Add the red quinoa and cayenne pepper. Stir and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Or until all the liquid is fully absorbed. (It took longer than 30 minutes on my stove, so keep an eye on it after 30 minutes)

3. Stir in salt and pepper and feta cheese. Serve hot or cold. Make sure you mix in the feta good so it melts a bit! Yum…

Makes 4-6 servings as a side dish.

Greek Green Beans

Ok as promised here is the recipe for the green beans I made with the orange roughy yesterday. I used frozen green beans. I actually use frozen veggies quite a bit. This way I always have something in the freezer to go to when I’m out of fresh stuff. I usually have those ‘steamer’ bags of veggies but this time I had bought one of the larger bags, 16 ounces. For two of us that is too much to make at once so for this recipe I used half the bag or 2 cups. This is also a quick and easy side dish for any entrée. It is also a low-calorie side dish. While the beans were being nuked I sautéed the onions and garlic and it worked out great. So without any further ado here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups frozen green beans (any kind you like)

2 tablespoons water

1 small onion, chopped small

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup crumbled reduced fat feta cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons butter substitute (you can use real butter if you want)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place green beans in a small microwave container with lid. Add the water. Cook on HIGH for 6 minutes.

2. Meantime in a small pan sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Cook until soft and just starting to brown a little. About 6 minutes. Add the basil, oregano and pepper flakes. Stir well.

3. The beans should be done now. Drain the excess water from container. Add the butter/butter substitute and onion mixture. Mix well.

4. Microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes.

5. Stir in feta cheese and serve.

Makes 2 servings (1 cup each)

Tabouli with Quinoa

Usually I am not a big fan of mint. No mojitos for me.  And definitely none of that flourescent green mint jelly when I have lamb! That is wrong to my taste buds on so many levels. Luckily my husband is not a fan either. So many recipes have mint in them and most of the time, to me anyway, it’s too much. So when I tried Tabouli years ago I was surprised to find that there was mint in it! Imagine that! I liked it in spite of that! And now with my new favorite food, quinoa, I can have that delicious tabouli salad with a more healthy twist! It’s a refreshing and filling salad for lunch or a side dish or just for snacking in the afternoon. I will also add crumbled feta cheese to mine for a little extra zip. You can use goat cheese if you want too, anything you like really. Just don’t go crazy and kill all the good with too much cheese. Moderation! This recipe is also one time where you should have the fresh parsley rather than dried.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

¼ cup fresh parsley, without stems

2/3 cup green onions (scallions), cut into ¼” pieces

1½ cups peeled cucumbers, cut into ¼” pieces

1½ cups chopped tomatoes, cut into ¼” pieces

1 garlic clove, minced (no garlic powder on this)

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¾ teaspoon dried mint (optional)

½ cup crumbled light or fat-free feta cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put quinoa in a fine strainer and rinse under running water until water runs clear. Drain well. Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover pan, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes until water is absorbed. Quinoa will be fluffy. Chill in the refrigerator or rinse cooked quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer under COLD running water. Drain well.

2. Toss remaining ingredients with quinoa and serve!

Makes 5 cups (1 cup per serving)

Apple & Celery Slaw w/Blue Cheese Dressing

I am always looking for variations on the usual cole slaw recipes. This recipe is a light and refreshing one that is not your “usual” slaw. Using lighter versions of the ingredients lowers the calories and makes a great addition to the summer barbecue! The recipe calls for granny smith apples but feel free to change them to your favorite. Fuji apples are a great apple for this recipe as well. Not as tart as granny smith apples but just as tasty!

INGREDIENTS:

4 ounces regular or light blue cheese, crumbled

½ cup light or regular mayonnaise

½ cup light buttermilk

½ teaspoon sugar or sugar substitute (Splenda or even Agave nectar is good)

4 granny smith or fuji apples

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, using a fork, combine the blue cheese, mayonnaise and ¼ cup of the buttermilk until thick and lumpy. Stir in the remaining ¼ cup buttermilk and the sugar/sweetener. Refrigerate.

2. Quarter, core and coarsely grate the apples. In a medium bowl, combine the apples with the dressing. Stir in the celery; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 6

Collard Greens Gone Wild

Ok, I know, how can collard greens go wild? And I’m not talking fresh collard greens either. Frozen. Yes frozen. I never had collard greens growing up and of course just figured I didn’t like them. My husband suggested I try them so one day at the supermarket I went “wild” and bought a bag of frozen greens. Also since I had no idea how to serve them the Italian in me took over. I prepared them according to the package but when I served them I added butter and a parmesan/garlic seasoning. They came out really good. I was hooked. Then recently I tried them from a menu at a restaurant specializing in “southern/cowboy” type barbecue. I HATED them! They had no flavor, the color was so washed out they did not look very appetizing. Definitely not enough to even eat! Well I tried them. Yuck! I tried adding butter, salt, hot sauce…Still yuck! I was so disappointed! I knew I should have gotten the fried green tomatoes that night! So last night I kicked them up a notch so to say. They came out really good! The only thing is the bag of frozen greens is big that I now have lots left over. I will be using them tonight as my side for the Veal Scaloppini recipe I posted yesterday.  They actually look like escarole and beans a little bit. I originally served it with a Lemon Lime Marinated Chicken recipe from a great food blog called Dana’s Food For Thought. Check it out! (Thanks Dana!)

INGREDIENTS:

1 16-19 ounce bag frozen chopped collard greens

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic chopped

3 cloves garlic thinly sliced

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

2 cups chicken broth

1 -15 ounce can canellini beans, drained and rinsed

parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a dutch oven or large pot sauté olive oil and chopped garlic. Saute till garlic is lightly browned. Add the basil and oregano and stir for a minute or so.

2. Add the frozen collard greens and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and add the beans, red pepper flakes and sliced garlic. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Serve greens with parmesan cheese if you like.

Baked Shrimp Balls

Ok I can hear the comments now, even from my husband. “I didn’t know Shrimp had balls! And why would we want to eat them?” Funny! Ha ha! This recipe does not have bread crumbs or other heavy filler in it either. Baking them also cuts down on the calories but not the taste. The picture I put in is not of my own, yet. But if anyone makes them, take a picture and send me a copy and I will post it! Send to my website email at agenua@cucinadiandrea.com. These are also very easy to make so give it a try and let me know how they come out! I will do the same!

Ok, the picture has been updated to my own photo. I made these over the weekend. I cut the recipe in half as it was too much for just two of us. Has anyone made them? Ok, all I have to say is maybe they left out something in the recipe. They were easy to make, smelled good, looked good but taste? Hmmm not so much. They fell apart for the most part.  I made a quick honey mustard sauce to go with it. (¼ cup light mayo, ¼ cup Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon agave nectar) Sauce was great! Shrimp balls needed something for sure. So I made them into a crustless Quiche the next night for dinner! Broke them all up and added egg beaters, half and half, spinach, cheese, dill and some hot sauce.  I will post the outcome tomorrow!

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds shelled, deveined shrimp, minced

6 canned water chestnuts, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3 teaspoons olive oil

Pepper to taste

lemon wedges

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place everything but the lemon wedges into a bowl and mix together.

2. Shape mixture into small balls (about 1 teaspoon). Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Spray balls with olive oil and bake at 350º for 20 minutes. Serve hot with lemon wedges.

They reheat well also!

Makes about 50-60 shrimp balls depending on how large you make them. Mangia!

Quinoa with Spinach and Feta Cheese

Lately I’ve read many recipes with couscous and quinoa (keen-wa). I found one today that is very easy to make and sounds really good. I am going to try and make it tonight and I will report back on it. The recipe calls for fresh spinach but if you don’t have fresh on hand use frozen, just make sure you thaw it good and squeeze out the extra liquid. You can also add chopped tomato (regular or even sun-dried!). Be brave, experiment. Remember, it’s your kitchen! (Got that from the Next Food Network Star finale last night. Yay Aarti!) I will also be using light or fat-free feta cheese in this recipe but as always feel free to use regular if you wish. This is a great side dish in the summer, it’s simple and not so heavy, and it’s full of protein from the quinoa! All good! So give it a try and as always, let me know if you try it and how it turns out!

Quinoa, cooked

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup uncooked quinoa

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced very thin

1 cup fresh spinach (or frozen, thawed and squeezed dry)

½ cup crumbled light or fat-free feta cheese

Quinoa with spinach and feta

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rinse the quinoa in a strainer. In a small saucepan, add the quinoa and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to simmer until water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic in the oil until the garlic turns light brown. Be careful not to let it burn.Lower the heat if necessary. When the quinoa is done cooking add it to the skillet along with the spinach. Stir together until the spinach wilts or is heated through if using frozen. Add the crumbled feta cheese and stir to combine.

Makes 2-4 servings

Quinoa with spinach and feta & garlic soy pork chop

Mock Fried Rice (revisited)

Hi everyone! This is a repost of a recipe that I had pretty much forgotten was sooo incredibly awesome. I made it again the other night and had it leftover for lunch two days in a row. And yes I know some of you are going, ewww… cauliflower. Stop it! Give this recipe a try. Honestly it tastes nothing like cauliflower and it certainly doesn’t look like it. That is the first step. Your brain sees fried rice so it convinces you it’s fried rice. But it is so much healthier for you! I made it this past week with chopped up chicken sausage. So it was sort of like pork fried rice, but with chicken sausage. Either way it was delicious. I had been making smashed cauliflower alot and was tired of it. I also grated the cauliflower by hand this time with a hand box grater. No more. Next time it’s back to the food processor. I managed to grate my finger as well. Not fun. I had the cauliflower in the fridge for about a week or more and I figured I’d better make it soon. So when I went to cut it up it started to crumble a bit so this recipe was perfect. And of course once again, I left out the green pepper. I hate green peppers.  So try it this weekend, this week, soon! It’s a great meal or side dish. 

**

Ok everyone who loves fried rice stand up! Stay standing if you love or even like cauliflower! And stay standing if you hate cauliflower! This recipe will make you question your taste buds! I am not joking. I found this recipe in George Stella’s “Livin’ Low Carb” cookbook. I of course tweaked it to my liking. He calls for diced green bell peppers in it but for all of you who know me, I hate bell peppers of any color! I know, I know, what kind of Italian doesn’t like bell peppers? Me! Anyway, this recipe is incredible. We make it quite a bit now too. If you weren’t told what it was you would think it was fried rice for sure. I also add either chopped shrimp, chicken or pork to it to make it even better. Usually about  ½ cup of whichever you choose is great. Cooked shrimp, cooked chicken or cooked pork. I am actually making it tonight and I have to improvise again. There are scallions in the recipe and I’m out of them! Which never happens because John loves scallions. But I do have red onion which he also loves so I am going to try that with it today. We shall see what happens. Also the recipe calls for you to grate the cauliflower. Use a food processor with a grating blade if you have one. This makes it soooo easy. I tried it the first time with a hand grater on the largest holes and needless to say I was sorry! It’s so hard to grasp the cauliflower when it gets smaller. Use a food processor or be careful with the grater!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups raw cauliflower

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

2 tablespoons finely diced green bell peppers (ewww….)

4 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions (green and white parts)

½ cup cooked chopped shrimp, chicken or pork (or leave it out if you want to go vegetarian)

¼ teaspoon minced fresh garlic

3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

3 large eggs, beaten (I have used 2 and it seems fine also)

salt to taste if needed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grate the cauliflower using a food processor!!! Use the grating blade. Take my word for it!

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pepper and 3 tablespoons of the green onions and cook for 1 minute.

3. Add the cauliflower, shrimp, chicken or pork, and garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 4-5 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender

4. Add the soy sauce and stir. (Looking more like fried rice now isn’t it!) Add the eggs to one corner of the pan but don’t stir for 1 minute. This allows the eggs to cook for a bit, which will prevent them from completely breaking up and disappearing into the mix.

5. As soon as the eggs are soft-cooked, remove the skillet from the heat and gently fold the eggs into the mixture. Add salt or more soy sauce to taste. Garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon scallions and serve.

Makes 4 servings

Summer Shrimp Salad

Shrimp salad always reminds me of summertime, the seashore, the beach and a quick easy salad that is delicious. This version adds a little twist, the twist being avocado. It is also a salad without all the mayonnaise, and that means fewer calories. A great light summer delight for lunch or a light dinner with a sandwich or even cup of chowder! This recipe serves 6 but if you want to make it for less people cut it in half. Avocados are so good for us with their good fats and along with the rest of the salad we’re eating much healthier, which is a good thing!


INGREDIENTS:

1 pound large cooked shrimp, peeled

1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved

2 avocados, cut into cubes

1 shallot, finely chopped

¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Grated peel of 1 lemon, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar

salt and pepper

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil


DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, tomatoes, avocados, shallot and basil.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the lemon peel, lemon juice, garlic and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Slowly pour in the olive oil whisking constantly until combined. Pour the dressing over the shrimp and serve.

Serves 6

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