Side Dishes & Veggies Archives | finding time for cooking

Hearty Fall Lentil, Butternut Squash, & Kale Salad

November 30, 2019

I had some hesitation as I decided to try out this recipe, to be honest. On the one hand, I love a hearty salad (I’m on the record as not generally loving lettuce salads…). But on the other hand, I’m not a massive fan of lentils. I don’t hate them, just tend to find the texture weird and flavor a bit underwhelming. So I wasn’t sure how this lentil, butternut squash, and kale salad would land with me.

But I was pleasantly surprised both by the flavor and texture, and how satiated it kept me for hours! I didn’t feel cheated or dread having to heat up my lunch, and for me that is a win…the cafeteria chicken tenders are always calling, and I have to avoid that call!

Besides the lentils, the base of this salad is a delicious blend of roasted vegetables. Butternut squash for heft, red onion for flavor, and kale for texture (and greenery). Personally I could have left out the pecans and wouldn’t have missed them, since I’m not hugely into nuts and they add calories. And I loved the subtle dressing that blended everything together—sometimes dressings can overpower a salad, especially on leftovers, and that’s not the case at all here.

If you’re looking for other delicious hearty salads, I’m particularly in love with this roasted vegetable and barley salad with a yummy creamy shallot dressing, and this sweet potato and chickpea buddha bowl with maple tahini dressing. Along with this dish, they all three make DELISH leftovers and are perfect for taking to work for lunch as well.

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Grilled Gorgonzola Potatoes

September 7, 2019

The grilling extravaganza continues! And this time we go a little fancier—gorgonzola grilled potatoes. My love of grilling recipes is well-documented, partly because grilled food is delicious, but also because it’s often healthier, easier, and requires less cleanup.

I’ve been in love with my grilled cheddar rosemary sweet potatoes for like a year now, and this is a similar idea, just taking it up a notch.

Now, obviously strong blue cheese is a polarizing thing. I truly adore it, but realize not everyone does. If you hate it, then I’d say move on, this isn’t for you. But if you’re kind of on the fence, then I’d recommend giving this a try…melting the gorgonzola crumbles and the thin coating it makes over the crispy potatoes and herbs really mellows out the flavor and makes it less in-your-face.

This is a perfect weeknight side dish for one person (hello!), but also could be a great fancy-feeling (and low-effort) side for a dinner party.

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Farro Salad with Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, & Pepitas

April 14, 2019

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a simple healthy dinner recipe…probably because it’s been a while since I’ve *made* one that doesn’t require just throwing chicken and veggies on the grill. But this yummy and super easy farro salad is such a perfect way to transition from winter’s cozy comfort food to lighter summer fare that I had to share.

This is another Smitten Kitchen gem that I’ve adapted in several different iterations depending on what I have in the fridge (like that delish goat cheese with thyme and apricots you can kind of see in the pic below). This is the simplest version, but feel free to add to or switch up ingredients. The best part of this dish is the combination of different textures and flavors—creamy, chewy, salty, crunchy, sweet. So as you swap things in and out, try and maintain those elements for maximum awesomeness. You can also try it with different grains (barley is a particular favorite of mine).

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Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Dates, and Thyme

November 3, 2018

I am a well-known lover of cauliflower, but even I was surprised by how fervently I fell in love with this recipe. I tried it kind of on a whim, just to mix things up from my normal grill foil packet cauliflower (which is bomb, and I’ve made literally every night for like four months).

But I took one bite and said out loud (in a room by myself), “OH MY WORD THIS IS AMAZING!” My cats looked at me weird. Whatever, they’re totally missing out.

The flavor combo of this roasted cauliflower is crazy and intense. It’s such a perfect blend of sweet, savory, crunchy, and earthy. I would never have thought to pair really ANY of these together, but the result is absolutely sublime.

And you know what’s bonus?? It’s super easy too. There’s very little hands-on time, and it can all come together in under half an hour—basically the time it takes for the cauliflower to roast. It makes a perfect side dish alongside simple things like grilled or baked chicken, and I’ve even had it as a lighter vegetarian dinner as well.

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Easy Side Dish: Fried Baby Potatoes

August 12, 2018

I moved away from home when I left for college, and only get back to Kansas once or twice a year. Usually that’s around Thanksgiving, but on the rare occasions it happens to be during the summer, my mom invariably asks if there’s anything in particular I want to eat, and I invariably answer “grilled chicken and steak with fried baby potatoes”.

It’s our thing.

It’s nice that some things in life are consistent 🙂 This is barely a “recipe”, but I’ve never really had these quite the same anywhere else so I wanted to share how we do this. The reason that summer is key is because we want to get fresh new potatoes if possible (red is best), and the key is SMALL. Yes, you can make regular potatoes this way, but it’s only with smaller potatoes that you get the right ratio of buttery crispy goodness and soft fluffy innards.

Innards. Mmm.

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Korean BBQ Cauliflower & Chickpeas (vegan, gluten-free)

January 3, 2018

I’ve been completely obsessed with this this recipe for a couple months now. I’ve seriously made it three or four times in six weeks. And I cook like…maybe once a week?

This dish is super healthy done right—it’s so delicious that you don’t feel like you’re giving something up, and so easy that you don’t have to work hard to convince yourself to make it. Another bonus is that the main ingredients are really affordable, which isn’t always the case when using fresh, healthy ingredients.

Given how hectic things have been lately, I’ve tried out a couple of meal prep delivery services to see if they would help me be better about cooking and eating healthier—rather than relying on UberEats. I recently tried Terra’s Kitchen and focused on largely paleo and vegan recipes for my first box, to try and counteract the rest of my life.

This is a slightly adapted recipe of the first meal I made from them, and it was a WINNER! If you are wanting to try out a meal delivery service that has a lot of really healthy, fresh options, you might give them a try. This code will get you $40 off your first box (just a referral link, not a partnership of any sort).

The star of this dish is the sweet, tangy, spicy sauce that coats everything. But don’t underestimate how awesome the different textures are in combination—solid yet tender cauliflower, chewy chickpeas, crunchy peanut pieces. Nom nom nommity nom!READ THE POST

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Gorgonzola

May 19, 2013

To continue the semi-healthy kick I’ve been on, we have this really interesting main dish/side dish/salad option, chock-full of different flavors and textures just begging to be devoured. I went the side dish route and made it simply roasted brussels sprouts with cranberries and gorgonzola.

I’d found this recipe on Pinterest a long time ago and always meant to get to it, but then months passed and it just lingered there. I decided to finally give it a try and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it, though honestly the cranberries were a little too tart for me—I’d consider swapping them out for something else next time.

You’ve got dense brussels sprouts, tart fresh cranberries, salty Gorgonzola, crunchy pecans, and a sweet maple balsamic dressing with a bite. The recipe calls for cooked barley as well, since it’s meant to be a main dish. I didn’t have the time or inclination to do that this time, but will definitely try it some other time.

I also loved this tip from Cookie + Kate…brussels sprouts are best cooked flat-side down because the heat gets trapped inside the sprout and, in effect, steams it. It’s the best way to get crispy flat sides and cooked insides. It’s one of those things you kind of do intuitively, but knowing WHY helps.READ THE POST

Pioneer Woman’s Crash Hot Potatoes

March 18, 2013

You always need a couple of good potato side dish recipes around for when you’re not feeling super inspired.

For some reason, I don’t default to potatoes, and I always have trouble coming up with starchy sides. I’ll gravitate to a kale, a brussels sprout dish, something along those lines, but lots of people probably hate me for that since the instinctive reaction is “blech!”. So I’m trying to build up an arsenal of “regular” sides.

I found this “crash” hot potatoes recipe on Pioneer Woman’s site, and like the idea because it seemed simple and easy. Things like mashed potatoes scare me, because there are too many steps, too much mess, and it takes quite a while.

This dish was a great easy side with the balsamic beef we made Saturday night, easy to put together, and didn’t require us to find lots of work space in my tiny kitchen.READ THE POST

Baby Spinach, Goat Cheese & Sweet Potato Frittata

December 30, 2012

Sometimes I forget how awesome and easy frittatas are. Sure, they take slightly longer than scrambled eggs or an omelette, but the end result is also so much better. Plus there are leftovers. Do you have leftovers from scrambled eggs? (If so, ew.)

This frittata was even better than I’d imagined—the salty tanginess of the goat cheese, the sweet firmness of the sweet potatoes, the flash of green onion and the fragrant pop of the rosemary just all combined for an amazing flavor.

Most frittatas only take about 20 minutes. This one took slightly longer because the sweet potatoes need a little longer to cook than other things I’ve used (shallots, zucchini, etc.), but it also made an even more delightful crust.

[Note: Images updated 2019; I’d forgotten how delicious this recipe is!! Going back in the rotation…]
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Roasted Sweet Potato, Apple, & Sage Soup

December 9, 2012

My last night at home for Thanksgiving, it was just me and my mom since my dad had to head out of town for work. It had been cold and windy all day, typical Kansas November, and we’d been out running errands most of the day. When we got home, all we wanted was something warm and hearty, a glass of wine, and maybe some White Collar on Netflix.

My mom had picked up some truffle cheese, knowing how much I love truffles. So I decided to make another loaf of the amazing rosemary and olive oil bread I’d tried a couple days earlier and make grilled cheese sandwiches. Of course, we needed some kind of soup to go with it. So I did some searching and found this delicious, slightly-sweet and hearty soup as the perfect flavor pairing.

One thing I loved about this soup recipe was that it didn’t call for heavy cream, so it was a little healthier than many similar recipes. I also loved that you could make this in a normal amount of time instead of cooking it in a crockpot for several hours—I can’t always think ahead that much!

This looks like a perfect winter evening.READ THE POST