Side Dishes & Veggies Archives | finding time for cooking

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

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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Quinoa Mac & Cheese With Greens

October 31, 2012

“I need to try cooking quinoa.”

I’ve probably been saying this for two years. A couple weeks ago I finally got up the courage to try it.

Why quinoa? Well, for one, it’s a bit of a superfood—high in awesome protein, rich in nutrients (such as calcium, iron, vitamin B), full of fiber and complex carbohydrates, easy to cook, hearty, versatile, and quite tasty.

For my first foray, I went with a delightful-sounding quinoa mac & cheese recipe. Spoiler alert: it was awesome, easy, and delicious!

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Easy Baked Beer Mac & Cheese

October 29, 2012

I was kind of “meh” all last week. Nothing bad happened. It wasn’t a particularly hellacious week at work. Nothing was wrong. I just wasn’t feeling it.

So to banish the “oncoming winter” blues, I decided beer was the answer. Specifically, beer with carbs and cheese. This baked beer mac & cheese had been staring at me from my Pinterest page for quite some time, and I decided it was time to make it reality. Add beer bread into the equation, and you’ve got the recipe for an awesome Sunday night (with a lovely Malbec, a good friend, and The Artist on Netflix, of course).

The thing I love about this recipe (besides the beer, cheese, and pasta), is that it’s really not that bad for you relative to how awful mac & cheese can be. Sure, there’s quite a bit of cheese, but you use whole grain pasta, I used skim milk (most recipes call for heavy cream), and the whole recipe only takes 2 tablespoons of butter.READ THE POST

Breaded Baked Okra: a.k.a Staying Healthy & Keeping My “Southerner” Card

September 19, 2012

Fried okra is one of those great Southern pleasures—salty, crunchy, greasy, with that very peculiar, specific okra taste underlying it all. But obviously, for health reasons, it has to be a “once in a while” treat. The thing about okra, though, is that it’s actually (like many vegetables) a nutritional powerhouse. It’s low-calorie, high-fiber, full of folates and vitamins A, C, K, and all the B’s, not to mention iron, magnesium, calcium, and manganese. You’d think, for all THAT, that people would have made a concerted effort to find all sorts of great ways to prepare okra that makes it tasty and still healthy.

Well, search no more. I already roasted okra, which was easy and delicious (and is one of my most popular posts EVER on the blog because it’s super delish). This takes (very) slightly more effort, but gives you that breading that is absent when just roasting. Behold—breaded baked okra!!

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Southern staple with a twist (Kale Mac & Cheese)

August 12, 2012

If my blog has established anything, it’s that I have a longstanding love of kale. I have no idea where it came from, since I never tried kale until about a year ago. But I was in love at first bite. I’m always pinning various kale salad recipes on Pinterest, knowing I probably won’t get around to trying them since making dressing and eating salads isn’t so much my thing. But the second I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it right away. First, because it had kale. Second, because I have been working up the courage to try that most comfort-y of Southern comfort foods—baked mac & cheese.

Real, baked mac & cheese isn’t something I grew up with. Mac & cheese in my family was made on a stove with Velveeta, and usually some hamburger or tuna thrown in. Delicious, but not the real Southern dish. I’ve been a little scared of making it myself, because I’ve never made a roux and worried about how it would turn out. After pinning like 30 different mac & cheese recipes, this one finally convinced me to take the plunge.

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