Tag Archives: sides

Sausage and Sourdough Bread Stuffing

Isn’t stuffing usually the best part of Thanksgiving? Why do we only eat it at this time of year? Sure, I guess you could argue that sage is more of a fall herb so it’s weird to eat it in the spring or summer. But who cares? Is anyone with me in getting stuffing out of the Thanksgiving rut and into mainstream life? Plus, there are so many different and exciting stuffing recipes out there that if you only eat it once a year, it will take years to try them all. Well, I’m having a small Thanksgiving dinner this week and my friend offered to bring the stuffing so it was one less thing for me to do. But since I love making stuffing, I made a batch of this Sausage and Sourdough Bread Stuffing last weekend, just for me. Shh, don’t tell anyone!

Sourdough bread is toasted in the oven before being mixed with cooked onion, celery and spicy turkey sausage. Fresh fragrant herbs of thyme, sage, and parsley bring this mixture to life and send it over the top. A quick soaking of broth, egg and water and this stuffing bakes until perfectly tender on the inside and golden and crusty on top. A helping of this served with a side veggie and you’ve got a happy dinner for any night of the week, Thanksgiving or not.

IMG_5961

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange bread in single layers on 2 jelly-roll pans. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden, rotating pans after 10 minutes. Turn oven off; leave pans in oven for 30 minutes or until bread is crisp.

IMG_5959

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery; cook 11 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

IMG_5953

Transfer vegetables to a large bowl. Add sausage to pan. Increase heat; sauté 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove sausage from pan using a slotted spoon; add sausage to vegetable mixture.

IMG_5954

IMG_5955

Stir in bread, herbs, and pepper; toss. Combine broth, 1 cup water, and egg, stirring well. Drizzle broth mixture over bread mixture; toss.

IMG_5958

Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray; cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Uncover and cook 20 minutes or until browned.

IMG_5960

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light magazine

Asparagus and Pistachios

Asparagus…what is that? For that matter – vegetables? What are they? My eating habits haven’t been very good lately. I can’t remember the last time I ate something green. I’m ashamed of myself. I was on a zoodle kick for a while (zucchini noodles for those of you not in the know) so that was a positive thing. But somewhere over the last few weeks, probably since I had food poisoning last month, my fruit and vegetable intake has plummeted. Now that I think about it, I think my disinterest in vegetables started right around the time candy corn showed up in the stores. I’ll happily bypass the veggies to make room for candy corn. So when I came across this recipe for Asparagus & Pistachios, I figured it was time to put those green guys in my cart and bring them home with me.

Asparagus is cooked until crisp and green before being topped with a flavorful pesto made with pistachios, basil, parmesan, garlic, and lemon.  This pesto is thick and vibrant and, although not your typical pesto, full of flavor. I added a little extra olive oil to thin it out and really loved this pesto. Pistachio anything in general though is pretty much a sure thing with me. Pistachio ice cream? Absolutely. Pistachio pudding? Gimme. Pistachio pizza? Any day of the week. With additional pistachios providing a little crunch, this asparagus is a great new twist for those everyday spears. So I guess the only thing to say is… pistachio asparagus? I’m sold.

IMG_4554

In food processor, pulse 1/4 cup pistachios, basil, parmesan, garlic, and lemon until crumbly.

IMG_4551

IMG_4552

In skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add asparagus; cook 4 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water; boil 2 minutes. Season.

IMG_4550

Top with pesto and remaining nuts.

IMG_4553

Additions:

  • More olive oil

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine

Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs

I have to rant a little bit.  I don’t care what people say about potatoes, I don’t think they are terrible for you.  I feel like anything that is provided by the Earth can’t be that bad and I think potatoes get a bad rap.  Sure, my favorite food ever is French fries, but that doesn’t mean that the only thing way to eat potatoes is cut them up and fry them.  As long as we don’t eat potatoes all the time, it’s okay to eat them in moderation, like everything else, right?  Well, these Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs are baked and packed with flavor so there is no reason to feel guilty.

Baby potatoes are tossed with garlic, olive oil, and herbes de Provence and roasted until soft and tender.  This is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis who is the person who first introduced me to herbes de Provence many years ago.  Since that day, I always have the herbs on hand and toss it with my chicken, veggies and almost always with my eggs.  They are simple, fragrant and mildly floral which really works with these rustic potatoes, which are slightly chewy on the outside but perfectly creamy on the inside.  I literally used a fraction of the amount of olive oil than what was called for here, just enough to lightly coat the potatoes, and they were still plenty flavorful so use your judgment.  These garlicky potatoes were an amazing side dish and unbelievably simple.

DSC05043

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the potatoes into a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the herbs, garlic, and oil together until blended, and then pour over the potatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

DSC05038

DSC05040

Transfer the potatoes to a heavy large baking dish, spacing them evenly apart.

DSC05041

Roast the potatoes until they are tender and golden, turning them occasionally with tongs, about 1 hour. Serve hot or warm.

DSC05044

Additions:  None

Omissions:

  • White potatoes (I used all red potatoes)

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Food Network

1 2 … 6
Blog at WordPress.com.
%d bloggers like this: