Tag Archives: side dish

Green Bean Casserole

24 Nov

Green Bean Casserole is one of our favorites.  You can find the recipe on a can of cream of mushroom soup, sometimes on a can of green beans, or on a container of fried onions.  This time, I used fresh green beans, and I don’t think I had quite enough, it was more soup than green beans.  But, it was still really good!

Green Bean Casserole

What you need:

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans (or 2 14.5oz cans of green beans, drained, or 2 9oz pkgs frozen green beans, thawed)
1-1/3 cups fried onions

How to make it:

Stir soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, beans and 2/3 cups onions in an 8×8 casserole dish.

Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until hot. Stir.

Top with remaining onions. Bake for 5 minutes more.

 

Tip:  If you forgot to thaw your green beans, like I did, put them in a medium sauce pan on the stove.  Let them heat up for a few minutes, then add them milk, soup, soy sauce and pepper.  Let that heat on the stove a few minutes, mix in the onions, and transfer to the casserole dish to bake it.

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Wild Rice & Sausage Dressing

23 Nov

My Aunt Paula started making this for holiday meals a while back, and I just loved it.  Her recipe is super simple, 1 box of Uncle Ben’s wild rice, 1 package of breakfast sausage, 1 beaten egg.  Make rice according to the box, brown the sausage and crumble, mix it together with the egg, and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.  This year, I wanted to make it more into a dressing, like the traditional bread & celery dressing, and make it a gluten-free dressing, so that it could be an alternative for a Thanksgiving meal.  Or, in our case, an addition to our meal.  We don’t have anyone in our household that needs to eat gluten-free, but I wanted to try this out in case we need it in the future or have someone over.

Wild Rice & Sausage Dressing

What you need:

1 cup wild rice blend (I used Lundberg Wild Rice Blend)
2 cups water (or amount specified on package directions)
1 Tbsp olive oil or butter (optional)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp poultry seasoning (make sure blend is just spices, not any “blends”)
1 package breakfast sausage (most are gluten-free, but check the label)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
1 egg, beaten

How to make it:

Put rice, water, oil or butter, parsley, and poultry seasoning in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer for amount of time on rice package directions, mine was for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove casings from sausage (if there are casings).  Place in a large skillet, crumble, and brown.  Add garlic, onion, and celery to skillet and continue cooking until onions and celery soften.

Mix together rice, sausage mixture, and the egg.  Pour into a greased 8×8 or 11×7 baking dish.  Bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes.

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Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake

21 Oct

I was not feeling up to cooking much earlier this week, so tonight was time to do some catch up.  I had gotten Mexican grey squash in my Mexican pack, and still had some yellow squash to use, so since the grey squash is similar to zucchini, I found this recipe for Easy Chessy Zucchini Bake.    I think it turned out pretty good, I think the grey squash made it a little watery, but over all good.  I think next time I will put some mozzarella on top with the Parmesan.  I used grated Parmesan on top, but I think it might have been better with both grated Parmesan and shredded mozzarella.

 

Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake

What you need:

2-3 zucchinis, sliced or cut in half moon slices
2-3 yellow squash, sliced or cut in half moon slices
1/2 bunch green onion, diced
1 Tbsp Italian blend seasoning
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Toss together the zucchini, yellow squash, green onion, seasoning, and mozzarella cheese.  Spray an 8×8 baking dish, and place the zucchini mixture in the dish.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese (here is where I would also put mozzarella cheese on top, probably about 1/4 cup).  Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until zucchini and yellow squash are tender and cheese is browned.

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Spaghetti Squash

18 Oct

I love this time of year when squash becomes available and is cheap.  One of our favorites is spaghetti squash.  The reason it is called spaghetti squash, is that after you roast it, you can take a fork and pull it away from the peel, and it looks like spaghetti noodles.  It is usually a long, yellow oval-shaped squash.  Here is how to prepare one.

First, cut the squash in half lengthwise.  Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and innards.  Below shows the before on the left, after on the right.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the squash cut side down on the baking sheet.  Use a fork to pierce some holes in the outer peel of the squash.  Bake in 400 F oven for 30-35 minutes, or until you can easily put a fork in the outer peel. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Use a fork to pull the flesh away from the peel, which will be stringy.

You will get a nice bowl of squash, which you can do a variety of things with.  You can serve it with your favorite pasta sauce to make it a meal on its own.  I usually use it as a side, so I mix in melted butter, salt and pepper, although with this one I used garlic salt, and it was delicious.

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Fennel Carrot Soup & 7-Up Biscuits

12 Oct

When I picked up my Bountiful Basket from my friend’s house last weekend, she gave me her fennel.  I’ve seen it before, and I think even had gotten in a basket before, but didn’t get a chance to figure out what to do with it until it had gone bad.  I went in search of a recipe and found this Fennel Carrot Soup, plus I had carrots, sweet potatoes, and apples already on hand to make this.  The recipe only calls for fennel seeds, but I added in the fennel bulb I had as well as the seeds.  If you have never used a fennel bulb, there is an informative video here on different ways to cut the bulb.  I chose to dice mine.

Then, I had found an interesting biscuit recipe on Pinterest called 7-Up biscuits.  I had attempted to make them a couple of nights ago, but didn’t pay attention to the amount of 7-Up to add and put in too much.  Tonight went much better.

Overall, the soup was ok and the biscuits were excellent.  I’m not sure what it was about the soup, it was good, but not fantastic.  I think it was too much carrot or maybe too bland.  I chose not to use curry as called for in the original recipe, putting in garlic instead.   Or maybe I was tasting more fennel and didn’t like it.  I also think I might have added too much lemon juice.  I don’t know.  The biscuits were very good, very light and fluffy.  Mine didn’t turn out as pretty as the Pinterest picture, but the taste was great.

So, here is how I made the soup and the biscuits.

Fennel Carrot Soup

What you need:

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1 tablespoon butter
1 fennel bulb, diced
1 pound carrots, sliced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium apple, peeled and cubed
5 1/2 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons uncooked long grain rice
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

How to make it:

In a large saucepan, saute fennel seed and garlic in butter for 2-3 minutes or until lightly toasted. Add the fennel bulb, carrots, sweet potato and apple; saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the water, bouillon cubes, rice, and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until rice and vegetables are very tender.

Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Discard bay leaf. In a blender or food processor, process soup in batches until pureed. Return to saucepan. Stir in the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through.

7-Up Biscuits

What you need:

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7-up
1/4 cup melted butter

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Cut sour cream into biscuit mix.  If you have never cut dough, there is a handy tool called a pastry cutter or dough blender.  I do not have one of these, so I did the best I could with a fork.

Add 7-Up and mix in well.  You may find the dough to be sticky, if so, add more Bisquick or flour (about 1 tablespoon) until you can better work with it.  Don’t worry, even if the dough is sticky, they still bake fine.

Sprinkle flour on board or table and pat dough out to the shape of an 8×8 pan.  Cut dough into 9 squares.  Pour all but 1 Tbsp of the melted butter in an 8×8 pan.  Place cut biscuits in pan.

7-Up Biscuits in pan before baking

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Brush the remaining 1 Tbsp of butter over hot biscuits.

Finished 7-Up biscuits

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Chinese Napa Cabbage Salad

27 Sep

As soon as I saw the Asian themed veggie pack was available from Bountiful Baskets, I was seriously hoping that Napa cabbage would be included.  I was craving Chinese Napa Cabbage Salad, and once I found out it was in there, I got the rest of the ingredients I needed ready.

What you need:

  • 2 (3 ounce) packages chicken flavored ramen noodles, crushed
  • 1 seasoning packet from the ramen noodles
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
  • 1 Napa cabbage, shredded
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped
  • 1 rotisserie chicken, chicken removed from the bone (optional)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1/8 cup white sugar
How to make it:
Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium-low heat.  Melt butter and add crush noodles.  Cook until golden brown.  Add in toasted sesame seeds and 1 of the seasoning packets from the ramen noodles, stir thoroughly.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, add cabbage, green onion, chicken (if using) and the cooled noodle and sesame seed mixture and mix.  Set aside.  Mix together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.  Pour this over the cabbage mix and toss.  Serve immediately.

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Japanese Eggplant Teriyaki

27 Sep
I have been working through the Asian themed veggie pack I got with Bountiful Baskets and decided to first figure out what to do with the eggplant.  I came across a few recipes for Japanese Eggplant Teriyaki, and decided that would be it.  The tricky part was that I only had 1 eggplant, but most recipes called for 4-5.  So, I scaled back the ingredients as best I could, but I still think I had too much of the liquids in the pan with the eggplant.  However, it still turned out pretty tasty.
Japanese Eggplant Teriyaki
  • 1 lb Japanese eggplant, about 4-6
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 -3 drops sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ginger root, grated
  • toasted sesame seeds
  1. Cut the eggplants into 1/2″ slices and soak in water for 10-15 minutes. Drain and dry them.
  2. Heat a large non-stick skillet and add the vegetable oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and ginger.  Place the eggplant slices in the skillet and cook the eggplant slices on both sides until tender.
  3. Remove from heat and add to serving dish.  Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

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