Salads, 2 Ways
I actually “made” this fruit salad very early on this month but I neglected to post it here since I already posted it in my Facebook and Twitter. I got so excited to show off what a beautiful fruit salad I “made” that I forgot where it was intended for. Anyhoo, I said “made” coz there’s really no making process that went on. All I did was buy watermelon, grapes and strawberries, cut the watermelon in half, then scooped out cute rounded balls. I tossed them with sliced strawberries and whole grapes. A perfect fruit salad for the Summer.
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Mushrooms & Onions Topping On Turkey Burgers
I decided to add a twist to the turkey burgers that I made the other night for dinner. Why? Because I like to twist things… I think I’ve used that joke before in one of the recipes here. It wasn’t funny before, and it’s not funny now. Whatevs, I’m still adorable. *AHEM*.
Anyhoooooo, so back to the turkey burgers. The patties were from Food Lion. They were already formed into perfect rounds so you can just get the same patties from any grocery store. My husband is so used to my terrible burger-patty skillz that he said he’s going to teach me one day how to make perfect burger patties so when he eats his burgers things won’t be flying out of the plate. Hmm, hellleerrrr, the patties were store-bought so I guess I’m not the only one who’s got burger-patty problems. BOO-YAH!
Alright alright…. on to the mushrooms and onions toppings…
Easy Mixed Vegetables Side Dish
A meal is incomplete without a side dish, especially a vegetable side dish. The starch side dish can be elaborate with the use of potatoes, bread, rice, or pastas. Vegetables on the other hand don’t need to be. Steaming, boiling, or sauteing don’t need a lot of work. A bowl of salad in the varieties of lettuce or mixed greens with your favorite salad dressing is delightful too. Sometimes, it’s as simple as nuking a bowl of corn kernels or peas from a can. In this instance, I sauteed onions, potatoes, carrots, and celery for an easy mixed vegetables side dish that went with baked Carribean chicken. It’s a simple, fast, and perfect side dish that could go with any protein entree.
Shrimp & Veggies Stir-Fry
Here’s the shrimp and veggies stir-fry that went with the cabbage-mushroom lumpiang shanghai that I made for our Super Bowl Dinner. Nothing extravagant here. Just a simple shrimp stir-fry dish with baby carrots, broccoli florets, and napa cabbage. That’s the joy in making stir-fry dishes. You can toss anything you want in it, either with pork, chicken or beef, or shrimp, or what other protein you want of course.
Pork & Kimchi Stir-Fry
My husband spent a year in Korea a few years back through his career in the Army. He would always tell me stories about the food that he tasted while over there. One of the most famous food Korea is known for is kimchi. They have all sorts of kimichi dishes there in Korea. Kimchi is not just eaten as a side dish. Sometimes people would incorporate kimchi into meat items to create a dish out of it.
One in particular is the pork and kimchi combination. I did my own version and wished for the best. I was afraid it was going to be so hot and spicy that we wouldn’t be able to eat the dish but my version turned out ok.
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
I had such a craving sweet potato fries earlier this month so I decided to make baked sweet potato fries. I think it because we didn’t eat that much sweet potatoes around the holidays. I made sweet potato bread on Thanksgiving Day but that’s about it. I wanted to savor the flavor and softness of sweet potatoes in fries form. Hence the baking way instead of fried way. Here’s how I make my baked sweet potato fries.
| Baked Sweet Potato Fries |
- 3 large sweet potatoes, washed thoroughly
- 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- dried basil
- dried parsley
- dried oregano
- garlic powder
- paprika
- salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 365°.
- Cut the fried in thin strips. Peel them first if you prefer it that way. I like to leave the skin on.
- In a bowl, put the sweet potato fries. Drizzle 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle dried parsley, dried oregano, dried basil, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands making sure everything is coated.
- Line two cookie sheet pans with foil. Drizzle 1/2 tbsp of olive oil on each pans. Brush the oil all over. Lay the sweet potato fries on top.
- Bake it in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Carefully take the baked fries out from the pan using a spatula.
- Serve as a side dish to sliders or Bacon & Feta Cheese Burger. Ranch dressing is a good dip for Baked Sweet Potato Fries.
Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes Salad
This colorful and delicious green beans and cherry tomatoes salad was inspired by Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis green beans salad recipe. While she also had wax beans (yellow) for an added color, I only used green beans and cherry tomatoes to keep it simple for the kids. The dressing is not hard to make either.
| Green Beans & Cherry Tomatoes Salad |
- a bundle of green beans
- a pack of red cherry tomatoes
- water for boiling
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- sprinkle of red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp of honey
- a drizzle of sesame oil just for taste
- sprinkle of dried oregano
- sprinkle of dried basil
- Boil the water. Add the green beans for about 3-5 minutes. Make sure the beans are still crunchy. Drain the water.
- While waiting for the water to boil, cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Then transfer into a salad bowl, add the green beans as well.
- In a small container, combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, pepper flakes, dried basil, dried oregano and honey. Cover tight, then shake, shake, shake. Pour over the green beans and cherry tomatoes. Gently mix everyting to coat the veggies with the dressing.
- I serve this as a side dish, along with rice to seafood dishes like honey-mustard panko breaded fried tilapia.
————–originally posted at blisstree/b5media—————
Tofu & Zucchini Fritters
To go along with the dumplings I made for dinner a couple of nights ago, I decided to make fritters out of a block of tofu and 2 zucchinis. I used the batter from the sesame chicken to continue the Asian theme I was going for. You could serve these as either appetizers, snacks, or lunch. Or dinner with dumplings as well.
| Tofu & Zucchini Fritters |
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup of cornstarch
- 3/4 cup of water
- 2 tbsp of baking powder
- salt and pepper
- 2 zucchini. cut lengthwise
- 1 block of firm tofu, cut lengthwise
- Combine the egg, cornstarch, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Whisk everything together to form the batter. Dip the tofu and zucchini slices in batches.
- Heat oil in a pot. Deep fry the battered tofu and zucchini slices, in batches as well.
- Drain the oil in a paper-lined platter.
- Serve the tofu and zucchini fritters with a soy sauce, scallions, and lemon juice dip, alongside dumplings.
Zucchini & Yellow Squash Au Gratin
I wasn’t really sure if I was going to make Zucchini & Yellow Squash Au Gratin as one of the side dishes in our Thanksgiving feast yesterday. I thought it about weeks before but wasn’t firm about it and just told myself to decide on the day itself, depending on the time and my mood. Well, I decided to make it and good thing I did. It’s such a simple side dish to make but it’s really good in a cheesy and creamy way.
| Zucchini & Yellow Squash Au Gratin |
- 1 zucchini, peeled, sliced in rounds
- 1 yellow squash, peeled, sliced in rounds
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup of bread crumbs
- salt & pepper
- In a square baking pan, arrange the sliced zucchini and yellow squash. In a bowl, combine the milk, heavy cream and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Pour the whole thing over the zucchini and yellow squash. Top with the remaining cheese, then the bread crumbs. Bake it in the oven, 355° for 20 minutes.
- Cheesy and creamy side dish that you can make anytime, holidays or not.
Curry Shrimp & Green Beans Stir-Fry
Now here’s a shrimp version of the curry pork & green beans stir-fry dish. This Curry Shrimp & Green Beans Stir-Fry is just as easy to make just the pork version. If you want to make a chicken version of the dish, why not? I’m sure it will be good too.
| Curry Shrimp & Green Beans Stir-Fry |
- 1 bag of frozen shrimp, thawed
- 1 sm onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 tomato, sliced in thin strips
- sm piece of ginger, chopped
- a bunch of fresh green beans
- less than a teaspoon of curry paste
- 1/4 cup of water
- 3 tbsp of soy sauce
- a little bit of oil
- Heat up the oil in a sauté pan or wok. Cook the onions, garlic, ginger, and tomatoes. About 2-3 minutes or so. Add the shrimp, stir, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes or so. Stir in the curry paste. Don’t go over less than a tsp coz this is very strong. A little goes a long way with curry paste.
- Add the water, and the green beans. Stir everything around, cover the pan and let that steam-cook for a few minutes. Don’t cook too long coz you want the green beans to be firm and crunchy. Stir around a few times while cooking.
- Serve with white rice.
