Category: <span>Side Dishes and Salads</span>

Lemony Pea and Mint Salad

This salad pops with flavor and texture. I love the crisp fresh lemon dressing. I make the salad in the morning and let it marinate all day stirring periodically. Add the almonds and mint before serving.

1 pound frozen baby sweet peas
1 lemon
1 small shallot, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Freshly cracked pepper to taste
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 to 4 sprigs fresh mint (optional)
4 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted

1. Place the peas in a colander and rinse with cold water. Let sit until peas have thawed.
2. Zest the lemon and set aside. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a small mixing bowl.
3. Whisk shallot, salt, sugar, and pepper into the lemon juice until sugar has dissolved. Continue whisking while slowly pouring in the olive oil.
4. Place mint leaves on top of each other and roll tightly. Slice mint into thin strips.
5. Place the thawed peas into a serving bowl. Pour vinaigrette over peas and toss. Garnish with fresh mint, lemon zest, and slivered almonds. Note:If making this dish ahead, wait until serving time to slice the mint.

Our State magazine, April 2020

Pear Cobbler

This fast and easy one-pan cobbler is wonderful served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

½ cup butter
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 cups canned pears in heavy syrup – drained (use either cut or halves)

Directions:

1. Melt butter in 8” Pyrex baking dish.
2. In mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar and milk until well blended.
3. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do NOT stir.
4. Spoon fruit over batter. Do NOT stir.
5. Bake cobbler at 350 for 30-40 minutes until crust rises to the top and is lightly browned and the liquid is bubbly.
6. Let cool slightly and serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers. Briefly warm refrigerated cobbler in microwave, if desired.

Spaghetti Squash with Pine Nuts, Sage, and Romano

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the squash either in the oven or the microwave.
2. For the oven, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Remove seeds. Place the squash, cut side down, in a large baking dish. Bake the squash in the preheated oven for 50 minutes.
3. Microwave method. Poke the entire squash several times with a paring knife to allow steam/heat to escape. Place the whole squash in the microwave. Cook on high for only 5 minutes turning halfway through. Be careful handling the hot squash. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place the half squash in a Pyrex dish cut side down. Add an inch of water to the pan. Cook on high about 10 minutes, checking a few times for doneness.
4. Scrape flesh of squash from the rind using a fork and place in a bowl. Add the pine nuts, cheese, sage, butter, salt, and pepper; toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Variation of the recipe by Sarah Stephan on allrecipes.com

Pickled Summer Squash

Yield: 8 servings.

6 yellow squash, sliced thin (I use my mandoline slicer on setting 2)
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup sweet onion, sliced thin using mandoline
1 cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt* (see note below)
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon turmeric (or substitute 1/8 tsp each of garlic powder, cumin, ground ginger)
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon celery seed*  (substitute 1 ½ tsp of celery salt for salt and celery seed)

Place squash, celery, and sliced onion in large bowl. Set aside. In a blender or mixing bowl, mix vinegar and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add salt, pepper, and turmeric. Slowly add oil and blend well. Add celery seed to dressing. Pour dressing over squash and toss. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Drain well before serving. Keeps about 3 days when drained.

Our State magazine June 2016

California Salad

There are many variations of California salad and dressing. This is the one that our friend Richard uses. He’s quite creative. He’s known for eliminating the mandarin oranges and instead adding dried cranberries, fresh blackberries, and fresh spinach. It is sensational.

Salad

2 large heads of romaine lettuce or leaf lettuce

1 package sliced almonds, toasted

1 medium red or purple onion, thinly sliced

2-11 oz. cans mandarin oranges, drained

Dressing

½ cup white vinegar

½ tsp dry mustard

Dash of paprika

2 eggs, beaten frothy

¾ cup sugar

¾ tsp minced onion

½ tsp salt

½ cup vegetable oil

Dressing: Combine all dressing ingredients except vegetable oil in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Boil about 1 minute. It will thicken. Remove from heat, add oil and stir. Pour into covered jar and refrigerate.

Salad: Combine torn lettuce, onions and oranges in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Toast almonds in 1 T butter in the oven at 350 or in a skillet. Mix into salad.

Shake dressing well before pouring on the salad. Add dressing a bit at a time and toss as you go to avoid over-dressing the salad.

Zucchini Pie

Looking for an easy-to-make and substantial vegetable side dish to accompany grilled salmon and wild rice, I decided to make a zucchini pie. It was a good choice! The little bit of nutmeg and ground white pepper added a bit of a zip to it.

4 cups peeled and shredded zucchini

½ cup chopped onion

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground white pepper

¼ tsp nutmeg

3 beaten eggs

¾ cup dry bread crumbs

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously coat a 9” pyrex pie plate with cooking spray.
• Blend all ingredients and press into pie pan.
• Bake 30-35 minutes or until set.

Smokin’ Broccoli

Cleaning out my recipe folder on a cold winter day, I found this Smokin’Broccoli recipe by Kate Sherwood that I had clipped from from Nutrition Action Newsletter. Seemed like a perfect winter side dish for grilled chicken. I served it to company. It was a big hit!

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1/8 tsp kosher salt (I added a bit more)

4 cups finely chopped broccoli crowns (recipe calls for raw, but I did steam it for about 8 minutes)

¼ cup smoked, salted almonds, chopped

¼ cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese

Toss together broccoli, almonds, and cheese in a large bowl. Whisk together lemon juice, oil, and salt. Pour over broccoli mixture and mix well. Chill for several hours before serving.