Kitchen appliances are wonderful things, making certain tasks much easier. If you have ever had your stove stop working suddenly or had your kitchen remodeled, you probably remember what it was like to try to feed your family without your typical kitchen cooktop. Kitchen appliances like slow cookers are a great solution for stop gap …
Potatoes are inexpensive, versatile, and filling. They also risk being bland. On the flip side, Mexican food is never bland. Make your potatoes the Mexican way, and there’s zero chance you’ll be accused of dishing up boring potatoes! Here are 25 exciting Mexican potato recipes for you to try: from healthy snacks to decadent mains, …
Whether you like it smooth or lumpy, mashed potatoes are one of the ultimate comfort foods that very few can resist. It is known and enjoyed worldwide partly because of its versatility, richness, and decadence. And, although many might consider it only suitable as a side to a family meal, it is a delight as …
Many people consider themselves “meat and potatoes” kinds of diners. These people love basic foods without a lot of unusual ingredients. Rather than going to a fancy, French restaurant where new and exciting foods might be discovered, these folks prefer a place where they are familiar with all of the items on the menu and …
When most people picture mashed potatoes, they think of mounds of creamy, fluffy, pale white potatoes. Mashed potatoes pair well with all kinds of dinner entrees. Whether you are having a roast chicken, beef roast, pork tenderloin, or turkey, mashed potatoes are a wonderful side dish. This dish takes cooked potatoes and mashes them together …
Look, I get it. Brussel sprouts aren’t really part of most people’s fantasy dinners. The truth is that they weren’t part of mine until recently either. I actually love brussel sprouts, and I’ve found that they are actually really good when you know how to prepare them. You don’t need to just boil your brussels. …
There is one real universal truth in our home: potatoes are king. We eat potatoes at least twice a week, so it makes sense that I’ve tried to find every unique way to make a potato. We’ve landed on stuffed potatoes as a favorite in our home because they are so easy to personalize. If …
When used in cooking, anchovies dissolve and do NOT taste fishy. They add a brilliant briny, salty, “umami” flavor to the finished dish and are pretty much my favorite secret ingredient. But those goals don’t always fit with our culture’s values. Not really. Sure, thou shalt not kill and all that. (I don’t believe in …
Pickled foods or fermented foods contain the vitamins and minerals inherent to the food. The pickling solution contains healthy gut probiotics and digestive enzymes. Put all this together, and you have a healthy digestive tract, immune benefits, as well as heart-healthy benefits. Most people think of sauerkraut when they read the words fermented and pickled. …
These are incredibly easy to make, mashed full of deliciousness (like cheese and bacon, hence the title), and while they’re not going to trim your waistline any time soon, they’re gonna taste god damn delicious. Serve em up with a grass fed flank steak slathered in chimichurri sauce, and some sweet roasted carrots with spiced greek yogurt and …
Kale is a superfood. Adding kale helps pack your diet with antioxidants and healthy nutrients. You’ll enjoy a day’s dose of important vitamins and minerals. Kale is a versatile member of the cabbage family. It also sometimes gets a bad rep for being a healthy but unpleasant food. These recipes will help you understand how …
Zucchini is a versatile summer squash you can use in sweet and savory dishes. It’s often the star of the show in zucchini recipes. Zucchini is a healthy vegetable that’s low in calories and high in fiber. It’s also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, manganese, and vitamin B6. You won’t believe just how much …
As you ponder over how to eat your polenta, there are so many directions to take this grain. Polenta is, after all, a grain as it comes from corn. Ground cornmeal coarsely milled creates this creamy porridge-like consistency that can’t be beat. Whether it’s breakfast and creamy polenta, or baked or fried polenta squares with …
Eggs are a staple in most kitchens. If you are used to cooking scrambled eggs for the family, it might be time to mix it up. In fact, you might even discover that it is now time to step up your game and incorporate a variety of lunch and dinner recipes into your repertoire. These …
Over the years, cauliflower has had a bad rap. It can have a strong taste, and it has a tendency to become mushy when it is overcooked. A lot of people aren’t interested in this vegetable, but the truth is that they haven’t given it much of a chance. In fact, these cauliflower recipes will …
All About the Base, ‘Bout the Base (Onions) Any onion will do – white, sweet, Spanish, Vidalia, or even shallots. I like red though because they shine like jewels on the plate and we all know how much I like to flash my bling around town. Brittany Spears style, yo. Red onions simply pop it …
In many countries, rice is a staple food. It is eaten at least daily, if not as a part of every meal. In Greece, rice was long considered a luxury. It was originally brought to Greece by Alexander the Great. He encountered it during a campaign in the Himalayas. Greeks began growing rice, but it …
Question: Do you add milk to your water when boiling ears of corn? Some people say it’s the only way to boil corn on the cob. It’s true! And also, why are these called ears? Have you ever seen an animal with ears that look like…ears of corn? And how about silk? Could you weave …
Beer Polenta with Creamy Chard and Eggs is one of her favorites. Earthy, bright, and oh so oozy, I’m salivating on my keyboard just thinking about it. I’mma be serving it this weekend for brunch and hoarding the leftovers for dinner the next day. It’s that good. Related: Popular Recipes with Eggs | Polenta Recipes
One of the easiest summer garden veggies to grow, many novice gardeners start out in their vegetable growing adventures by growing zucchini. Zucchini is indeed super simple to grow, but one thing that is surprising to many people is how prolific this plant can be. Just one or two plants can provide enough zucchini for …
Mashed potatoes surpassed simple comfort food when world-famous chefs took to televising their culinary masterpieces. This gave home cooks the confidence to jazz up their food in unique ways. Today, we bring you mashed potatoes – “we’re delighted to think they’re just great,” as Cheryl Wheeler sang. One of my favorite things to do when …
Pasta salad is one of those things that many people take for granted as a ho hum side dish that will do nothing more than accent the main dish on the table, especially when you are cooking outdoors or having a picnic. However, this recipe for Easy Peasy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad is a stand-alone …
Many people use rice as a staple in their diets. All across the globe, rice is a grain that people of all walks of life eat on almost a daily basis. In fact, in many countries, rice is eaten every day for almost every meal. Rice is included in soup, rolled up into tortillas or …
Cornbread has been a staple of cuisines across the Americas for centuries. Thanks to the cheapness and abundance of cornmeal, it has been a dish for everyone! The result is years and years of recipes, some of which we’ve preserved right here. Sweet or savory, cornbread is for everyone. 1. It’s a Tradition =>Click here …
While broccoli has been cultivated for human consumption since the time of the Roman Empire, farmers in the United States have only been growing this nutritious vegetable since the 1920s. Immigrant farmers from Italy first grew this green veggie in California, and they began shipping it eastward by railroad on ice in 1924. They marketed …
There are currently more than 10,000 recognized mushroom species. Even though that might appear like a high number, mycologists believe that this is only a small portion of the total number of fungi on Earth! Mussels are associated with numerous health advantages, in addition to promoting strong bones and a strong immune system. An article …
Potato bread, potato pancake, potato farls–all of these are favorite mealtime components of the Irish. Potato farls are fried cakes simply made from mashed potatoes and flour. The dough is patted into shape, divided into fourths, and pan-fried until brown and crispy. There are versions of this tasty bread in other countries. In Scotland, these …
As a chef working on a cookbook, my job involves quite a lot of researching recipes. Pasta salad is a good example of a recipe that has a lot more volume than you would expect. I knew with the variety of pastas on the market there would be plenty to go around. But really there …
Shroom stuffing, am I right? As I develop a recipe book for my fans in the cookbook work, I always start with a single ingredient. This time around, that ingredient is mushrooms for party foods. Fortunately, this ingredient has endless varieties of flavors, textures, smells, and tastes. You can use mushrooms to boost vitamin D …
If you need a great side dish that almost everyone will love, look no further. Our recipe for Air Fryer Roasted Carrots and Potatoes gives you all the goodness of oven-roasted, charred veggies, but without the mess and in much less time than the traditionally made recipe. While most of us love complicated recipes that …
If you are having a party, having a selection of delicious appetizers will make your guests feel welcome. This recipe for Air Fryer Stuffed Mushrooms will absolutely impress your guests. This is one recipe that seems difficult and time-consuming, but when you have an air fryer, it isn’t. Something that good has to be difficult, …
With a fresh, nutty taste, our recipe for Whole Wheat Vegan Tortillas is delicious and free from any preservatives or unnecessary ingredients. If you are hoping to clean up your diet and want to know what is in your food, this recipe can give you a great substitution for commercially produced Whole Wheat Tortillas. Related: …
Finding after-school snacks that kids love can be hard. Parents want their kids to eat things that are at least somewhat healthy, while kids naturally gravitate toward snacks that are loaded with fat, sugar, salt, and artificial flavors. If you are tired of the complaints about the fruit and nuts you’re offering after school, you …
One thing that is really great about this vegetable dish is that you can customize it to your own tastes. If you have a favorite vegetable that is not included in the ingredients list, you can add it to the mix. You can include things like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, Brussels sprouts or any other veggie …
Some people like creamy pasta salads that include mayonnaise or sour cream, but others do not care for mayonnaise at all. This recipe is one that you can serve to pretty much everyone, whether they like mayo or not. With its light, vinegar based dressing, the dish itself is the perfect accompaniment for a heavier …
A pilaf is a culinary term for a rice recipe in which the rice is sauteed in butter before the rice is boiled in water. Rice pilafs take many forms with many additional ingredients and seasonings. Some rice pilafs include vegetables like peas and carrots. Our recipe for Mushroom Rice is a rice pilaf recipe …
Featuring the classic flavors of bacon and tomato along with the crunch of delicious romaine lettuce, our recipe for BLT Pasta Salad goes great with summer barbecue menus. Coming together in less than half an hour, this recipe only requires basic cooking skills. Even a grade school student can create this tasty recipe. When the …
Most people consider that things like tacos and quesadillas to always be in the category of Mexican food, but did you know that this categorization may actually be incorrect, depending on what is in the food? Mexican food has been around in Central America for thousands of years. This genre of food features lots of …
Those rice mixtures that you buy in the stores that include rice, dried veggies, and a seasoning packet are quick to prepare, tasty, and convenient. However, did you know that you can make these kinds of rice mixes in your own kitchen on the stove for much less money? Additionally, these delicious mixtures only take …
Most people who like mushrooms simply love them for their flavor, and others enjoy them as a topping for pizza, salads, or spaghetti. But many people are not aware that mushrooms have plenty of health benefits. Researchers claim that mushrooms can help lower one’s cholesterol, and they contain B Vitamins that many people are …
Whether you serve them baked with smooth sour cream and rich butter piled on top, fried in the form of French fries, or mashed in a creamy bowl of tasty deliciousness, potatoes are one root vegetable that pretty much everyone enjoys. Much maligned in today’s low carb culture, potatoes are one of those things that …
While the potato has gotten a lot of bad press in the past five to ten years, this root vegetable has historically done great things for certain societies. Potatoes were originally discovered and cultivated by primitive human societies in the Andes Mountains of South America around 5000 BC. The Inca people group cultivated potatoes as …
Myth says that Marco Polo brought pasta back to Europe after his famed trip to China, but that is actually untrue. Pasta was already becoming popular in Europe hundreds of years before Marco Polo was born. In fact, dyes for creating colored pasta have been discovered in Sicily, and they date back 3000 years! Whether …
While many people love to eat bread and rolls and will buy these things at a bakery, many people are intimidated by the thought of making bread or dinner rolls themselves at home in their own kitchens. For whatever reason, the idea of using yeast, kneading dough, and shaping the bread just seems too complicated …
Historians say that even the ancient Greeks and Romans enjoyed mixtures of various fruits mixed up into a salad. Around the mid to late 1800s, American cooks began experimenting with various fruit salad recipes, sometimes using canned fruit, but often incorporating local seasonal fruits as well. It wasn’t until the early 1900s when the modern …
What does chicken salad bring to mind for you? If you think of little plastic tubs full of nondescript, slimy chicken-based sandwich spread from the grocery store, you are probably not alone. Chicken salad often brings to mind a luncheon in a musty church basement or something that smells funny, smeared between two slices of …
Most people come to a cookout for hamburgers, steak, grilled chicken–you know–things that are cooked on the grill. Often the side dishes are just an afterthought. Some consider the sides to just be filler or an accompaniment to the meat. If you want a side dish that is just as popular as the meat, we …
When it comes to winter squash, I’m a bit of a late bloomer. Up until the last couple of years, I always gave these tough-skinned gourds a wide berth when browsing the produce area of my local grocery store. Something about them intimidated me. Maybe it was the scabs on their skin. Maybe it was …
Whenever I hear anyone talk about a side dish, I am immediately reminded of our youngest, Lil Lilly’s first formal dinner. It was at her grandparents’, my in-laws, and after hearing her grandmother and mother talk about the “side dish”, she quietly came to me at the dinner table to enquire from her Fountain of Knowledge-yours truly.
“Daddy, what is a side dish?” Lil Lilly eagerly asked.
Oblivious that the whole room had heard Lily’s question and all fallen silent in anticipation, I racked my brain as to the best way to answer Lil Lilly. After a short pause and without thought, I finally answered.
“Well honey, a side dish is like a side chick, you know, a bit on the side….”
It was only when my in-laws and other guests all gasped that I realized I had spoken my thoughts out loud!
“Oh, no. What I actually meant to say is that ‘a side dish is a dish or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.’” I desperately tried to do damage control.
“It’s an item of food you put beside the main course. In a restaurant, it’s sometimes referred to as a side order, that is, food accompanying your main order, I continued to explain.”
Wifey, realizing I had put my foot in it again, tried to help me sarcastically save face.
“Sweets, since you know so much about side dishes, maybe you could list and describe all the different types of side dishes as that is what Lil Lil heard us talking about in the kitchen.”
Seeing an opportunity to redeem myself, I grabbed it with both hands and launched into a tirade about as many different types of side dishes as time permitted-in alphabetical order!
From asparagus to zucchini, over the years different types of side dishes have become the standard dish to complete any meal. Below I explore in detail some of these side dishes and the different kinds of recipe dishes that have become associated with them.
A quick and easy-to-make dish, this asparagus side is a must-try. In addition to the asparagus, you will enjoy the enhanced flavor of the breadcrumbs and freshly grated cheese.
To try it, click here and, for other asparagus side dish recipes, follow the links I have provided.
This side dish is the total package. It comes with protein power and is easy to make. You just plop everything in your slow cooker and walk away.”Be careful though, you could become addicted!
To try it, click here for the recipe. To try other bean side dishes click on the links below.
Described as fabulous by many, this garlic bread is, in my view, the ultimate side dish. The cheesy garlic gives such a kick your mouth will be left tangy and asking for more. Click here for the recipe.
To try the other bread side dish recipe, just follow the link.
Party, party cheese bread (click here for the recipe)
Try this recipe and gone will be the days when broccoli is considered a punishment. Thanks largely to the balsam, this has become such a great side dish. Because it is not overly dressed like most other side dishes, this allows its main ingredient to come through.
For more info about the other broccoli side dishes below, just follow the link I have provided.
The casserole has historically been a classic side dish. Cheesy grit casserole makes it even more so.
It is very easy to make, you can prepare them ahead of time and then bake them while the rest of your meal is going on. Cheesy, right? To try it for yourself, click here. Enjoy!
Other than proverbially good for your eyes, most of us keep away from carrots as much as possible. However, with this side dish recipe, that could just become something of the past for you.
Thanks to the lemon and honey, the roasted carrot accent is left neither too heavy nor too sweet. To try it, click here.
The same could also be said of the other side of herbed carrots. Follow the link I have provided to try that one too.
So tasty you just want to cry, this cauliflower side dish recipe should not be kept a secret from family and friends.
Pass it on to your family and friends. Should the other cauliflower side dish recipes have caught your fancy, then follow the links I have provided.
Bring the Macdonald’s texture and flavor home to your family with this super-duper creamy and cheesy Mac and cheese side dish recipe.
Not only is it super nutritious, but it is also quick and easy. Give it a go by clicking here for the recipe. Good luck!!
Talk of corn on a cob and you are taking us as far back as the founding fathers-this side dish is an American classic.
It has been good for hundreds of years and remains great to this day. Sweet and tender, this side dish is legendary.
Try the other corn side dishes. Follow the links I have provided below.
Cheesy mini corn muffins (click here for the recipe)
Great garlic cream cheese corn (click here for recipe)
For an exotic side dish, you won’t forget in a hurry, this is one of the best Indian recipes ever. It will have your besties and guests talking about it for years to come. Click here for a full and comprehensive recipe.
To try another curried side dish of lentils, click here for the Carried over curried lentils side dish. About it, Gina Wilkerson reports, “This tastes excellent and is super easy to make. I served the lentils over basmati rice and the combination was wonderful.”
These are better quartered than sliced. Then add a little red wine and roasted garlic for an immune system boost. For a full and comprehensive recipe, click here.
Other mushroom side dishes to consider are:
Think both sweet and sour and you are describing this dish. No need to add sugar and butter to this dish, the honey gives it its sweet flavor, while the peas bring their natural savouriness.
To give it a go, click here for the full recipe.
For the full recipes of the ones below, kindly follow the links.
If it’s a change from the usual hum-drum mashed potato side dish routine, then this is the potato side dish recipe for you.
Easy to make, you will hardly break any sweat. Other potato recipes you might want to consider include,
Quick and easy to make, you won’t believe it and neither will your guests. Click here for the full recipe.
The triple team of parmesan, butter, and rice make for a wonderful combination-one your tongue is not likely to forget in a hurry. Click here for the full recipe.
For recipes for the rest of the rice side dishes, follow the instructions below.
It’s always cool and refreshing when East meets West. So too is the perfect combination of flavors in this salad side dish. To try it for your next pool party, here there is the recipe.
No doubt this must be Popeye the Sailorman’s spinach side dish recipe. This spinach side dish recipe is so great that Jessica Hoylman reports that “Even my kids loved it.” To try it for your kids too, click here for the recipe.
Simple to make and delicious to boot, these Memphis sweet potato fries are just what the doctor ordered.
If you would like to try them for yourself, click here for a comprehensive recipe.
For the recipes below, simply follow my instructions.
Those who have tried this Zucchini side dish recipe have expressed the wish to give it an above five-star rating.
That’s because these zucchini parmesan crisps are a must-try and enjoyable experience. Give them a go by clicking here for the recipe. Enjoy!