Category Archives: Salads and Sides

Pomegranate and Mint Couscous

Couscous is fabulous because it’s kind of fancy (I mean, it’s called couscous) and it’s just so dang easy to make. My favorite type is Near East’s Toasted Pine Nut which is in any grocery store in the rice aisle.

The toasted pine nuts already give it great flavor, but then you can add delicious “accessories” to make it your own. Sometimes I saute garlic, mushrooms and toss in some dried apricots. This week, I bought a pomegranate, added those little red seeds of delish with some fresh mint. It was awesome! The hardest part was getting the pomegranate seeds out. Here’s a video to show you how– I love how this dude makes reference to “you scalp it, you know, like a human being.” Um, creepy…but his technique is pretty awesome.

That’s the hardest part, y’all. Perfect side dish– the mint adds so much fresh flavor and the pomegranate is not only delicious, the color is GORG.

I served it with my Wasabi Cream Salmon and Green Beans with Mushrooms.

Pomegranate and Mint Couscous

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Ingredients

1 box of Near East Toasted Pine Nut Couscous
2-3 Tb chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup of fresh pomegranate seeds

Instructions

Follow box directions to make couscous
Chop mint
Extract pomegranate seeds
Add mint and pomegranate to couscous before serving

http://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2014/03/pomegranate-and-mint-couscous/

Easy Green Beans and Mushrooms

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When I say, “easy,” I mean EASY. Like 4 ingredients easy.

1. Green beans

2. Mushrooms

3. Butter

4. Kosher salt

I love nothing more than to eat raw green beans– it reminds me of summers with my Grandma Ronnie, helping her pop the ends off the beans and eating as many as I was throwing into the pressure cooker for her to steam! She always added a tab of butter to the beans so they would be buttery and delish by the time they were plated up.

I went for years with plain old (boring) steamed beans with NO butter when I was doing a low calorie diet. But now that butter is regular accessory in my low carb/high fat lifestyle, some buttery mushrooms thrown into the mix make this simple side dish *star of the dinner* worthy.

Just steam, saute, mix and eat, y’all!

Easy Green Beans and Mushrooms

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Ingredients

4 cups fresh green beans (ends removed)
1 carton of fresh mushrooms
2 Tb butter
kosher salt

Instructions

Remove the ends of the green beans and steam for 10 minutes.
While beans are steaming, put 1 Tb butter in a saute pan and stir in mushrooms. Saute until lightly browned and golden. They should be done when your beans are.
When beans are steamed, add in 1 Tb butter and fold in the mushrooms.
Sprinkle some kosher salt on the beans and mushrooms and serve immediately.

http://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2014/03/easy-green-beans-and-mushrooms/

Creamy, Cheesy, Mashed Potato Crab Bake

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I know, I know. I normally post low carb delish, but this week has been Carb Central. First there was the face stuffing of cake over the sink at 2am and now this. Creamy, Cheesy, Mashed Potato Crab Bake. Let me put a disclaimer out there first: This almost doesn’t qualify as homemade.

Don’t judge….But I bought some packaged cajun crab salad at the seafood counter of Publix. JP loves it– he scoops it onto crackers and since he is always stalking around the kitchen looking for snacks, I decided to pick some up. Then, I got an idea. I had a baked potato lying around and I thought *lightbulb* moment: Combine them!

The crab salad is creamy and smoky– and yeah, it’s not homemade, but it is made in the store, so how processed can it be? Don’t answer that. Just make it. It’s freaking awesome.

The steps are simple. Peel and boil a big ‘ol Idaho baked potato until tender. Then mash it up with as much butter and cream as you deem appropriate. I opted for about 3 Tb of butter and 1/4 cup of cream. Then fold in the crab salad….

Put it all in a pie plate, top with parmesan, breadcrumbs and a drizzle of butter….and bake for 20 minutes.

It’s SOOOOO worth the carb count.

Creamy, Cheesy, Mashed Potato Crab Bake

Ingredients

1 Idaho baking potato (peeled)
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 Tb plus 2 Tb of butter
kosher salt to taste
1 package of crab salad from Publix seafood counter (about a cup)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs or panko
1/2 cup parmesan
Chives to garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400
Peel and dice potato and boil until tender (about 15 minutes)
Drain and mash with cream and 3 Tb butter
Salt to taste
Fold in crab salad to mashed potatoes and stir to combine
Scoop potato crab mixture into a pie plate or casserole dish
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs/panko and parmesan
Drizzle another 2 Tb of butter on top before putting in oven
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes
Top with fresh chives

http://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2014/02/creamy-cheesy-mashed-potato-crab-bake/

Shaved Cucumber and Edamame Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

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When I was planning the menu for JP’s birthday bonanza feast, I decided to make spicy seared ahi tuna and wanted to serve a cool, refreshing salad to offset the heat.

Meet the most delish cucumber salad. Ever.

And as the 1% of women who really don’t care for salad (hello, save me a double helping of the meat and cheese, please!) I really dig it. And consequently, I ate most of it. Sorry birthday boy.

The shaved cucumber makes for a beautiful presentation and the dressing can double as a dang dip it’s so yum. Sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top and you’ve got a super easy, fancy looking gourmet salad.

Shaved Cucumber and Edamame Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

Ingredients

1 English cucumber
1/2 tsp kosher salt (more to taste)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 peeled whole avocado
1/2 cup cilantro
4 garlic cloves
2 1/2 Tb rice vinegar
juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tb thinly sliced red bell peppers
1 cup peeled edamame
3 scallions chopped
1 tsp black sesame seeds

Instructions

For the salad

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the cucumber down to the core (where you start to see the seeds and save half of the cucumber core)
Cut the long peeled strips in half and put in a bowl
Add edamame and scallions to cucumber
Put salad in fridge while you make the dressing

For the dressing

In a food processor, combine avocado, mayo, garlic cloves, salt, vinegar, cilantro, lime juice and 1/2 cucumber core and heavy cream. Pulse until smooth.
Right before serving, add the bell pepper and fold in the dressing.
Top with black sesame seeds.
Best served chilled.

http://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2014/02/shaved-cucumber-and-edamame-salad-with-creamy-avocado-dressing/

Loaded Bacon Tater “Muffins”

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Lately, I’ve been posting a lot of delicious low-carb options….Warning: This is NOT one of them.

Eat a couple of these creamy, carby Queens and prepare for a Food Coma.

They say necessity is the mother of invention– in this case, it was my poor timing in the kitchen. JP had requested twice baked potatoes with the steak he was grilling and I got so busy ~~pouring another glass of wine or three~~ prepping the veggies that I forgot all about it. When there were only 10 minutes left before the steak was done, I got creative.

I treated these just like mashed potatoes, (with the addition of lots of cheese and Burgers’ Smokehouse Pepper Coated Country Bacon ). Winning!

First, boil a large pot of water and toss 2 sliced baked potatoes in while you bake the bacon till crispy.

Boil until tender– about 10-15 minutes. (about the same time it will take to cook your bacon– I do it at 400 for 10 minutes.) This is seriously the best. bacon. ever. It’s peppery, smoky and meaty. My favorite combo. In fact, if given my choice, I’d just eat the bacon and leave the taters to my man! But, I digress…

Drain and mash with 1/2 a stick of butter and 1/4 cup heavy cream. Fold in a cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese (or your favorite type) and crumble the bacon in.

Salt to taste. Then put a tab of butter into each muffin cup.

Preheat the broiler to High. Spoon the mashed cheesy, bacon-y goodness into the muffin tins. And then top with more cheeeeeeeeeese.

Broil until the tops are crispy– about 2-3 minutes.

NOTE: The taters don’t really stay in their muffin shape— I scooped them out and they sort of drooped on the plate– but this was for sheer taste, y’all. Presentation? Not so much. But they were slam dunk delish. Loaded bacon taters…without all the mess of scooping out the skins and twice baking.

I promise, we’ll go back to low-carb tomorrow.

This is not a sponsored post, meaning I was not given monetary compensation to write it. I was sent product at no charge to review honestly, and was under no obligation to say anything positive about the product or the company. The photographs, recipe, and opinions are 100% my own.

Low-Carb Bacon Guac Bites

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Best bacon…EVER.

Right before the holidays, I received a box full of bacon. Literally. And not just any bacon, y’all. This was compliments of Cliff Caldwell and Burgers’ Smokehouse bacon and it might be my favorite gift of all time. Send this girl a box of clothes? Meh. Send this girl a box of brownies? Sniff. But send this girl a box of bacon? Happy Dance!!!! With visions of bacon studded delish dancing in her head……

So here’s the lowdown. I was thrilled to sample an assortment of Burgers’ Smokehouse Bacon. Ermahgaaaahd. GetinmymouthRAWTnow.

The next 3 days, I will be dedicating my favorite bacon recipes with my bacon box. I’m now totally regretting letting a couple of my coworkers take a package home with them. It would have meant more for me to ~~hoard for myself~~ sample. Um, the bacon box is empty. *Sad face.*

Let’s start with a quick review of the different bacon styles.

Bacon Steak Cuts Peppered

Bacon Steak Cuts seasoned on the edges with pepper. This is like the filet mignon of bacon. WHOAH. Normally, I avoid buying thick cut bacon because it doesn’t get super crispy, which I prefer. But this bacon cooked up beautifully, crisping up along the edges, but the bite was meaty and tender with an amazing peppery finish. Hands down, my favorite. For another twist on the bacon steak, I added a little more kick with some chopped jalapeños on top and it was divine.

Bacon with a kick

Then, there’s the variety of country bacon: Original Country Bacon, Cajun Style Country Bacon and Pepper Coated Country Bacon. My favorite of those was the Cajun Style– and I hate admitting that JP and I polished it off so fast, I never got an actual picture of cooking with it! The saltiest of the bunch was the Original Country Bacon which tastes best combined with something else…Like guacamole. Who needs tortilla chips when you can make low-carb delish with some Country Bacon? Haaaaaaaay!!! Meet the love child of bacon and guac.

More bacon recipes tomorrow and Saturday. You’re welcome.

Bacon Guac Bites

Ingredients

8 slices of Burger's Smokehouse Original Country Bacon
4 avocados
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Palmful of fresh cilantro chopped
1 diced jalapeño (no seeds)
Juice of one lime squeezed
1 tomato chopped
Kosher salt to taste

Instructions

For the guacamole

Mash avocados with lime juice and fold in rest of ingredients.

For the bacon

Preheat oven to 400
Line bacon on a rimmed sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until crispy.
Break bacon into 2 inch pieces and sandwich it with guacamole.

http://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2014/01/low-carb-bacon-guac-bites/

Tuscan Beans and Spinach

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Hearty, earthy delish

I came up with this recipe when I was working as a personal chef and was trying to think of alternatives to rice and potato sides. It’s inspired by a Giada salad recipe that combines cannelini beans with parmesan cheese. And for all you veg heads, you can make it vegetarian by simply leaving out the sausage! (Why you would want to is beyond me, but just giving you options!)

Tuscan Beans and Spinach

Ingredients

1/2 onion diced
3 garlic cloves diced
1 Tb olive oil
1 Tb butter
1 large roasted red pepper (about 1/4 cup chopped up)
1 tsp garlic powder
4 oz spicy sausage sliced (or pancetta)
1 can drained cannelini beans
1/2 bag of spinach (about 4 large handfuls)
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
kosher salt to taste

Instructions

Saute onion and sausage on medium heat in butter and oil until sausage is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Add beans, roasted red pepper and garlic powder. Stir to combine and let simmer on low/medium heat for another 5 minutes.

Add spinach about 5 minutes before you're ready to serve and sprinkle with parmesan. Stir together to melt cheese.

I love serving this dish with my cornmeal encrusted catfish-- perfect flavor combo!

http://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2013/12/tuscan-beans-and-spinach/

Holy Delish Hummus and Pita Bread

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Holy Delish

What was that Jesus line? “I am the bread of life….” Well, it would’ve been more like “I will die without hummus on this bread” if he had tasted this shiznittabam…

Homemade hummus AND homemade pita bread? Read on, lovelies and you’ll never wanna go store bought again.
Culinary GOD-dess has spoken.

Ingredients

2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained

1/3 cup tahini

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

4 cloves fresh garlic

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 pinch paprika

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

1/2 jalapeno pepper with seeds

Combine in a food processor.

Add additional oil and salt for desired taste and consistency.

PARKER’S PITA BREAD

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon of sugar

1/2 cup of warm water

4 cups of bread flour

2 teaspoons of salt

1 cup of warm water

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Directions: Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water and set aside, covered for 15 minutes. Dissolve salt in the remaining 1 cup of warm water.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour and make a well in the center. Add yeast mixture and salt water. Knead with hands for 10 minutes in the bowl. Add olive oil and continue to knead until all oil is absorbed. Shape into a ball in the bowl, cover, and place in a warm area to rise until doubled in volume, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Punch down the dough and knead for 5 minutes more.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C), and lightly oil baking sheets.

Take pieces of dough slightly larger than an egg and roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of 3/8 to 1/4 inch. (For larger or smaller pita bread pieces, take more or less dough). Prick the bread with a fork in several places.

Place on baking sheets and bake at 350°F (175°C) on the lowest oven rack for 2-3 minutes, then turn the pitas over and bake for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and saute in a frying pan with 1 Tb of olive oil until lightly browned. When thoroughly cooled, pitas can be stored in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or frozen.

Before using, brown in a lightly oiled frying pan for a few minutes until browned on both sides.

Curried Butternut Squash Stuffing

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A must-have side dish for your holiday spread!

OK, so I admit it. My signature stuffing up until now has been ~~fatty on a platter~~ a sausage smorgasbord. In fact, when I had Thanksgiving with JP’s family for the first time years ago, we had an entire debate about Stuffing vs. Dressing. Down here in the South, it’s called dressing. Where I come from, dressing is what you put on a salad! So, his family nicknamed my dish, “Yankee Stuffing” and like a true chef from north of the Mason-Dixon line, I loaded it with sausage and sage and butter….

The recipe was a hit, bless their little hearts!

So, when the lovely folks at Whole Foods Market asked me to come up with a recipe for a plant based vegetarian stuffing for our segment, I tried to talk them out of it. But Yankee stuffing is my favorite recipe, I sniffed.

Then, I (reluctantly) took the meat-free challenge. When I actually started experimenting with veggie options, I realized that meat doesn’t have to be the star– (sorry, Jimmy Dean!) Instead, butternut squash took the spotlight. It’s light, but savory and scrumptious!

Standing ovation, please!

Ingredients

1 loaf of ciabatta bread cubed and toasted in oven at 375 for 10 minutes

3 cups butternut squash chopped (steam for 10 minutes)

2 Tb curry powder

1 Tb Tandoori Masala spice mic

1 ½ cups vegetable stock

3-4 Tb sage

3 Tb currants

3 Tb toasted almonds

1 box of fresh sliced mushrooms

1 medium onion diced

3 stalks diced celery

3 garlic cloves diced

Saute in 1 Tb olive oil: Mushrooms, onion, celery and garlic

Add 2 Tb curry powder and 1 Tb Tandoori Masala spice mix to 1 ½ cups vegetable stock

Add vegetable stock with spices to bread, squash and mushroom/onion mixture.

Fold in:

3-4 Tb chopped fresh sage

3 Tb currants

3 Tb toasted almonds

1 tsp of kosher salt plus more to taste.

Mix together and bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

Maple Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onion and Bacon

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Can’t. Stop. Eating. These.

I already posted a great sweet potato recipe this week, but I had a couple leftover taters in my kitchen, so I decided to improvise with another version. I like this one even better. OHMYGOD. I couldn’t stop eating them out of the pan! Adding in a bit of Grade B maple syrup gives them a decadent, slightly sweet finish to compliment the savory sage and bacon. OHMYGOD.

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes (peeled and diced)

6 pieces of cooked, crumbled bacon

1 medium onion cut into thin rings

1 Tb butter

1 Tb olive oil

1/4 cup brandy

1 tsp kosher salt (plus more to taste)

2 Tb Grade B Maple syrup

2 Tb fresh sage chopped

Directions: Toss peeled and diced sweet potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Bake bacon at 400 for 10 minutes until crispy. Drain and crumble.

Heat up a frying pan on medium heat with oil and butter. Put onions in when butter gets bubbly with 1 tsp kosher salt. Saute for 20 minutes until softened and beginning to brown and caramelize. Add in 1/4 cup brandy and crank up heat for a couple minutes. Then turn heat back down and cook off alcohol, another 15 minutes. Add in softened potatoes and crumbled bacon. Stir in the 2 Tb of Grade B Maple syrup to coat everything. Garnish with fresh sage.

I dare you to try not eating them straight outta da pan. OHMYGOD.