Asian Roasted Broccoli and Carrots

I've struggled posting new recipes in recent weeks. We're in that end-of-the-school-year frenzy and things have been CRAZY. Band concerts. Conferences. Sports banquets. Field trips. Graduation. Open houses. Field days. Two kiddos have birthdays within two weeks in our house this time of year. And, we just added a new driver in the house - our son turned the big ONE-SIX. {Plus, it's softball season, so my behind is parked in a lawn chair at a ball field quite often these days.} I'm happy for things to be winding down. {Tomorrow is the last day of school. Hallejulah.} I always have more time in the summer to cook and blog. So, look for me in your inbox and newsfeeds a little more often.

For this new post, it's all about roasted veggies - broccoli and carrots to be specific. Charred, roasted broccoli has been like, my love language lately. Roasting vegetables is a thing of magic. And, it's so dang easy.

Truth be told, the Asian glaze really steals the show here. Like, I cannot wait to slather this stuff on grilled chicken and shrimp this summer. The ingredient list for the glaze consists of stuff that many cooks probably keep on hand and it takes like, 2 minutes to whip up.

I was inspired by a recipe from a few years back posted on Damn Delicious. It's genius and I'm so glad that I finally decided to try it out after eye-balling it for quite some time.

NOTE:  I like my roasted broccoli pretty charred on the exterior and still a little crisp inside. If you prefer yours a little more tender on the interior and less charred on the exterior, I recommend cutting the pieces a little smaller than shown here and giving the carrots about a five minute head start in the oven before adding the broccoli.

Yields 2 - 4 servings.

Pan-Roasted Purple Potatoes and Carrots with Garlic-Lemon Aioli

My mother knows that I love to work with unique, fun ingredients in the kitchen. So, it was no surprise that she picked me up a bag of stunning purple potatoes this past week and said, "I knew you could do something cool with them." I decided on pan-roasting them with some carrots in my large cast iron pan. I knew I wanted some type of dipping sauce, so I whipped up a super-quick aioli that totally elevates this dish.

The mayo-based aioli is lemon-y, creamy and garlicky. Having it alongside of the vegetables is a necessity. Plunging those perfectly-roasted potatoes and carrots into that sauce is pretty much heaven on earth. The vegetables themselves come out super tender on the interior, but are not mushy. And, they have just the right amount of crusty sear and crispness on the exterior.

This is a fabulous side dish that takes little prep work and truly highlights beautiful, fresh produce in a simple, yet delicious way.

NOTE: Baby gold/yellow or red potatoes can be utilized for this dish if you can't get your hands on the purple variety.

Yields 2 - 3 servings.

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Simple Thirty-Minute Stovetop Vegetable Soup

Let's face it - most of us indulge a little too much during the holidays. Whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter, temptation in the form of potatoes, gravy, butter, pies, rolls, cakes, candies and carbs galore hit us from every angle. So, it's often nice to have some recipes in our arsenal that are quick to whip up and ones that fall a little more into the "healthful" category to make in the days that follow (ya know, once we've devoured all of the leftovers). This soup is one such recipe.

It's adapted from a Trisha Yearwood recipe that she featured awhile back on her cooking show. I was immediately drawn to it because it seemed incredibly easy to make, used just a handful of ingredients, was totally uncomplicated and wasn't a heavy, cream-based soup. Basically, some chicken broth, tomatoes, diced potatoes, garlic, onions, frozen veggies and seasoning come together on the stovetop in like, twenty-five minutes.

This soup is a great one to experiment with since the flavor profile is pretty basic. The recipe as written is awesome. But, if you'd like to play around with different herbs or seasonings, the sky really is the limit. I encourage you to maybe try it as-written, then go from there the next go-round. (I've used a slight sprinkling of Mrs. Dash's Original Blend seasoning a couple of times in this soup ... and have really come to love it that way.)

What you will find is that this is light and refreshing. Yes, as odd as it sounds, this soup is refreshing (as much as a soup can be, I suppose). It isn't heavy at all and due to the quick cooking time, the vegetables don't become mushy as often happens with longer-cooked soups.

In my house, we love this soup served with saltine crackers and a little shaved Parmesan on top just prior to serving.

Yields 6 servings.

Honey Balsamic Roasted Carrots

I was able to utilize freshly harvested carrots from our garden recently for this recipe. (Granted, they were chubby, stubby guys, but still amazing and sweet.) Within minutes of plucking them out of the ground, these orange beauties were roasting in my oven. Roasting carrots brings out the natural sweetness and depth of flavor. They make such a fantastic side dish ... one that pairs well with so many main dishes this time of year. This dish shines at holiday dinners, yet its easy and quick prep make it ideal for casual weeknight dinners, too.

The cast of supporting characters here are ingredients that I always have on hand in my kitchen. So, while the result is complex and ultra-flavorful in taste, this recipe really couldn't be much more simple and humble.

I do recommend using the best balsamic vinegar that you can afford. I adore the tang of balsamic vinegar and love how it plays with the sweetness of the honey in this recipe. As I mentioned, such a simple ingredient list ... but the end result is complex, deep and satisfying on so many levels.

Sausage & Roasted Vegetable Casserole

 

I've been a little melancholy (do people even use that word anymore?) for the past couple of days.  I have so enjoyed having the three kids home for the past couple of weeks during their winter break and I so dread sending them back to school on Monday.  I wish I could just lounge around with those guys and snuggle them every day.  But, such is life.  We've been trying to squeeze in a bunch of last-minute fun things during these final days of their break.  I took them swimming at an indoor pool on Friday and after a stop off at a birthday party early yesterday afternoon at our local bowling alley, we nestled in by the fire for a relaxing evening at home.

This delectable recipe was made.  Hot fudge sundaes were eaten.  We read books.  They tinkered with Legos.  We played a few board games. 

It was pure bliss.

I was inspired to make this recipe from the beautiful Kay over at Kayotic Kitchen.  She calls her version Lazy Sunday Casserole.  I so appreciate and adore roasted, caramelized veggies of any kind.  So, I was drawn to this dish.  However, since I didn't make it on a Sunday and to better convey (and capture) the essence of the dish, I decided upon a different name.  Whatever you want to call it, it's darn tasty and a perfect recipe to make on these chilly winter days.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew - Prepped the Night Before

Ya wanna know what I adore about this recipe?  Well, of course, the first thing is that it is absolutely delicious!  But, there's a second (and maybe equally as awesome) aspect that I love.  The stew is all made in advance the night before you plan to cook it!  I know ... super fabulous, right?

It is prepped at night, thrown in the fridge and all you have to do is turn on the slow cooker in the morning.  I love that!  It means I don't have to be standing over the stove browning and searing the meat when I've barely had my first cup of coffee in the morning!  It means I don't have to wash and cut potatoes in my jammies before the sun is barely up.  It, also, means that I wake up to having no dishes to face bright and early and no work to really be done for this recipe!  Wohoo!

I went to bed with the kitchen all cleaned up and woke up being able to enjoy a care-free morning ... all while knowing dinner was taken care of.  I mean, how hard is it to set the insert into the slow cooker, dump in the already-prepped potatoes (more on that later), set the slow cooker for eight hours and walk away?

(Okay, so maybe I've had some mornings when those few, basic tasks would have seemed impossible, but that was probably back in my early-twenties ... and we won't go there.  I will tell ya that I probably wasn't prepping beef stew the night before either!)

The fact that it is pretty darn cold here in Michigan this week completely justifies some type of stew or soup simmerin' away in the slow cooker all day!  Another bonus - my son's fifth grade music program was the night we had this stew, so having dinner all ready to go meant less chaos in my house on a busy evening!