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Easy Recipe

PUMPKIN BREAD

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There are days when I want to challenge myself in the kitchen. Then, there are days when I just want something easy to make. I’ve been spending a lot of time baking challenging desserts lately. It gives me a great sense of pride to accomplish a recipe from my baking bucket list but it can also take a great deal of time and energy. Life is about balance though and I am thankful for easy recipes! These are my go-to when I want something homemade with limited effort. These are also the recipes that are great for passing along to friends.

When I create recipes, I want them to be achievable, not stressful. My goal is for even a beginner baker to be able to have a successful outcome. Something easy to make that is beautiful on its own and tastes amazing. Quick breads are exactly that. Now that we’re in November, I’m hitting up this pumpkin bread recipe on the regular. It is such a hit with friends and a perfect addition to any get together. Flavorful, moist and easy to make. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this beautiful pumpkin bread.

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PUMPKIN BREAD

Flavorful, moist and easy to make – I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this beautiful pumpkin bread.
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Pumpkin, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Loaf, Pumpkin Spice

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 Tablespoon unsalted pepitas (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together. Mix in pumpkin puree then add in eggs and vanilla.
  • Stir in half of the dry ingredients. Add milk and stir to combine. Stir in remaining dry ingredients.
  • Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and top with pepitas. Bake 55-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Notes

  • In a pinch, you can sub the brown sugar for white sugar. The brown sugar brings out the flavors of the spices a bit more but you’ll get a taller rise from the bread with white sugar.
  • You can butter and flour your loaf pans if you don’t have parchment paper.

BARLEY SOUP

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This has felt like the longest summer I’ve ever experienced. As of a few days ago, we were still hitting temperatures near the 90’s. Did Mother Nature forget to check the calendar? It is already late October?! Truthfully, I love living in a warmer climate. I’ve done my time with cold and snow and I learned it wasn’t for me. That being said, I can’t help but crave a few cooler (not cold) days so I can indulge in winter comfort foods. We are finally cooling off here in Texas and I’m going full out on my comfort food recipes.

I’ve been craving soup lately but my brain has also been wandering back to my recipe for Baby Bella Shepherd’s Pie. The solution? Turn the base of that shepherd’s pie into a soup! The result? Pure satisfaction! This soup is hearty and rich in flavor. Anyone who eats this is going to think you slaved away in the kitchen all day when, in fact, it is simple to make. Bonus? This is one of those recipes that tastes even better as leftovers.

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Barley Soup

This hearty soup is rich in flavor yet easy to make – a perfect way to warm up on a cold day.
Course: Dinner, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Barley, Barley Soup, Dinner, Easy Recipe, Homemade Soup, Soup, Vegan Recipe, Vegetarian Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 large carrots, cut into 1/4" slices
  • 2 large parsnips, cut into 1/4" slices
  • 2 lb white mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
  • 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2/3 cup pearl barley

Instructions

  • In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add carrots and parsnips, cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt & pepper. Cook until mushrooms start to sweat. Sprinkle flour over vegetable mixture and stir until evenly coated. Pour in diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, vegetable broth and wine. Stir in tomato paste and barley. Increase heat to bring pot to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer 45 minutes or until barely is cooked through.

Notes

  • Having a hard time pulling those thyme leaves off of the stem? Grab a few sprigs and tie them together with kitchen twine. Toss the whole bundle into the soup and simply remove the bundle when soup is fully cooked.
  • This is a thick, hearty soup. If you prefer a thinner soup, you can add water after simmering until you reach the consistency you desire.

BROCCOLI & RICED CAULIFLOWER CASSEROLE

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Casserole or hotdish? I only recently even heard of the term hotdish. I’ve looked up several sources trying to get some clarity on the difference between the two. Both include a creamy condensed soup with vegetables and usually meat of some sort. The differences? From what I gather, casserole tends to use a lighter meat like tuna or chicken while a hotdish is more likely to use beef. But honestly, even that seems somewhat vague given you could eliminate meat altogether. The biggest difference seems to be a matter of where you’re from. Hotdish is more of an upper Midwestern term (think Minnesota). Having grown up in Kansas, I’m definitely a casserole gal.

Grab those veggies out of the freezer and soup out of the pantry, we’re making casserole today! Now that the temperatures are finally cooling off here in Texas, I’m ready for comfort food. As you know, I’m also a huge fan of super easy recipes. This is basically a stir and bake recipe – if only every recipe were this easy! You can use it as a side dish or make it the main event.  Either way, this broccoli and riced cauliflower casserole has made it onto the regular rotation of dinner recipes in our house. I’d love to hear what types of casseroles (or hotdishes) are your favorites!

Tips

  • Trying to keep things low carb? Replace the bread crumbs with more shredded cheddar.
  • For added veggies, you can use a riced cauliflower & sweet potato blend.
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Broccoli & Riced Cauliflower Casserole

This broccoli and riced cauliflower casserole is basically a stir and bake recipe – Comfort food at it's best!

Ingredients

  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 8 oz sour cream
  • 2 cans (10.5oz each) cream of celery soup
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 10.5 oz frozen riced cauliflower
  • 1 lb frozen broccoli florets
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, soup, salt, pepper and cheddar cheese.
  • Stir in riced cauliflower then stir in broccoli.
  • Spread broccoli mixture into a greased 9×13 casserole dish.
  • In a small bowl, stir together butter and breadcrumbs then sprinkle over broccoli mixture.
  • Bake 45 minutes. If breadcrumbs are not golden, turn the broiler on and watch carefully until you achieve golden color.

EASY VEGETABLE FRIED RICE

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A friend of mine was recently asking about recipes that use frozen vegetables. It occurred to me that I have always used fresh produce in my recipes here. Fresh is great but there are some huge advantages to using frozen veggies when you can. Frozen vegetables are actually less expensive than fresh ones. I did a quick price check at my local grocery store and a bag of fresh broccoli florets was priced at 21c per ounce. Meanwhile, the bag of frozen broccoli florets was priced at 11c per ounce. That is nearly HALF the price! If you’re on a budget, frozen veggies are a great way to get healthy foods on the cheap. Speaking of being budget friendly, frozen vegetables won’t go bad in a few days which means you’re not tossing anything out at the end of the week. You’re getting your money’s worth! Finally, frozen vegetables are already chopped. Let’s be honest, chopping vegetables sometimes takes longer than actually cooking a dish. Precut vegetables are a huge time saver! So, have I convinced you to buy frozen vegetables yes?!

Now, let’s get down to this recipe. I started making fried rice a few years ago because I was simply wanting to use up some leftovers from the fridge. I have a habit of cooking more rice than we need when using it as a side dish.  Rather than tossing out the leftovers or even eating plain rice again later in the week, I chose to repurpose it. The thing about fried rice is that it is actually easy to customize with whatever vegetables or spices are your favorites. Here, I’m giving you a super easy base recipe for vegetable fried rice. From here, feel free to get creative with what you add in. I’d love to hear how you adapt this to make it your own!

Tips

  • It is critical to use rice that was cooked earlier and then cooled. If you use freshly cooked rice, you will end up with a pan full of mush.
  • This is a basic vegetable fried rice recipe but don’t let that limit you. Feel free to add a protein of your choice or a wider variety of vegetables such as snow peas, bell peppers or edamame.
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Easy Vegetable Fried Rice

An easy base recipe for vegetable fried rice.
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 cups cooked, cold brown rice
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas & carrots
  • 1/2 cup frozen chopped broccoli
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 Tablespoon tamari sauce or low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 large egg, beaten

Instructions

  • Heat vegetable oil in a large pan over medium heat.
  • Add rice and vegetables to the pan and cook until tender. Mix in garlic, sesame oil, onion powder, and tamari sauce.
  • Push rice mixture to one side of the pan. Pour the egg into the other side of the pan and stir with a rubber spatula until curds form. Stir egg into the rice mixture. Add additional tamari sauce if desired.

Notes

  • 4 servings is based on using this recipe as a side dish. If you prefer to use it as your entrée, double the recipe.
  • It is critical to use rice that was cooked earlier and then cooled. If you use freshly cooked rice, you will end up with a pan full of mush.
  • This is a basic vegetable fried rice recipe but don’t let that limit you. Feel free to add a protein of your choice or a wider variety of vegetables such as snow peas, bell peppers or edamame.

SHEET PAN DINNERS FOR BUSY WEEKNIGHTS

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People often think that as a food blogger, I must have it all together in the kitchen. They assume my meals are always planned ahead of time. That I choose healthy options and only indulge occasionally. That dinner is easy to prep regardless of any other activities going on. These assumptions are completely off base. I certainly do enjoy cooking. Why else would I do a food blog? However, dinner at my house is often as last minute as any other household. I reach for convenient foods as often as I do healthy foods. I get in food ruts and end up fixing the same meals every week for a month. My biggest struggle is honestly just getting to the grocery to even pick up any ingredients. What is your biggest struggle for getting dinner on the table? I would genuinely love to hear from you on this.

I’ve met and follow some incredible people through food blogging. One of the things I love most about this community is the support people provide. Blogging is always a work in progress. We work to improve our recipes, our writing, our photography, our styling. My fellow food bloggers understand every aspect of what goes into creating a post. When you start following someone closely, you see their progress. We cheer each other on. We congratulate one another when we see something inspiring. We sympathize when struggles hit us in the kitchen. It is a wonderful thing to have companionship in this space.

Weeknights are about to get easier. For this post, I’ve collaborated with eight of my favorite food bloggers to create sheet pan dinners. I love sheet pan dinners because of how easy they are to make but also how easy they are to clean up. With the school year now in full swing, everyone has a busier schedule and could use an easy dinner recipe. I have been blown away by the variety and creativity in this project. A huge thank you goes out to each and every collaborator for helping me put this together. I hope that you’ll stop by their sites and check out more recipes from these incredible food bloggers!

SHEET PAN BBQ CHICKEN MEATBALLS & VEGGIES

Created by Laura at Ways To My Heart
https://www.waystomyheart.com/sheet-pan-bbq-chicken-meatballs-veggies/

CURRIED PORK CHOP AND POTATO SHEET PAN RECIPE

Created by Nicolas at Blogtastic Food
https://www.blogtasticfood.com/curries-pork-chop-sheetpan-recipe/

SHEET PAN GNOCCHI AND SAUSAGE

Created by Mansee at One Girl. One Kitchen.
https://www.onegirlonekitchen.com/sheet-pan-gnocchi-and-sausage/

SHEET PAN HARISSA CHICKEN WITH BROCCOLINI AND CHICKPEAS

Created by Indi at With Spice
https://www.withspice.com/blog/sheet-pan-harissa-chicken-with-broccolini-and-chickpeas

DUKKAH AND PARMESAN CHICKEN TRAY BAKE

Created by Teresa at Cupcakes and Couscous
https://cupcakesandcouscous.com/2019/08/28/dukkah-and-parmesan-chicken-tray-bake/

SHEET PAN CHICKEN FAJITAS

Created by Melissa at Keeping it Simple
https://keepingitsimpleblog.com/food/dinner/sheet-pan-chicken-fajitas/

EASY SHEET PAN DINNER WITH SAUSAGE, POTATOES & VEGGIES

Created by Julia at Julia Recipes
https://juliarecipes.com/2019/08/30/easy-pan-sheet-dinner-with-sausage-potatoes-veggies/

SHEET PAN ITALIAN MUSHROOMS AND GARLIC BREADSTICKS

Created by Will at Hangry White Male
https://www.hangrywhitemale.com/sheet-pan-italian-mushrooms-and-garlic-breadsticks/

SHEET PAN SHRIMP FAJITAS

Created by Sarah at Slice of Honey
https://sliceofhoney.com/2018/10/12/sheet-pan-shrimp-fajitas/

SOUTHWESTERN HASH BROWN WAFFLES

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I went to the grocery store today and came across a group of volunteers asking for donations of school supplies. They handed me a list of what they were needing. I can’t lie, it took everything I had to not start crying. Guys, there are families in your very own town who can NOT afford school supplies for their kids! I’ve been aware of this for a long time but I suppose I’ve never really known what to do or how to help. These volunteers made it so easy for me to help. With tears welled up in my eyes, I gathered notebooks, dividers, highlighters and a backpack. It doesn’t even feel like enough but I’m hopeful the volunteers will receive enough to make a difference in my community.

Southwestern hash brown waffles

When kids don’t have school supplies, learning becomes more challenging. Similarly, when kids don’t start the day with a good meal, they have a hard time focusing. With school starting later this month, I wanted to create a breakfast recipe that is easy to freeze and reheat. Furthermore, I wanted to create a recipe that isn’t bread based – I love pancakes, muffins, etc. but we can do better. Let’s start our day with some protein and vegetables! I’ve taken the ingredients of an omelet, scrambled them together and cooked them in a waffle iron. Once they are cooked, you can easily freeze them and reheat as needed.

Tips:

  • Depending on the size of your family, you might want to double this recipe.
  • No waffle iron? Feel free to scoop some of the mixture onto a skillet and cook these like you would a pancake.
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Southwestern Hash Brown Waffles

A hearty breakfast dish that is easy to freeze and reheat as needed.
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Back to school, Back to school recipe, Breakfast, Easy Breakfast, Easy Recipe, Eggs, Hash browns, Meal Prep
Servings: 8 wedges

Equipment

  • Waffle Iron

Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup frozen hash browns
  • 1/4 cup black beans
  • 1/4 cup frozen corn
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese
  • 1 Tablespoon yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons jalapeño, stemmed, cored and finely chopped (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Optional Toppings

  • avocado
  • salsa
  • sour cream

Instructions

  • Preheat waffle iron on medium high setting.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk eggs together. Stir all remaining ingredients into eggs.
  • Spray heated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Scoop ¾ cup of the mixture onto the waffle iron (amount will vary based on the size of your waffle iron). Close iron and cook until golden brown (approximately 5 minutes).
  • Let waffles cool completely. Cut into wedges and freeze in freezer bags. To reheat, remove from freezer bag and microwave 30 seconds.

Notes

  • Depending on the size of your family, you might want to double this recipe.
  • No waffle iron? Feel free to scoop some of the mixture onto a skillet and cook these like you would a pancake.

KALE SALAD with LEMON VINAIGRETTE

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What is your go-to when you really don’t want to cook? Maybe I should back up a bit. What are the staples in your fridge or pantry? The items you know you can always make a meal out of in ten minutes or less? My staples include kale (don’t roll your eyes at me), chickpeas, tortillas and eggs. At my laziest, I will toss together a kale salad. The toppings vary as far as which cheese or seeds I might sprinkle on top but I always include chickpeas for protein. My other go-to quick meal option is a breakfast taco. I live in South Texas and down here, there is no room for not loving breakfast tacos.

I get it that there are plenty of people who don’t like kale. Heck, there are plenty to mock it and shout their hate for kale from the rooftops. However, I think those people either haven’t actually tried it OR it wasn’t prepared well for them. In raw form, it can be really tough and fibrous. If the stem isn’t removed, you’ll feel like you’re gnawing on a tree branch. HOWEVER, if prepared well, it is delicious and has lots of nutritional value. At the very least, it is worth trying. If you still don’t like it? Hey, more for me!

Tips

  • I created this recipe as a side salad. However, you can top it with chickpeas, a hard-boiled egg or even grilled chicken to turn it into a meal.
  • To make this recipe go even faster, you can use a store-bought vinaigrette instead of the one I created for this salad.
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Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

My go-to salad recipe – perfect as a side salad or turn it into your main dish.
Course: Salad

Ingredients

  • 5 large handfuls kale, destemmed and torn into pieces
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup shaved parmesan cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons roasted & salted pepita seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the Vinaigrette

  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Place kale, lemon zest and salt in a large pan with 1 tablespoon of water. Sauté 2-3 minutes or until kale is bright green and slightly tender. Remove from heat immediately and put kale in a medium bowl.
  • Toss kale with pepitas, parmesan and red pepper flakes until ingredients are evenly distributed.

For the vinaigrette

  • For the vinaigrette: whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle over salad as desired.

BLACKBERRY CHEESECAKE NO CHURN ICE CREAM

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I have lived in several states during my adult life – Kansas, Missouri, New York, Colorado, California, Texas. Most places I’ve lived were simply because I felt like moving and exploring a new city/state. However, my journey to Western New York is a little different. Deciding to pursue a degree in Audiology required me to look outside of my home state of Kansas. At the time, there were no doctoral programs in Kansas – that has changed since then. As I was filling out grad school applications, I was initially drawn to places with a nice climate or places where I already had friends. I had a huge stack of applications and most of them were not distinct from one another. However, I vividly recall grabbing the application to SUNY at Buffalo and thinking “Why would I want to live there?” as I tossed it into the garbage. I was getting burned out on completing applications and I had senioritis in a bad way. At some point, I realized that I should probably apply to just one more school – acceptance into specialty programs can be competitive and there are no guarantees. So, I browsed online and discovered SUNY at Buffalo had an incredibly easy online application. I filled it out and didn’t really think twice about it because I had full intention of attending one of the other schools on my list. I think we can all see where this is heading, right? Each school I applied to had a unique situation as to why I ended up not going there. I’ll spare you those details but yes, I ultimately ended up moving to Buffalo and completing my degree there.

I spent a total of six years in Buffalo and surrounding towns. There were ups and there were so many more downs. To be honest, I have a hard time looking back and seeing the high points but I know there were some good times had in the midst of it all. One thing that I do recall fondly, though, is the food. Buffalo wings, anyone?!?! But also, the pizza and sub sandwiches. And even better? Perry’s ice cream. Now living in Texas, Blue Bell is the go-to option in the stores. However, I’m convinced it is only because Perry’s is not available here. (Sorry, Blue Bell.) My all-time favorite flavor was blackberry cheesecake. It was only available occasionally, and only at the local ice cream stands. It was never available in the stores. But man, oh man, this was THE flavor for me! I haven’t found it in any other brand since then. Naturally, the next best thing was to create my own version. My friend, Nicolas, from Blogtastic Food challenged me to create a new no churn ice cream and I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I truly hope this no churn blackberry cheesecake ice cream gives you the same joy I experienced when I had the original from Perry’s back in the day.

Tips:

  • Be sure to cool the berry mixture before adding it into the whipped cream mixture so that it doesn’t melt the whipped cream.
  • Don’t sub out the homemade whipped cream for the premade stuff. There is a difference in texture and sweetness.
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Blackberry Cheesecake No Churn Ice Cream

No Churn ice cream is easy to make – no ice cream maker needed. This blackberry cheese cake ice cream is the new favorite in our house.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Blackberry, Blackberry Cheesecake No Churn Ice Cream, Blackberry Ice Cream, Cheesecake, Cheesecake Ice Cream, Dessert, Easy Recipe, Ice Cream, No Churn, No Churn Ice Cream
Author: Sarah Baade

Ingredients

  • 12 oz fresh blackberries
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 16 oz heavy cream
  • 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 9" premade graham cracker pie crust

Instructions

  • Stir blackberries in a medium pan over low heat until berries start to break down.
  • Stir in vanilla extract and cream cheese until cream cheese is melted and mostly incorporated with berries.
  • Remove berry mixture from heat and let cool to room temperature.
  • In a large, chilled bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form.
  • Mix sweetened condensed milk into heavy cream until fully incorporated.
  • Add berry mixture into cream mixture and stir until fully incorporated.
  • Gently stir in entire graham cracker crust – do not fully incorporate the crust – chunks are fine here.
  • Pour ice cream mixture into a 9×5 loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.

More No churn Ice Cream Recipes

This recipe was developed as part of a collaboration with several other talented food bloggers. I am including the links to their recipes for you to try out as well.

Bonus Recipe

You can also check out my own No Churn Chocolate Chunk Coffee Ice Cream here.

PARMESAN ASPARAGUS & TOMATOES

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As some of you may know, I followed a pretty strict vegetarian diet for about a year in 2017-2018. I’ve loved vegetables for as long as I can remember so it wasn’t too far of a stretch for me to jump in completely. When I took the time to truly plan my meals, it was a relatively easy diet for me to follow and I truly enjoyed it. When I didn’t take that time to plan and prep though, it was rough. Every Wednesday night my husband and I join two other couples for what we call small group. Fellowship is probably a better word to describe these evenings. We share a meal, talk about Jesus and talk about life. I love our Wednesday nights and these friends are really more like family. However, cooking on those nights became stressful. I would make a dish for the non-vegetarian group of friends. Cook something for my daughter (who wasn’t eating with us or I would have served her the same thing). And after each of those, I was still cooking a vegetarian dinner for myself. It was too much. Too much to accomplish within a small window of time after work and before getting our group together. Ultimately, the diet wasn’t worth the cooking chaos and I started reincorporating meats into my routine. Perhaps down the road I will give it another go but right now it isn’t the right option for me.

I still enjoy cooking vegetarian based dishes at home when life isn’t too crazy though. This is why I have kept the blog as primarily vegetarian. I love the challenge and health benefits of keeping more plants on my plate than meats. Even when we go out to dinner I often choose a vegetarian option. One of my favorite things to do is to order a few different side dishes or appetizers and eat those as my dinner rather than ordering an entrée. I feel like I have more options that way. Plus, I feel like I get to try a wider variety of what the restaurant has to offer. With this in mind, I also enjoy making side dishes at home and claiming them as my main course. I discovered last week that I can eat about a pound of asparagus on my own. Sorry to my husband for not sharing, haha! This recipe is a new one for us but is so easy and tasty that it might very well make it to the usual rotation of favorite recipes.

Tips:

  • Feel free to swap out the grape tomatoes for whatever small sweet tomatoes you can find at your local store.
  • I highly recommend sticking with fresh herbs on this one. Dried herbs will not give the same fresh flavor.
Sauteed asparagus and tomatoes with parmesan.
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Parmesan Asparagus & Tomatoes

A flavorful, savory side dish that is quick and easy to make.
Course: Side Dish
Keyword: Asparagus, Easy Recipe, Side Dish, Tomatoes, Vegetables, Vegetarian Recipe
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
  • 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
  • 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 3 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  • Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, stir frequently. Add asparagus, stirring occasionally, and cook until slightly tender and starting to get char markings, about 5 minutes. Stir in oregano and thyme. Push asparagus to one side of the pan, place tomatoes on other side. Cook tomatoes until they soften slightly and start to get char markings, about 3 minutes. Add parmesan and salt, stir all ingredients together in the pan until well combined.

SWEET TURMERIC ROASTED VEGETABLES

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Sweet Turmeric Roasted Vegetables - Slice Of Honey Blog

Throughout college I spent my summers working at YMCA residential summer camps. While working at Camp Cosby, we would have snacks for the staff who had a little time off in the evenings. Leftover desserts from dinner, potato chips, I even learned to love cheesy toast (literally just sandwich bread with a slice of cheese on it, toasted up in the oven). Since my specialty in the kitchen was baking, I made a blackberry cobbler one evening – made from fresh blackberries we had picked that week. It was such a treat to have a made from scratch dessert but it wasn’t the most impressive snack we had that summer. There were two staff members from New Orleans who whipped up some fried chicken for us like it was no big deal. I watched them gathering spices and I was amazed by how they knew exactly what they needed and/or knew which spices would go well together. I had never seen someone my own age put a dish together like that without a recipe. Not only that, it was some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had.

Sweet Turmeric Roasted Vegetables - Slice Of Honey Blog

Fast forward 15+ years and I’ve become more confident in exploring spices and using my pantry to the best of my ability. I love roasting vegetables but I’ve been needing to get out of a flavor rut with them. I’ve been wanting to try and incorporate turmeric so I just went for it, adding some additional spices and a little bit of honey. Guys, I shamelessly ate the ENTIRE pan of vegetables!!! Sure, these experiments don’t always turn out on a first go or even a fifth go but when they do it totally makes up for the frustrating moments that can happen in the kitchen. I hope you are encouraged by this recipe to explore your pantry or spice rack and try something new.

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SWEET TURMERIC ROASTED VEGETABLES

Lightly sweetened with spices and honey, you'll love these roasted vegetables!

Ingredients

  • 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" slices
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
    Place cauliflower and carrots in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Stir until vegetables are evenly coated with oil.
    In a small bowl, mix turmeric, cinnamon, coriander and black pepper. Add spices to vegetables and stir until evenly coated. Spread vegetable mixture onto a sheet pan and roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until vegetables are for tender, stirring halfway through cooking.
    Drizzle vegetables with honey and sprinkle with sesame seeds.