Healthy Broccoli Salad

I loooove broccoli salad, but once you add the bacon, cheese and mayonnaise based dressing it becomes one of the worst cook-out side dishes! This version is lightened up and healthy. The best part, you won't even miss all of the other ingredients. 

Ingredients:1/3 cup mayonnaise (lowfat)1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream or coconut yogurt)1 tablespoon honey4-5 cups chopped very fresh broccoli (cut into bit size pieces)1/2 cup dried cranberries (or raisins, or dried fruit)1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds (or sliced almonds or other chopped nuts)

Instructions:

1. Combine mayonnaise, yogurt and honey in a medium mixing bowl. Add chopped broccoli, cranberries, and sunflower seeds and toss to coat. Serve immediately or cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator. Best when eaten within three days.

From: myglutenfree.com

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I used to LOATHE brussels sprouts when I was growing up. How my mom dealt with my dramatics at the dinner table on evenings she served brussels sprouts earns her a nice place in Heaven.

In the past couple of years I have tried them and really liked them. Then I started to buy them myself and make them at home with a few ingredients that I love. I literally eat these like candy, and can easily go through an entire container in one day. My kids on the other hand... they won't touch em' and for that I am thankful (more for me).

Ingredients:

1 container of brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 TBSP EVOO
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Place brussels, cut side down, in a glass dish. Do not stack them.

Drizzle EVOO, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and all seasonings over the top.

Place in oven for about 30 minutes. Do not stir them! When they are finished the bottoms will be brown and the sprouts will be very tender.

Spicy Grilled Eggplant

Really really good!! Wasn't too spicy, just perfect. This was better than I thought it would ever be. It's definitely a great adult dish, not ideal for the little ones.

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
1-2 teaspoon salt, to remove water from eggplant
1-2 TBS olive oil (to brush eggplant for grilling)
1 TBS chopped parsley
1 TBS chopped mint
2 TBS olive oil
2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Remove stem end and wash eggplant, but do not peel. Cut eggplant into slices 1/2 -3/4 inch thick, being careful to make all slices the same thickness. Put eggplant in colander in single layer and sprinkle with salt. Let drain 20 minutes, then turn over and sprinkle other side with salt and let drain 20 minutes more.

While eggplant drains, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic puree, and red pepper flakes. Preheat grill to medium. Remove eggplant from colander and put each piece between two papers towels and press with your hand to squeeze out water. Wipe eggplant dry and brush both sides with olive oil.

Place eggplant on grill and cook 4-5 minutes per side, rotating after a few minutes on each side if you want to get nice grill marks. Watch them carefully because they go from nicely browned to overly dark quite quickly.

When eggplant is done, remove from grill and place in large plastic bowl. Pour in the spicy sauce, and gently stir eggplant to coat with sauce. Let sit 10-15 minutes so eggplant can absorb sauce flavors. Chop mint and parsley while eggplant is resting in sauce.

To serve, assemble eggplant on serving plate and sprinkle with mint and parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.



**Recipe courtesy of Kalyn's Kitchen

Caramelized Butternut Squash

This recipe was amazing! Can't wait to make this for Thanksgiving. If anything, it was almost too sweet so I would probably cut back on the brown sugar next time. Tasted like candy! Mine cooked much faster than the recommended time so be careful to check on it often so it doesn't get too mushy.

Ingredients:
2 medium butternut squash (4 to 5 pounds total)
6 -8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (we used sea salt)
1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper

How to make:
Preheat oven to 400.
Cut off the ends of the squash and discard. Peel the squash and cut in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove the seeds. Cut the squash into 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" cubes (large and uniform is best), and place them on a baking sheet. Add the melted butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
With clean hands, toss all of the ingredients together and spread out in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes to 55 minutes, until the squash is tender and the glaze begins to caramelize. (Ours was done in 35 minutes). Turn the squash while roasting a few times with a spatula to be sure it browns evenly. Serve hot, enjoy!


Recipe courtesy of food.com

Zucchini "Fries"

This is a Kraft recipe. The "fries" were super delicious and a  browned up nicely.  Kraft's recipe calls for a dipping sauce but I omitted that. If you want to make it go to their site for ingredients.

3 zucchini (1 lb.)
1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pkt. SHAKE 'N BAKE Chicken Coating Mix
1 egg

Directions:
HEAT oven to 450ºF.

TRIM zucchini. Cut crosswise in half, then cut each piece into 1/4-inch matchlike sticks. Add cheese to coating mix in shaker bag; shake gently to combine. Whisk egg in medium bowl. Add zucchini; toss to coat. Use tongs to place 1/4 of the zucchini in shaker bag; close bag and shake to evenly coat. Spread onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining zucchini.

BAKE 12 to 13 min. or until golden brown, turning after 7 min. Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Another summer side dish!

Ingredients:

1 lg cucumber

1 medium sliced onion

1/2 tbsp salt

pinch of dry mustard

1/3 cup of sour cream

1 tbsp vinegar and a splash of water to dilute

2/3 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 or more (to taste) tbsp of sugar

Directions:

Peel and slice cucumber as thin as you like. Put in bowl with enough water to cover, add salt and blend well. Let soak in refrigerator for an hour.

Drain in colander and rinse once. 

Dry cucumber with towels. Combine rest of ingredients. Pour over cucumbers. Mix well and cover. Let stand for at least 1 hour in refrigerator.

Broccoli Salad

With warm weather approaching it's time to think of those cook-out side dishes!This one is so easy and delicious and definitely a crowd pleaser.  

Ingredients:

1 head of broc, chopped (I like to get those bags of pre-cut broc)

1 sm red onion, chopped

1/2 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled (turkey bacon works great)

1/2 lb mozarella cheese, shredded (go with part skim to save some calories)

1 cup mayo (you can use miracle whip but watch the sugar)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp vinegar

Directions:

Combine mayo, sugar & vinegar to make dressing. Toss with salad ingredients.

**This is best to make the day before, the broc will soften and the dressing will get thinned out.

***Special thanks to Holly's mother-in-law for the recipe

Ginger Glazed Carrots

This jazzed up version of carrots will definitely fool your kids into gobbling them up. They are so tasty and super easy to throw together.

Ingredients:
1 sm bag of baby carrots (boiled to tender)
2 tbsp of butter (margarine or whatever you like)
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tsp of ginger
Drain carrots and add the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Mix.