Sauteed Carrots with Honey and Rosemary

I made this tasty side dish to have with our dinner today and loved it. Here's what you need:

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 3×1/4×1/4-inch sticks
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoons honey (such as heather, chestnut, or wildflower)

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and add carrots. Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. 2. Sauté until carrots are beginning to brown at edges, about 12 minutes. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. 3. Add butter, rosemary, and honey to vegetables. 4. Toss over medium heat until heated through and vegetables are glazed, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Recipe from eat, make, read.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

These are delicious!

Ingredients
4 medium baking potatoes (or more if you want to make more, which I always do. You just might want to double the whole thing so you have enough of the other stuff for the inside)
1/2 sour cream or plain yogurt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 slices of cheddar cheese
Milk (optional)
2 tsp minced chives (optional)
smoked deli ham or turkey (optional)
2 cloves garlic minced (optional)
chopped mushrooms (optional)
(I like adding the optional stuff. I think it makes these extra good.)

Directions
1.Scrub potatoes thoroughly with a brush; pat dry. Prick potatoes with a fork. Bake potatoes in a 425 degree oven for 40 to 60 minutes (or in a 350 oven for 70-80 minutes) or until tender.
2.Cut a lengthwise slice from the top of each baked potato; discard skin from slice and place pulp in a bowl. Scoop pulp out of each potato. Add the pulp to the bowl.
3.Mash the potato pulp with a potato masher or an electric mixer on low speed. Add sour cream or yogurt, garlic salt, pepper and garlic (if you are using real garlic). Beat until smooth. (If necessary, stir in 1 to 2 tbsp milk to get your desired consistency.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add chives and ham (or turkey). Spoon the potato mixture into the potato shells. Place in a 2-quart rectangular or square baking dish.
4.Bake, uncovered, in a 425 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. If desired, place cheese slices atop potatoes and then bake for 2-3 minutes more or until the cheese melts.

[Recipe compliments of Better Homes and Gardens with a few of my own alterations.]

Citrus Asparagus

1 lb. asparagus, ends trimmed
1 lemon
2 T. olive oil
1 1/2 T. garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 T. freshly chopped parsley


Slice each of the asparagus stalks diagonally into 1/2-inch thick pieces, but leave the tips 2-3 inches long, and set aside. Cut the lemon in half. Cut one half of the lemon into wedges, place them in a small dish, and reserve for service. From the other half, remove the zest, reserve the lemon half for use in the cooking process, and set it and the zest aside. In a non-stick skillet, saute the asparagus in the olive oil for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, the reserved lemon zest, season the mixture with a little salt and pepper, and saute an additional 2-3 minutes or until the asparagus is tender. Add the chopped parsley, squeeze some juice from the zested lemon half, and toss well to combine. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the reserved lemon wedges along with the asparagus. Serves 2-4

*Recipe compliments of www.veganchef.com

Easy Roasted Potatoes

(These are so yummy and I almost always have people ask me for the recipe when I serve them. I started with a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens and altered it a little).

Here's what you need:

3 medium potatoes, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
lemon juice / lemons
cilantro (optional, to sprinkle on top after they come out of the oven)

1. Wash the potatoes and cut them into wedges (the thinner ones usually go first because they are a little crispy and extra yummy).

2. Place potatoes in a greased 9x9x2-inch baking pan (or use two pans depending on how many you're making). Combine oil, seasoning, and however much lemon juice you want (I usually use 1-2 lemons, which are very painful to buy here since we had a lemon tree in our backyard in Arizona. I miss that). Your sauce will look like this:

Drizzle over potatoes, tossing to coat. I also cut one lemon up and put the slices on top of the potatoes while they cook. Bake, covered, in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes (or to speed it up, you can cook them uncovered at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, which is what I usually do). Stir potatoes. Bake, uncovered, 10 - 20 minutes more or until potatoes are tender and brown on edges. This makes 4 servings. They come out sizzling and yummy.

* I triple this recipe at least. I usually fill two full glass pans (or cookie sheets) with potatoes, which is at least 10 potatoes, and this recipe only calls for three potatoes, so I just keep tripling the ingredients for every three potatoes I add. They go fast, so you probably want to make more than what this recipe calls for.*