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Roasted Lemon Asparagus

Roasted Lemon Asparagus

Roasted Lemon Asparagus made with fresh lemon, olive oil and just a pinch of salt and pepper for a really simple side dish to any entrée.

We are right in the middle of asparagus season and my family definitely eats their fair share of the vegetable. This Roasted Lemon Asparagus is fresh, crisp, quick and so easy to toss in the oven.

To prepare : Preheat the oven to 425 degrees as you give the asparagus a rinse and trim the ends by 1/2 inch. Lay the asparagus on a baking sheet and grab a small bowl to mix the olive and lemon juice. Cut the lemon in half and use half as juice and the other half is sliced for garnish. Pour the olive oil and lemon juice mixture over top and make sure to thoroughly cover each asparagus. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and lay the lemon slices over top. Roast in the oven for about 9 minutes and serve.

How to pick the best asparagus from your grocery: 

  • Make sure the stems are not dried out. Often, asparagus is stored in shallow water at the store.
  • The stems should be firm and not limp.
  • The tops should not be mushy.
  • They should have a rich green color with some white at the bottom and purple hues at the top.

If you are storing your asparagus a couple days before cooking, make sure to trim the ends and wrap in a wet paper towel or in a jar filled with a bit of water to keep fresh.

Roasted Lemon Asparagus
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Roasted Lemon Asparagus, how to bake asparagus

Roasted Lemon Asparagus made with fresh lemon, olive oil and just a pinch of salt and pepper for a really simple side dish to any entrée.

Yields: 4 servings

  • 1 lemon
  • 1 pound asparagus
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Wash and trim the asparagus. Place on a baking sheet.
  3. In a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon olive with juice from half the lemon (about 1 tablespoon, more for a stronger lemon flavor). Mix together.
  4. Pour lemon juice/olive oil mixture over asparagus. Make sure to coat the asparagus thoroughly.
  5. Season with just a pinch of salt and pepper.
  6. Slice the other half of the lemon. Place lemon slices over asparagus.
  7. Place in oven for 9 minutes.
  • Preparation time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 9 minutes

Roasted Lemon Asparagus, how to bake asparagus

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole with russet potatoes, sour cream, butter, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and green onion.

The cool weather is approaching and holidays are near which means comfort foods are on the menu! Mashed potatoes is a favorite comfort food in this house. Add cheese and bacon and it is a huge hit! This is one of those dishes that you just cannot stop eating. So make sure there will be plenty for everyone. Big crowds will probably need two of these casseroles!

For the holidays, we always serve mashed potatoes of some sort. Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole pairs perfectly ham. Try our Crockpot Holiday Ham for an easy main dish!

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole

Should we get cooking?

You want to start by peeling all your potatoes and cutting them into quarters before dropping them into a large pot of boiling water. Also cook your bacon at this time until crispy and set to the side. Cook potatoes until soft which takes about 20-25 minutes. Drain and add all the goodies. Loads of cheddar cheese, some butter, milk, sour cream and crispy bacon are added in and mixed. Sprinkle some of the cheese and bacon on top.

Place the Cheesy Potato Casserole into the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Take the casserole out of the oven and place green onion on top before serving.

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole
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Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole, side dishes, holiday recipes

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole with russet potatoes, sour cream, butter, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and green onion.

  • 5 pounds russet potatoes
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • .5 cup milk
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • .5 pound cooked, crispy bacon
  • 2 green onions
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  1. Peel the potatoes, quarter and place in a large pot of boiling water for 25 minutes.
  2. While potatoes are on the stovetop, cook the bacon until crispy and chop into small pieces. Set to the side.
  3. Once the potatoes are softened, drain and place into a large bowl (or use the same pot you cooked in). Add the butter, sour cream, milk and desired amount of salt and pepper.
  4. Use a hand mixer to mix until creamy.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  6. Add 2 cups shredded cheese and most of the cooked bacon. Mix again.
  7. Transfer the mashed potatoes to a large casserole dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese and bacon on top.
  8. Place the mashed potatoes into oven for 20 minutes.
  9. Chop up the green onion and sprinkle over top.
  10. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve!

What are some dishes that your family must have during the holidays? Are mashed potatoes on the menu?

Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes

Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes

 

Garlic Smashed Potatoes

 

Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes with loads of fresh parsley, garlic and ghee. Perfect side dish for chicken, steak, pork, ham, meatloaf…. oh my gosh I could go forever with the list of foods it pairs well with. Bacon Wrapped Turkey Meatloaf possibly? I think so.

By the way, what the heck is ghee? To simply put, ghee is much like butter but produced slightly different. Ghee is commonly used in Indian and Pakistani cuisine, especially with rice. Most grocery stores should have ghee or you can check out a specialty store. Can’t find ghee where you are? That’s okay. Swap with butter.

 

Garlic Smashed Potatoes

 

It is that time of month once again for Recipe Swap Club and Simply Made Recipes got tasked with Cook at Home, where you can find a lot of Whole30, gluten free and lactose free recipe options! I browsed and browsed the site for what I wanted to recreate and found these Herb and Garlic Smashed Potatoes. We are potato lovers in this family and I jump on any chance to try a new potato recipe. Plus, there is garlic…. tons of garlic. Who can say no to that?

Check out the original recipe here.

 

Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes

 

I made just a couple changes to the Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes recipe. One, the recipe calls for almond milk and I used regular 2% because that’s what I have on hand. Two, I chopped up some fresh parsley over dried because I prefer fresh herbs and spices. Third, the instructions were to steam the potatoes but I made a large batch and my steamer does not hold the amount of potatoes I needed so I boiled them and added the garlic after cooking the potatoes. If you steam the potatoes, add in the garlic while cooking and keep the same cook time. Either way you cook your potatoes, the outcome will be right on.

Potatoes skins on or off before cooking? I leave potato skins on as often as possible, especially for yellow or red potatoes. What is the benefit of leaving the skin on? Well, to get the full nutritional value of the potato you need to eat the whole potato full of fiber and numerous nutrients.

 

Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes

 

Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes
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Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes
  • 3 tablespoon ghee
  • 2.5 pounds small yellow potatoes
  • 1/4 cup-3/4 cup milk (almond milk is recommended)
  • 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • salt
  • pepper
  1. Wash potatoes and chop into quarters.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop your potatoes in. Add a pinch of salt.
  3. Let cook 30 minutes or until potatoes are softened.
  4. Drain and place into large mixing bowl.
  5. Mince 6 garlic cloves and add to potatoes along with freshly chopped parsley, 3 tablespoons ghee, pinch of salt and pepper.
  6. Use your potato smasher (I use my avocado smasher) to smash the potatoes and mix all the ingredients together.
  7. Add 1/4 cup milk and mix. If you want to thin out your potatoes more, add another 1/4-1/2 cup milk.
  8. Garnish with a pinch more of fresh parsley and a bit of ghee.
  9. Serve.

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Garlic & Herb Smashed Potatoes

What are you going to cook up first with these garlic & herb Smashed Potatoes?

Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots

Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots are made with carrots, garlic, honey, olive oil, just a pinch of salt and pepper. A spicy kick is added with Sriracha. 

Carrots aren’t a side dish I make often. We enjoy baby carrots in snack or julienne a carrot in soup or on top of salad. Eating a hot side dish of carrots at dinner doesn’t happen all the time though. These Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots have the power to change that! These go perfectly with many dishes like chicken, fish, tofu or steak with sides like potatoes or rice. Like carrots and spice? I think these are for you. 

Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots

Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots are roasted int he oven to keep a nice crunch and texture. Plus, roasting in honey, garlic and hot sauce add so much great flavor!

Want all the delicious flavor but not so much kick of spice? Reduce the amount of Sriracha in this recipe to half the amount. 

Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots, side dish, spicy side dish, how to roast carrots, roasted carrots, carrots for dinner, spicy carrots
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Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots

Spicy Honey Roasted Carrots are made with carrots, garlic, honey, olive oil, just a pinch of salt and pepper. A spicy kick is added with Sriracha. 
Course Side Dish
Keyword carrots
Prep Time 4 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 29 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Author Amber

Ingredients

  • 1 pound carrots
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Wash carrots and grab baking sheet, bowl, whisk, peeler, and measuring cups.
  • Peel carrots and and chop. I chop them in half. Then chop those pieces in half lengthwise. Then, chop those in half lengthwise once more. Place on a baking sheet. 
  • Add honey,  olive oil, minced garlic clove and Sriracha into bowl. Whisk until blended.
  • Pour mixture over carrots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
  • Bake carrots for 25 minutes.

Notes

This cooking time will give you carrots with a little crisp and texture. For softer carrots, cook longer. 

 

 

 

Corn Dip

Corn Dip is a perfect snack or game time food and so simple to cook. You literally dump all the ingredients into a crock-pot, finely dice a jalapeno and let the ingredients cook for 3 hours.  I learned a variation of this recipe from an old co-worker a few years back who would bring this dish into our pot luck lunches and it was always a huge hit and have been making this for my own friends and family ever since! It is nice and creamy with tons of corn and a nice flavor from the green chiles and a little kick of spice. Be careful though because this Corn Dip is so incredibly addicting and you won’t be able to put it down!

 

Corn Dip

 

Corn Dip
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Corn Dip
  • 4 ounce can green chiles
  • 16 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 2 pounds frozen corn
  1. Gather ingredients, crock-pot, cutting board, and knife.
  2. Pour 2 pounds of corn into crock-pot. Turn crock-pot to low heat setting.
  3. Cube 16 ounces of cream cheese and put into crock-pot followed by 1 cup sour cream.
  4. Add the green chiles.
  5. Diced the jalapeno. If you do not like a lot of spice, you can remove the seeds before dicing or use half a jalapeno. Dump into crock-pot.
  6. Let cook for 3 hours.
  7. Serve with some tortilla chips or Fritos.

 

Corn Dip

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Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Breakfast breads are common in this household. They are so simple, affordable and there are so many variations. The chocolate chip banana bread is a fantastic option and I love anything that I don’t have to run to the grocery store to buy ingredients for because it uses ingredients already in your pantry and utilizes those over ripe uneaten bananas instead of tossing them in the garbage. We hate throwing food away! Even it is a dollar worth of bananas.  Not a fan of chocolate chips? Try the Walnut Banana Bread recipe.

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
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  • .5 cups sugar
  • .5 cups brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • .5 cups chocolate chips
  • 1.5 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  1. Gather ingredients, loaf pan, medium sized mixing bowl, measuring cups, non stick spray and hand mixer. Hand mixer is not necessary, you can easily use a fork to blend.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Peel 3 squishy over ripe bananas into bowl and squish more with fork.
  4. Add pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 eggs, .5 cup brown sugar, and .5 cup granulated cane sugar. Use fork or hand mixer to mix well.
  5. Add 1.5 cups flour and mix for a minute.
  6. Stir in .5 cup of chocolate chips.
  7. Spray loaf pan with non stick spray of choice.
  8. Add mixture to pan.
  9. Place in oven for 1 hour.
  10. Remove from heat and let cool.
  11. Serve and enjoy.

 

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

 

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Homemade Cornbread

This recipe for  Homemade Cornbread comes from an old Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. This book was Amber’s grandmothers that was originally published in the 1930’s and we have the 1981 version. We love these older, classic recipes and this Homemade Cornbread is delicious and so easy to make. Make a complete cold day dinner with some Crock-Pot Turkey Chili and try our homemade Chili Seasoning recipes.

 

Homemade Cornbread

 

Homemade Cornbread
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Homemade Cornbread
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 vegetable oil
  1. Gather ingredients, 9x9 baking pan, hand mixer, 2 bowls, whisk, and measuring cups and spoons.
  2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  3. Whisk 2 eggs, 1 cup milk and 1/4 cup vegetable together in a small bowl.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
  5. Combine ingredients of both bowls together and mix until smooth.
  6. Grease the baking pan and then pour mixture in.
  7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
  8. Enjoy.

 

Homemade Cornbread

 

Simply Made Recipes is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising.  If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission. This costs nothing extra to you and helps keep Simply Made Recipes running!


Spaghetti Salad

We have been  craving pasta and wanted to try something new so we put together a Spaghetti Salad with black olives, Roma tomatoes, green bell pepper, parmesan cheese, onion, fresh parsley and thin spaghetti. Bacon might be a great addition too! Next time I’m trying out the bacon addition.

Spaghetti Salad

We came across a salad dressing at the grocery store made from Wish Bone called Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette that tastes amazing! The dressing works perfectly for this dish. You can always make your own dressing, which is always a little bit healthier but sometimes it is just nice to have the convenience of something premade.

Spaghetti Salad

Throw all the ingredients together for a delicious cold pasta salad for a family picnic, lunch, or grilling side. On Sundays, I do my version of meal prepping and it usually consists of some sort of pasta salad. It is quick, easy, affordable and the family can all agree it is tasty. I say my version of meal prep because food doesn’t last long in this household. I like make a big batch of Spaghetti Salad and putting in the fridge so everyone can grab a quick snack or put a bowl of it into their lunch bag.

You may also like to try another favorite pasta salad of ours, the Greek Pasta Salad.

Spaghetti Salad

 

Spaghetti Salad
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Spaghetti Salad
  • 3 Roma tomatoes
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese
  • 3.8 ounce can sliced black olives
  • 1/4 medium sized white onion
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley
  • 12 ounces Parmesan Vinaigrette (we used Wish Bone's Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette)
  • 1 package angel hair or thin spaghetti pasta.
  1. Gather ingredients, cutting board, favorite knife for chopping, strainer, large bowl, pot and tongs.
  2. Wash all fruits and vegetables well.
  3. Boil pasta according to directions and strain. Add pasta to bowl.
  4. Chop 1 green bell pepper and finely dice 1/4 of a white onion. Add to bowl.
  5. Add 1 cup of parmesan cheese and sliced black olives to bowl.
  6. Chop 1/3 cup fresh parsley and add to bowl.
  7. Top off bowl with 12 ounces of Parmesan Vinaigrette. We suggest Wish Bone's Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette dressing that can easily be found in the salad dressing aisle of your grocery store.
  8. Mix all ingredients together using tongs.
  9. Place into fridge until cold and serve. Yum!

Spaghetti Salad

 

 

 

Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad is easy to make and delicious. Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, black olives, spiral rotini pasta, Greek salad dressing and feta cheese galore!

Greek Pasta Salad

I frequently make this pasta salad on Sunday afternoons and put in the fridge so my family has a quick and healthy lunch to take with them through the week. We love pasta salad for our lunches. So simple and better for you than eating out and nothing you have to wait in line to reheat in the office microwave. I swear a coworker always has to been bring in a 3 course meal to heat up and you spend half your lunch waiting…. waiting, to eat.

Greek Pasta Salad

I use Girardi’s Greek Salad Dressing but use what you love, it would even be healthier to make your own as store bought tends to have high calories and high sodium. I do love this dressing though, it has big chunks of feta cheese in and perfect consistency for pasta salad. Aaron was just telling me as I was chopping the tomatoes, that this is his favorite! I think he says every food is his favorite but its up there on his go to list for sure.

Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad
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Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

  • 6 ounces feta cheese
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 cucumber
  • 3.8 ounce can of sliced black olives, drained
  • 12 ounces Greek Dressing. I used Girardi's but use what you love or make your own
  • 1 box spiral rotini
  1. Gather ingredients, large pot, favorite knife for chopping, large bowl, cutting board and strainer.
  2. Wash all fruits and vegetables well.
  3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook 1 box of spiral rotini according to the directions on that box.
  4. Using your knife, slice cucumbers thinly. Dice the bell pepper. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves.
  5. Put your chopped ingredients into the large bowl, along with the can of drained sliced black olives and 6 ounces of feta cheese.
  6. Add 12 ounce bottle of Greek Dressing. Today I used Girardi's Greek Feta dressing.
  7. After you have strained the cooked pasta, put into the large bowl and mix all ingredients together. Put into fridge to let cool for a few hours.
  8. Garnish with a little extra feta cheese if you would like.
  9. Enjoy!

Greek Pasta Salad