Easy Side Dish

Cooking from the Pantry: Taste like Fresh, Easy Green Beans with Pork

March 24, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Easy Green Beans with Pork is always a go-to recipe for me when I don’t have fresh vegetables on hand. I only keep a few canned items in my pantry and green beans are one of them. I don’t like frozen green beans, they seem so watery, but I do like canned green beans in a pinch, and these really are delicious.

I like to use whole beans and I like the Libby’s Gourmet Whole Green Beans. https://libbys.com/product/gourmet-whole-green-beans. I served these the other day with my Cajun Seasoned Pork Roast: https://the2spoons.com/so-delicious-cajun-seasoned-roasted-pork/

Cooking from the Pantry: Taste like Fresh, Easy Green Beans with Pork

Here’s the recipe! Be sure you get Green Beans when you go grocery shopping!

Cooking from the Pantry, Green Beans with Pork

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 30

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cans quality whole green beans
1/2 onion, diced 1/2
1/2 cup salt pork, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
3-4 Thyme sprigs or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup water

Instructions

Saute the salt pork on medium heat in the two tablespoons oil until browned and the fat starts to render. Add the onions and cook a minute or two until translucent. Drain the juice of the two cans of beans into the pan with your salt pork, and add the water. Set the beans aside. Simmer about 30 minutes until your salt pork is tender. Add your beans back in along with the sprigs of fresh thyme and cook for an additional 10 minutes on medium.
Cooking the pork ahead of time until it is tender flavors your juices and your beans will resemble fresh green beans.

Roasted Pork
Stove Top Chuck Roast

Easy Cheesy Creamed Spinach

March 18, 2019 by Becky Spoon

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We love this Creamed Spinach! Instead of heavy cream, I add sour cream and a little cayenne to spice it up! This recipe is just for 2 so you can increase the ingredients and make it for more. You want to squeeze out as much water as you can to prevent your creamed spinach from being too watery.

This is the perfect side dish for your steak dinners at home. I served this with grilled steaks the other night, of which more times than not, I serve this when I cook steaks on the grill. Allen loves this too, which is always a plus!

Here’s the recipe for the steaks if you want a delicious steak recipe: http://www.the2spoons.com/lucies-oh-so-good-easy-steak-on-the-grill/

There is a restaurant in Dallas called the Celebration. In the 1970s or 1980s they served a spinach casserole that I developed this recipe from, and I think it is how they did it, including the cayenne that I add. That was probably one of their most popular dishes and I absolutely loved it!

Easy Cheesy Creamed Spinach

What about the health benefits? Spinach is one of those foods that is so delicious and equally healthy! Even children love this spinach dish. Maybe it’s the cheese. None the less, this is an excellent way to get some vitamins into your dishes: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270609.php

Here is the so easy recipe for this Cheesy Creamed Spinach. It literally takes minutes!

Easy Cheesy Creamed Spinach

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

8 cups raw spinach
2 tbsp sour cream
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 pinch cayenne peper
1/4 cup grated medium to sharp cheddar cheese
oil to saute spinach

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pour a thin coat of oil in a skillet and heat to medium. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Drain in a colander, pressing out as much water as you can. Return to a bowl and add the sour cream, salt, and pepper to taste and the cayenne pepper. Place in a buttered or oiled casserole and top with the cheese.
Bake until the cheese is melted.

Twice Baked Potatoes, Easy and Delicious

March 11, 2019 by Becky Spoon

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I can’t make twice baked potatoes without thinking of a lifelong friend of mine. She and I would cook together every weekend – actually much more than that. Jan would make baked potatoes and add lemon pepper, cheese, and green onions, I think? They were delicious, and since then I always add lemon pepper because I loved her baked potatoes so much! These are loaded with other goodies, and of course lemon pepper. The lemon pepper makes these potatoes.

These twice baked potatoes are loaded with roasted garlic, green onions, various spices, sour cream, lemon pepper, fresh jalapenos, cheese, topped with bacon bits and green onions! I used a medium cheddar this time, but I’ve used many different kinds of cheese in this recipe.

I used large russet baking potatoes for this recipe. You could use a medium-size russet, but I do like the russet because they are less likely to tear while you are removing the potato. There are other great potatoes, but like a Yukon Gold, their skins are so thin, they aren’t my first choice.

Wondering which potato is the best for certain recipes, like mashing or french fries? Here’s a link that describes the best use for each type of potato. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/what-types-of-potatoes-are-best-for-which-recipes/

These potatoes are the perfect side dish for my grilled steak. Here’s the recipe: http://www.the2spoons.com/lucies-oh-so-good-easy-steak-on-the-grill/

Twice Baked Potatoes

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Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

2 Large Russet Baking Potatoes, baked until fork tender Bake the potatoes salted and oiled with no foil
4 green onions, diced, saving a little for garnish
1 tsp roasted garlic
4 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup grated cheese of your choice, reserving a little to top the potatoes
2 slices bacon, cooked and chopped for garnish

Instructions

As noted in the ingredients, do not wrap your potatoes in foil, instead rub them in oil and salt them and place on a sheet pan and bake until fork tender. Then remove the potatoes from the oven and leave your oven on. With your potatoes laying lengthwise slice a top portion of your potatoes (Not halfway down, maybe 1/4 down) and scoop out into a bowl your potato from that slice and from the entire potato, being careful not to break the skin. Place your potatoes back into the oven for maybe 10 minutes or so allowing them to dry out a little in the pulp portion and the skins crisp up a little, kind of like potato skins.
Add all the ingredients to the potatoes, mashing and combining. Remove the potato skins from the oven and load the potatoes with the mixture, top with a little cheese and place back into the oven until cooked through and the cheese on top has melted, maybe 10 or 15 minutes, making sure your cheese does not brown. Garnish with sliced green onions and chopped bacon.

Popular – Creamy and Buttery Mashed Potatoes with Fried Shallots

January 30, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Ooh! These mashed potatoes are delicious! They are always the perfect side dish and a must for fried chicken… like my Southern Fried Chicken: https://the2spoons.com/finger-licking-southern-fried-chicken/

Mashed Potatoes just make everything better! They are creamy and buttery and I quickly fried a few shallot strings to top these with which makes them even more delicious!

Popular – Creamy and Buttery Mashed Potatoes with Fried Shallots

Heres a link that will give you a little history of mashed potatoes: http://thefederalist.com/2016/12/01/enjoy-delicious-mashed-potatoes-read-origin-story/

So, here’s my recipe! Enjoy!

Creamy and Buttery Mashed Potatoes with Fried Shallots

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Course easy side dish, vegetable, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 4 servngs

Ingredients

4 Russet large potatoes (add more if you want extras, but usually one potato per person)
water to cover
salt and pepper
1/2-2/3 whole milk, half and half, or heavy cream warmed
4 tbsp butter, or more if needed, melted and heated with the milk, cream or half and half
1 small shallot, sliced Optional

Instructions

Dice the potatoes in uniform pieces and add to a pot large enough for the potatoes to be completely covered by water. Add a little salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Very important, because if you undercook your mashed potatoes will be lumpy.
Drain the potatoes and return to the pan. With the heat still on let the potatoes cook on low to medium until the water has evaporated.
Heat the butter and 1/2 to 2/3 cup hot milk, half & half, or cream. I like to mash my potatoes in my stand mixer or with a hand mixer, but you can use a potato masher or better yet a ricer. Regardless, start mashing the potatoes, then add the butter and milk a little at a time. It’s hard to say exactly how much liquid, that’s why you want to add a little at a time to your desired consistency. Continue beating, adding the butter/liquid mixture as needed, until lumps are gone. Sometimes I use a ricer and this takes this step away. You’d just rice your potatoes, add the butter and liquid, then season to taste.
After your desired consistency is reached add salt and pepper to taste. You added a little salt to the water so be sure not to over salt. Add additional butter and combine if desired, or top the final potatoes with a few pats of butter.
Heat a little oil and quickly fry the shallot rings until browned, turning about 1 minute.
Bon Appetite! Serve with my green onion cream gravy and Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce Southern Fried Chicken!

Keyword mashed potatoes, potatoes, easy side dish, side dish