Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor. Eat it alone as a side dish or with Tortellini to make it the main star. It’s a super healthy and tasty soup.

Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor, eat with Tortellini or alone as a side dish!

You can add as many vegetables as you want or swap some of the ones in this recipe out for ones you like better. Celery, carrots, and zucchini are the classic ingredients!

Sauteing tomato paste

After you saute the celery, onions, carrot, and garlic make sure you saute the tomato paste thoroughly. Don’t let it burn but do let it cook. It will reduce the sourness that raw tomato paste can have in many soups and sauces.

Soup with tomato chunks

Once the diced tomato and herbs are added you can add the water.

At this stage you have a few choices. You can either use 4 cups of water with 2 bullion cubes mixed in. You can use either vegetable (to keep the soup vegetarian) or chicken bullion (it adds a lot of flavor), and you can choose regular or low sodium! OR you can use 2 cups of water and 2 cups of broth (vegetarian or chicken, low sodium or regular).

Add the bay leaves as well. And once everything has mixed, you can add the sugar and some salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. The sugar is used to counter the acidic sourness of the tomatoes in the soup.

Minestrone Soup

Let the soup cook for a bit and then add the zucchini, red kidney beans, and the tortellini. Let cook at a rapid boil so the tortellini can cook. This may take around 8 – 10 minutes.

Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Add the spinach at the very end so and serve hot!

Add some grated parmesan for some more flavor!

Minestrone Soup with Totellini

Make sure you remove the bay leaves before servings!

Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

This Minestrone Soup with Tortellini is fully vegetarian!

(depending on which broth or bullion cube you use!)

Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor. Eat it alone as a side dish or with Tortellini to make it the main star. It's a super healthy and tasty soup.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6 -8 Bowls
Calories: 200kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Celery, chopped
  • ½ Medium Onion, chopped
  • Cup Carrot, chopped
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, grated
  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
  • tsp Herbs du Provence
  • 1 14 oz Can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
  • 4 Cups Water
  • 2 Cubes Bullion (veg or chicken, low sodium)
  • ½ tsp Sugar
  • 2-3 Bay Leaves
  • Salt, Black Pepper, Crushed Red Bell Pepper, to taste
  • 1 Cup Zucchini, chopped
  • 1 Cup Red Kidney Beans
  • 1 Cup Tortellini
  • 2 Cups Baby Spinach, roughly chopped, stems removed

Instructions

  • Heat up some oil in a pot and saute the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots.
  • Add the tomato paste and saute it.
  • Add the canned fire roasted diced tomatoes and the herb du provence.
  • Dilute the two bullion cubes in 4 cups of warm water. (You can use 2 cups of low sodium broth with 2 cups of water instead) Add the water to the pot.
  • Add the sugar, bay leaves. Stir and add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste.
  • Add the zucchini, red beans, and tortellini and cook for about ten minutes.
  • Add the spinach and a half cup of water if you want your soup to be thicker.
  • Remove from heat once your tortellini is cooked!

Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

Spicy seasoning for sweet corn disks sauteed with onions and a dash of lemon juice! The perfect snack or accompaniment for a main entree. A 10 minute dish!

Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

So corn really is one of my favorite foods in the entire world. I could eat corn in any form, from bread to creamed to steamed and anything inbetween. These spicy sweet corn disks are super easy to make and full of flavor. There is no added sweetness, just the sweet corn!

Aside from the spices, there are four main ingredients: corn, onion, lemon, and cilantro.

Take a medium pan and sautee the onion until translucent and add the spices. Stir well.

Onions and spices

Then toss the corn in and add water to cook and steam the corn.

Corn

Add the cilantro and lemon just before serving and enjoy!

Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

Check out some of my other side dishes if you liked this spicy sweet corn disks recipe!

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Some tips: This recipe is super simple and will only take about ten minutes to cook but it’s best to ensure that your corn disks are no more than 3 but no less that 2 kernels thick.

You might need to use a mallet to help you cut the corn if the cob core is too thick. If you want you can also make this a corn salad and use off the cob sweet corn with the same seasonings! It’ll be a great burrito bowl or salad topping!

Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

Spicy seasoning for sweet corn disks sauteed with onions and a dash of lemon juice! The perfect snack or accompaniment for a main entree. A 10 minute dish!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4
Calories: 110kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 Whole Sweet Corn Cobs, sliced every two to three kernels
  • ½ Yellow Onion, diced
  • 2-3 sprigs Cilantro, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • ½ tsp Kosher Salt
  • ½ tsp Chili Powder
  • ¼ tsp Cumin
  • Juice of quarter lemon
  • ¼ Cup Water

Instructions

  • Prep your onions, cilantro, lemon, and corn. The corn may need a mallet to help with the cutting of them.
  • Saute onions in the olive oil until lightly translucent.
  • Add the chili powder, salt, and cumin and stir properly.
  • Add the corn, stir well, sprinkle in the water, and cover immediately. Let the corn cook and steam for about five minutes.
  • Stir the corn again and toss in the cilantro and lemon juice just before serving.
  • Enjoy! You can even lightly drizzle some sour cream on there if you want!

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.

Top Level bread bonda

Bread Bonda are these fried potato balls that my moms aunt used to make her growing up. It’s called bread bonda because they are potato balls wrapped in white bread and shallow fried to crispy perfection!

I know, I know, the idea of taking white bread, slightly wetting it and frying it doesn’t sound that great but it’s not that different from croutons!

Boil whole, medium sized gold potatoes (2 pounds of them) with the skin on until they can be pierced with a fork. Peel the skin off after you drain and cool them and crush them with a fork. You want them to be crumbly and a little chunky.

potatoes with onions and cilantro

Mix the potatoes with the salt, chili powder, grated ginger, diced onions, and chopped cilantro.

Make sure to use red onion for this recipe, they stay crispy and add a great balance to the creaminess of gold potatoes.

potato mixture

Roll the potato into ping pong sized balls, you’ll get about 20 of them.

Take a slice of bread for each potato ball you have and cut the crusts off. Then flatten them with your hand or a rolling pin.

Potato balls with bread

Here comes the slightly tricky part: wrapping the potato balls in the bread.

If you get a presliced loaf of white bread (think Mrs Baird’s or Sara Lee) the size of the slices should be just large enough for you to wrap the potato balls.

Generously wet your hands and pat the water onto the bread slice to get it slightly wet. This will help you mold the bread around the potato balls. Bring the four corners of the bread together and wet your hand once more. Use your wet hands to help you seal the edges of the bread around the balls. Don’t be afraid to keep using water if you need to. It’s okay for the bread to be damp, you just don’t want it to be soggy. (refer to the photo above)

In a small, deep pan on medium heat prepare 2 cups of canola oil for frying.

frying bonda

Keep turning them as they brown. They’ll hit a beautiful golden brown but they won’t be done yet. The first photo below shows that stage but the second photo will indicate that they’re done.

unfinished bonda
finished bonda

Place the balls on a draining rack or on a paper towel.

My favorite way to each bread bonda is with ketchup or Maggi Hot and Sweet sauce!

You can make the entire batch of bonda all at once or you can store the potato filling in the fridge for up to a week!

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

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Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)
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Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 20 Balls
Calories: 150kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds Gold Potatoes
  • ½ Red Onion, diced
  • 5-6 Sprigs Cilantro, finely chopped
  • ½ Tbsp Ginger, finely grated
  • ½ tsp Chili Powder
  • ½ tsp Kosher Salt
  • 20 slices White Bread Mrs Baird's Large White Bread
  • 2 Cups Canola (for frying)

Instructions

  • Boil potatoes with skin on until they can be pierced with a fork (don't overboil or they will be too mushy, boil them just until they can be pierced and no longer)
  • Drain and peel the potatoes.
  • Take a fork and lightly mashed (crumble) the potatoes. Refer to the photos in the post.
  • Mix in the ginger, onions, chili powder, salt, and cilantro. You want the potatoes to still be somewhat chunky.
  • Roll the potato mixture into ping pong sizes balls. You'll get about 20 of them.
  • Cut the crust off of your bread slices and roll lightly with a rolling pin (you can flatten the bread with your hands if you want)
  • To wrap the potato balls in the bread, you want generously wet your hands and pat the water onto the bread slices. (this will help them wrap better)
  • Place a ball on a dampened bread slice and bring the four corners together. Wet your hands again and pat the bread around the balls to seal the edges. Roll the bread ball between your palms.
  • Heat up 2 cups of canola oil in a medium pan on medium heat to shallow fry.
  • Fry the bread bondas until they are medium to dark golden brown. Turn the balls often as they fry to get an even color.
  • Enjoy with ketchup or Maggi Hot and Sweet Sauce!
  • You can refrigerate some of the potato mixture for up to a week if you don't want to make a large batch.

No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup

Simple and straight forward. Packed with flavor. You’ll be sure to love this No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup. 30 minute meal and fully vegetarian!

Top Level photo No cream carrot ginger soup

No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup is super healthy and super tasty. It’s full of fresh ingredients and a great way to get veggies into your meal.

The recipe is incredibly straightforward and only requires a medium to large pot and either a blender or an immersion blender.

Ideally, you will want the freshest ingredients you can find. Make sure you get healthy and fragrant ginger.

You can use already peeled and cut baby carrots, or peel your own full carrots. Either option works, you just want to make sure that the pieces are cut to uniform sizes.

Sautee the garlic and ginger first, followed by the onions and the seasonings.

onions and garlic

Add the carrots, vegetable stock, and water and bring to a rapid bowl. Turn down to rapid simmer and cover. Cook until the carrots are soft, about 25 minutes.

boiling ingredients

Overall, it’s kind of hard to taste and salt as you go for this recipe, so be prepared to taste and adjust as soon as you blend your soup.

Once the carrots are soft, you want to either blend with an immersion blender or in a regular, strong stand blender. If you use an immersion, you’re not guaranteed to get as smooth of a soup so I would recommend a regular blender.

Don’t overfill your blender or you might run the risk of it spilling over so don’t be afraid to blend in separate batches.

As soon as it’s blended and back in a big bowl or pot, you can season to taste with more salt or pepper.

No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup

In general, blender soups are incredibly easy to make. No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup is no exception to that.

They’re all about the flavor and can be customizable. If you prefer a sweeter soup, leave it be. Or you can add more cumin and some cayenne for a bit of a kick and some extra heat.

No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup

No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup

Simple and straight forward. Packed with flavor. You'll be sure to love this No Cream Carrot Ginger Soup. 30 minute meal and fully vegetarian!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6 – 8 bowls
Calories: 100kcal

Equipment

  • Blender or immersion blender.

Ingredients

  • Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 Medium Yellow Onion
  • 2 Cloves Garlic finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp Fresh Grated Ginger
  • lbs Carrots peeled and chopped
  • 2 Cups No or Low Sodium Vegetable Stock
  • 2 Cups Water
  • ¼ tsp Paprika
  • ¼ tsp Ground Nutmeg
  • ½ tsp Cumin
  • ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
  • tsp Kosher Salt

Instructions

  • Peel and chop the carrots, Chop onion, grate ginger, and chop garlic.
  • In a medium pot, cook the garlic and ginger in the olive oil.
  • Add the salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, nutmeg, and onions and cook until translucent.
  • Add in the carrots, 2 cups of vegetable stock, and 2 cups of water.
  • Bring to a rapid simmer and cook until the carrots can be pierced with a fork. About 8 – 12 minutes.
  • Blend the mixture until smooth. You might have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your blender.
  • Use caution, the mixture will be VERY hot!
  • Take this opportunity to add salt if you think it needs more. Enjoy!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

A super easy recipe for AUTHENTIC homemade sun dried tomato pesto. Eat on your favorite toasted bread or with some pasta!

pesto top photo

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto! The extra flavorful younger sibling to the classic green basil pesto. This recipe is as authentic as it gets and stays true to the Italian classic!

This recipe requires a food processor (or a high powered blender) but aside from that it’s pretty easy.

sun dried tomtato pesto ingredients photo

It’s really important to get high quality ingredients for this recipe. Make sure you have the freshest basil leaves you can find.

Don’t get pre oil soaked tomatoes, you won’t be able to control the amount of oil you have in the final product. This recipe is formulated to be used with dry sun dried tomatoes.

I used raw / unroasted / unsalted pine nuts for this recipe as well.

The most important thing to keep in mind is the quality of your parmesan. Please don’t use pregrated parmesan, the quality is not there at all. Make sure to get parmigiano reggiano in a wedge shape.

roasted red bell pepper

Roasting the red bell pepper is really important to impart really good flavor in the pesto. You should do it on an open flame if you can, or on a grill, but if not then you can roast them in an oven at 450 for 15 minutes.

Once the red bell pepper is roated, peel the skin off so you get really tender, sweet smelling flesh.

roasted red bell pepper

Blitz the ingredients in intervals, begin with the bell pepper, garlic, and soaked tomatoes. Then add the pine nuts, black pepper, and salt. Blitz again, and add the grated parmesan, basil, and crushed red pepper. Blitz!

chunky sun dried tomato pesto

Finally, stream in the remaining olive oil while the processor is going.

finished sun dried tomato pesto

At this point you can add more crushed red pepper, salt, or black pepper according to your taste preferences!

pesto image

Store the finished sun dried tomato pesto in an air tight glass container. But make sure not to seal the lid before the pesto is completely cooled. If not, you may run the risk of getting mold in your pesto.

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Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Cover

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

A super easy recipe for AUTHENTIC homemade sun dried tomato pesto. Eat on your favorite toasted bread or with some pasta!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 12 Servings
Calories: 175kcal

Equipment

  • Food processor (if not, high powered blender)
  • Air tight jar or container

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes
  • ¼ Cup Pine Nuts
  • 5 Cloves Garlic medium to large, peeled
  • ¼ Cup Grated Parmesan
  • tsp Kosher Salt
  • ¼ tsp Cracked Black Pepper
  • ¾ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil divided ½ and ¼
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • ½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
  • 10 leaves Basil large leaves

Instructions

  • Soak sun dried tomatoes in ¼ cup olive oil.
  • On an open flame on your stove top, roast the red pepper until the skin is charred and black. (if you dont have a gas stove top, roast the bell pepper at 450° in an oven for 15 minutes)
  • Peel the charred skin off of the roasted bell pepper.
  • In a food processor, blend the roasted red pepper, oil soaked tomatoes, and garlic until fully chopped. (it'll be chunky)
  • Add the pine nuts, black pepper, and salt and blitz again. (it'll still be chunky)
  • Add the grated parmesan, basil, and crushed red pepper and blitz once again. (still sort of chunky)
  • Turn on the food processor (or blender) and continuously stream in the remaining ½ cup of olive oil.
  • Blend for a solid minute.
  • Add salt to taste and enjoy!
  • Let cool fully before storing in an air tight glass jar in the fridge.

Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts

A step up from the simple and classic oven roasted brussel sprouts. These Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts are garlicky, savory, a little sweet, and have a small kick of heat. Great even for those that don’t like the bitter taste of brussel sprouts!

Minestrone Soup with Tortellini

Minestrone Soup is the perfect vegetable soup packed full of flavor. Eat it alone as a side dish or with Tortellini to make it the main star. It’s a super healthy and tasty soup.

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

This garlic and herb compound butter is perfect for sauteeing with vegetables, basting your meats, as a pad of finishing butter, or spread on bagels or to toast for homemade garlic bread!

Top Photo Compound Butter

Hello to all of my fellow butter lovers!!! As someone who loves to bake, I love butter and I value the place it has in the kitchen. Now I’m not trying to say that butter is boring, BUT we can always add to it. Enter: Garlic and Herb Compound Butter.

This compound butter (also similar to a finishing butter that you would see on a cooked steak) is packed with garlic and herbs. As the garlic and herbs mix with the butter and sit in the fridge for a while it allows the butter to soak up all the flavor.

pre - ingredients

Have you ever seen those garlic bread loaves at your grocery store with the butter pre-spread, all you need to do is bake them? That’s what you can do with this butter as well! Say goodbye to frozen garlic bread and hello to the fresh loaves!

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Use this butter as a marinade for any meat, to slather and baste your steaks, or to saute with your vegetables!

Here are some recipe tips and notes that are crucial to ensure you get the best flavor and quality out of your garlic and herb compound butter.

Butter Tips:

I used Kerry Gold butter for this recipe. Now, I don’t always use Kerry Gold butter but this brand of butter is incredibly rich and has a wonderful flavor which is perfect for this recipe! If you can’t use this brand or can’t find it where you are, look around your grocery store and find the best quality butter there is.

This recipe also uses salted butter. I would prefer you all use salted butter for the recipe but if you get unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp of Kosher salt to the mix.

Butter prep

Herb Tips:

Make sure you use fresh herbs! The flavor is much better that way because dried herbs usually need to be cooked or rehydrated to has as much flavor. Just be sure to finely chop the herbs.

Finely Chopped Herbs

Storing Tips:

You can either store the butter in an airtight jar. Or you can store it in a log, wrapped in parchment paper.

To wrap in parchment paper you should make a rectangle of parchment and place the butter in the center. Pat it down into a rectangle shape and begin to roll the paper.

Refrigerate the butter for at least an hour before you cook with it and continue to store the butter in the fridge.

garlic butter parchment log

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Compound Butter

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

This garlic and herb compound butter is perfect for sauteeing with vegetables, basting your meats, as a pad of finishing butter, or spread on bagels or to toast for homemade garlic bread!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 tablespoons
Calories: 101kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ Cup Kerry Gold Butter (room temperature, soft) read recipe notes above regarding alternate butter
  • 2 Cloves Finely Chopped Garlic
  • 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley
  • 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Oregano
  • t tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
  • ½ tsp Cracked Black Pepper
  • ½ tsp Kosher Salt (only if using unsalted butter)

Instructions

  • Make sure to use room temperature butter.
  • Finely Chop garlic cloves, rosemary, oregano, and parsley.
  • In a bowl mash together the butter, chopped herbs, chopped garlic, and black pepper with a spoon until fully combined.
  • Either store in a jar or roll into a log on parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before use.

Check out some of my other recipes!

Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Easy to make and tasty Creamy Chicken Enchiladas! With corn, black beans, cheese, chicken, and spinach. Includes an enchilada sauce recipe!

Potato Pastry Pinwheels

These Potato Pastry Pinwheels are the perfect finger food for any potluck or as a passed appetizer! It is salty, spicy, and a little sweet from the pastry! This recipe is simple and utilizes store bought dough!

Honey Soy Chili Shrimp

Spicy, tangy, a little sweet, and full of flavor! Honey Soy Chili Shrimp is an easy Asian inspired dish created with ingredients that most home cooks have.

Cheesy Asparagus Parcels

Asparagus smothered in a garlic butter all wrapped in a cheesy pillowy pastry cushion! These Cheesy Asparagus Parcels are the PERFECT side dish to impress!

Close up of plated pastries

I like cheese, I like asparagus, and I like puff pastry. If you guys do as well then you’ll be sure to love these Cheesy Asparagus Parcels.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the combination of asparagus and puff pastry. But I started to think about artichoke spinach puffs. Well, those are green veggies, cheesy, and wrapped in pastry and those taste delicious. So I decided to push through with this recipe!

Fresh Asparagus

Make sure your asparagus as super green and super healthy. Some people prefer the thinner stalks and some prefer the fatter ones. Here, I’ve used the fatter ones, but you can choose whichever you prefer.

This recipe calls for store bought puff pastry. (store bought puff pastry is great! I love the Pepperidge Farms puff pastry) Aside from the thawing process, you don’t need to roll or reshape the pastry sheets. Just unfold it and cut it into square quarters.

Assembly of Asparagus and Pastries

The asparagus should be tossed in a garlic butter before assembly but I’m including the above photo to show how the parcels should be assembled.

The type of cheese you end up using is optional BUT I think pepperjack cheese is the best option. The flavor compliments the buttery texture of the puff pastry and the cheese is extra gooey as it bakes.
IF you want a little heat, you can add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes before you wrap the parcels up.
Don’t forget to sprinkle some kosher salt on the puff pastry after you give it an egg wash.

Pro tip! Use the egg as glue for the portion of the parcel where one side of the pastry overlaps with the other. If not, your parcels won’t stay intact and they’ll split open as they bake.

OOEY GOOEY CHEESE

Enjoy your Cheesy Asparagus Parcels as a side dish or make a smaller version of them for a potluck and they’ll surely be loved by everyone!

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Cheesy Asparagus Parcels

Asparagus smothered in a garlic butter all wrapped in a cheesy pillowy pastry cushion! These Cheesy Asparagus Parcels are the PERFECT side dish to impress!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4 Parcels
Calories: 325kcal

Ingredients

  • 20 Stalks Asparagus (about 1 pound)
  • Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
  • 1 Clove Garlic, grated
  • ¾ tsp Kosher salt, divided
  • ¼ tsp Black Pepper
  • 4 Slices Pepper Jack Cheese
  • .5 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (optional if you want a kick)
  • 1 Package Puff Pastry (fully thawed)
  • 1 Egg, beaten

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
  • Cut off some of the stem of the asparagus, I usually cut about .5 to 1 inch off depending on the stalk.
  • Melt the butter and stir in the grated garlic, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, and ¼ tsp of black pepper. (if you want a little more spice, you can add the crushed red pepper to this mixture)
  • Generously coat and toss the asparagus in the garlic butter mixture.
  • Unfold the sheet of puff pastry so it lays flat on a clean surface. (there is no rolling required)
  • Cut the pastry in half horizontally and vertically so you have four pieces. Arrange them so they are sitting diagonally.
  • Lay a slice of cheese on each of the four pieces (the slices should be a little smaller, which is exactly what you want)
  • Lay five stalks of asparagus on each parcel. The stalks should be centered on the parcels to they stick out evenly top and bottom. The asparagus should also be arranged with a layer of three and a layer of two stacked on top.
  • Brush the part of the pastry that is exposed around the cheese with the beaten egg.
  • Then fold the side corners of the pastry squares over each other. Make sure to brush some of the beaten egg where the overlap, it'll act as glue.
  • Brush the outside of the pastries with the egg.
  • Sprinkle the remaining ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt on the pastry parcels.
  • Bake for 20 minutes at 400°.

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.

Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts

A step up from the simple and classic oven roasted brussel sprouts. These Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts are garlicky, savory, a little sweet, and have a small kick of heat. Great even for those that don’t like the bitter taste of brussel sprouts!

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Raise your hand if you love brussel sprouts! If you don’t, don’t worry about it. There’s a chance you just haven’t have the right brussel sprouts. I’d give these Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

To be honest, I hadn’t eaten brussel sprouts until I started dating my fiance and a family friend made me try them at our first Thanksgiving together. It was….. okay, to say the least. But it shocked me because I just always assumed brussel sprouts were as bad as all my friends growing up said they were but it was just okay.

That’s when I realized that brussel sprouts are fine, I just think there’s one superior way of cooking them. And that is by oven roasting them. As far as brussel sprouts go, there’s nothing better than super brown and crispy roasted sprouts, and layering them with a sweet and salty glaze will help cut any bitterness that the sprouts may have.

This recipe is super easy but I include a trick for how to get the BEST roasted sprouts. That is preheating your baking sheet along with the oven so that it is already ripping hot when you place the brussel sprouts in the oven. You also want to leave your sheet unlined and place the sprouts face down so there’s continued and direct contact between the hot metal and the open face of the sprout.
In the last five to ten minutes of baking time you want to turn the sprouts over so that they cook evenly. And with just that, you’ll always have the most perfectly roasted brussel sprouts.

You should always toss brussel sprouts in salt, pepper, and oil before you roast them. That’s how you get your classic roasted brussel sprouts.
But here’s how you get your Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

After the sprouts are cooked, saute the garlic and butter together for about 30 seconds and then stir in honey, herbs de provence, and crushed red pepper and then toss the roasted brussel sprouts in and coat!

Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts

A step up from the simple and classic oven roasted brussel sprouts. These Honey Garlic Herb Roasted Brussel Sprouts are garlicky, savory, a little sweet, and have a small kick of heat. Great even for those that don't like the bitter taste of brussel sprouts!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4
Calories: 125kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 Pound Brussel Sprouts
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • ½ tsp Kosher Salt
  • ¼ tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
  • 1 Clove Garlic, finely minced or grated
  • ¾ Tbsp Honey
  • ½ tsp Herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning)
  • ½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400° and place a baking sheet in the oven while it preheats (make sure it is an unlined baking sheet)
  • Trim the stem end of the brussel sprouts and remove any outer leaves, them cut the brussel sprouts in half, lengthwise.
  • Toss the brussel sprouts in the olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
  • Once the oven has reached 390°, remove the baking sheet and arrange the brussel sprouts face down on the sheet (please do this carefully as the pan will be very hot and make sure the pan is still an unlined sheet. The sprouts should not stick to the pan as they bake and preheating the pan will help to really roast the sprouts)
  • Place the brussel sprouts in the oven at 400°. Bake for 20 minutes and then flips the sprouts so they are face up. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes (remove when the sprouts are roasted to your preference. I did the full 10 minutes)
  • Once you remove the brussel sprouts, heat up the butter in a pan and cook the garlic for about thirty seconds (do all of this on a medium low heat)
  • Add the honey, herbs de provence, and crushed red pepper. Stir thoroughly.
  • Immediately add the roasted brussel sprouts and toss until they are coated.
  • Serve warm!

Enjoy this recipe with my Crispy Smashed Potatoes or any of my other dishes!

Easy Buttery Garlic Knots

Soft, fluffy and easy to make, these buttery garlic knots are perfect with any italian dish or soup! Eat on the side with a salad or just as a snack! Top with parmesan or flaky salt!

Potato Pastry Pinwheels

These Potato Pastry Pinwheels are the perfect finger food for any potluck or as a passed appetizer! It is salty, spicy, and a little sweet from the pastry! This recipe is simple and utilizes store bought dough!

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This fluffy mexican rice recipe has a slight spicy and sweet kick to it that you can adjust by taste. It’s one of my favorite things about this recipe! Some days I want extra corn and other days I want it with more lemon. This recipe is written to be the baseline ingredients, you can…

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Easy to make and tasty Creamy Chicken Enchiladas! With corn, black beans, cheese, chicken, and spinach. Includes an enchilada sauce recipe!

Potato Pastry Pinwheels

These Potato Pastry Pinwheels are the perfect finger food for any potluck or as a passed appetizer! It is salty, spicy, and a little sweet from the pastry! This recipe is simple and utilizes store bought dough!

Potatoes and pastries often make a great marriage of flavor when it comes to cooking. I love making this potato pastry pinwheels be all kinds of parties. They’re one of the easiest and tastiest side dishes you can make for a home party or even for a potluck. They’re great for picnics as well! Kids will love them and so will adults.

This is a 4 ingredient recipe (along with some light seasonings) and is super simple to make. All you need are potatoes, half an onion, Pillsbury Crescent Rounds (not the Rolls!), and cilantro. As far as seasonings go, you’ll just need salt, chili powder, and olive oil.

Chop the potatoes and onions finely but to a uniform size. You’ll want to sweat the onions for a bit in the oil before you add the potatoes in to cook them. Wait until they’re slightly translucent and then add the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are soft, but still hold their shape. Add the spices after the potatoes, and add the cilantro at the end.

You want the potato filling to cool COMPLETELY before you spread it among the pastry. The crescent rounds sheets have premarked lines on them, indicating the 8 rounds. You’ll want to roll the sheets out so they’re at least 10 inches long (vertically) and you should place it so the lines are vertical.

Spread half of the stuffing on each of the pastry sheets. Make sure to spread all the way to the side edges but leave the top edges empty so rolling is easier.

Roll the pastries tightly, as you would cinnamon rolls and refrigerate the logs so it is easier to cut them. Cut them with a thin bladed serrated knife. The pastry has 8 precut lines, you should double up on those lines and cut 16 pieces per long instead of 8.

Place the logs on a pastry sheet and bake in a 350° oven for 15 minutes. Let cool and enjoy your potato pastry pinwheels on their own or with a spicy dipping sauce of your choice!

Potato Pastry Pinwheels

These Potato Pastry Pinwheels are the perfect finger food for any potluck or as a passed appetizer! It is salty, spicy, and a little sweet from the pastry! This recipe is simple and utilizes store bought dough!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 32 Pinwheels
Calories: 74kcal

Ingredients

  • lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes (peeled and finely diced)
  • ½ Onion (finely diced)
  • 1 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Chili Powder
  • Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 3 Sprigs Cilantro (finely chopped)
  • 2 Tubes Pillsbury Crescent Rounds

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper
  • Peel and finely chop the potatoes and the half onion.
  • Sautee the onion in a pan with the oil until the onions are slightly translucent.
  • Add the potatoes, salt, and chili powder and cook until the potatoes are soft.
  • Stir in cilantro and put aside to cool completely.
  • Work with the pastry dough one tube at a time. Unroll the pastry dough and roll out with a rolling pin until it is about a 10 inch square.
  • Spread half of the potato stuffing onto each of the rolls. Spread the filling all the way to the side edges but leave some space at the top and bottom to make rolling easier.
  • Roll the dough tightly, as you would cinnamon rolls and put the log in the refrigerator for a few minutes while you prepare the other rolls.
  • Remove the chilled log and cut it into about 15 or 16 pieces. (note, the rolls will have lines in them indicating 8 slices, you should double up on those so that you get thinner pinwheels) (refer to photos above).
  • Bake for 15 minutes

Check out some of my other recipes!

Spicy Sweet Corn Disks

Spicy seasoning for sweet corn disks sauteed with onions and a dash of lemon juice! The perfect snack or accompaniment for a main entree. A 10 minute dish!

Bread Bonda (Fried Potato Balls)

Bread Bonda is an Indian recipe for fried balls stuffed with potato, onion, and cilantro! Easy to make with household ingredients.

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip is truly one of the best, well loved dishes around! This recipe stays true to the classic creation but offers a unique way to achieve creaminess.

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Crispy and creamy! Sweet and salty! These crispy smashed potatoes are herby, garlicky, and incredibly satisfying.

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Crispy and creamy! Sweet and salty! These crispy smashed potatoes are herby, garlicky, and incredibly satisfying.

Crispy and creamy! Sweet and salty! These crispy smashed potatoes are herby, garlicky, and incredibly satisfying.

Smashed potatoes have all the creaminess as mashed potatoes (without all the gluttony – which isn’t always a bad thing) with the addition of a satisfying crunch!
I love mashed potatoes but I always feel like I am missing substance. It took me a while to realize that the missing element is something crispy and crunchy, so these smashed potatoes will be a go to of mine!

Most smashed potatoes recipes I looked at when it came to developing this one used (Yukon) Gold Potatoes. Gold potatoes are great because they’re really creamy and have a smooth consistency. They even make the best mashed potatoes.

I really wanted to make a recipe using red potatoes. I like how buttery and kind of sweet that red potatoes can be. If you boil them enough, they get just as creamy as gold potatoes can be, and their skin is really flavorful. The flavors work really well with the herby, salty flavor of the seasoning.

For the seasoning, you can use a premixed Herb De Provence or Italian seasoning, but if you have all of the individual herbs, I would use them instead.
I’m not the biggest fan of salt but you can feel free to add another 1/2 tsp of salt to the seasoning.

When you boil the potatoes, the result is best if they are boiled until are fork can easily pierce it to the center.

Try to make sure that you don’t smash the potatoes TOO much when you crush them with a spoon. I used a flat heavy wooden spoon to smash my potatoes. You want them to still have ridges and be held together for the most part.

This recipe is named Crispy Smashed Potatoes for a reason, but everyone has varying preferences for how crispy they like their potato skins.
The recipe calls for 40 minutes for the baking time but I would start checking the potatoes at the 30 minute mark and pull them when they are to your preference!

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Crispy and creamy! Sweet and salty! These crispy smashed potatoes are herby, garlicky, and incredibly satisfying.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4
Calories: 170kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 lbs Red Potatoes

Seasonings (use herbs individually or an Herb de Provence seasoning)

  • ½ tsp Salt
  • ¼ tsp Black Pepper
  • ½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
  • 1 Clove Garlic Finely Minced or Grated
  • ½ tsp Dried Basil
  • ½ tsp Dried Thyme
  • ½ tsp Dried Rosemary
  • ½ tsp Dried Oregano
  • 4 Tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450°.
  • Place the potatoes into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes they are tender and a fork can pierce them easily to the center.
  • Mix together the salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, garlic, dried basil, dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried oregano, and olive oil in a bowl.
  • Arrange the potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet.
  • Using the back of a heavy bottomed spoon smash the potatos but keep them lumpy (refer to photos).
  • Evenly drizzle the oil seasoning over the potatoes.
  • Place in oven and bake for at least 30 minutes but up to 40 depending on how brown you want the skins.

Check out some of my other posts!