If I had to pick a favorite way to prepare potatoes, it would have to be oven roasting them. I love how they get perfectly crisp on the outside, but still soft on the inside when baked at high heat in the oven. I love seasoning them up real well too; potatoes can be like a blank canvas with endless possibilities with help from your spice cabinet.

This potato side dish is one of my favorite recipes to make – and one of my family’s favorite to eat, it’s one of my main go-to recipes. I can’t tell you how many times I have made them for my family. (Another family favorite are these Cheddar-Dill Roasted Red Potatoes – you’ll have to give them a try too).

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You know I’ve been to Costco when you start to see recipes with pesto and goat cheese popping up frequently on the blog. I can’t help it. There are a few staples from Costco that I can’t be without and their pesto and goat cheese are two of them.

I have to admit, since trying the pesto from Costco I really haven’t made any at home – it’s that good (for store bought!) and you just can’t beat the convenience or price.

These Roasted Red Peppers with Pesto and Goat Cheese were inspired by my neighbor who made for us once and brought some over for me to try. He actually cooked his on the grill and wow, they were amazing. I could not wait to make them for myself. I wanted to try them on the grill, but honestly this past week here in Florida has been so brutally hot and muggy that the thought of standing over a grill “testing” a recipe just didn’t appeal to me. Roasting them up in my oven worked just as well, and I got to enjoy the a/c while doing it.

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This recipe and post were created in partnership with Shuman Farms’ Real Sweet Vidalia Onions.

This Three Bean and Vidalia Onion Salad has to be one of my favorite salads to make when we are barbecuing over the summer.  It’s a classic salad that you probably have seen more than once on a salad bar – but homemade is so much better! Wow, can you taste the freshness. I love to add sweet Vidalia onions for extra flavor, especially when they are in season mid-April to early August.

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Click here to Pin this easy Roasted Asparagus recipe!

You know it’s spring when you see bunches of asparagus popping up everywhere at the grocery store. After a long season of winter squashes and sweet potatoes (with all due respect), it’s one of my favorite sights to see in the produce section. I always associate asparagus as an Easter side dish, and rightfully so since growing up that was the one vegetable I always made sure was being served for Easter lunch. I don’t really remember it being an everyday veggie for our family, but instead one I looked forward to for our holiday meal.

Nowadays asparagus is everywhere. I like to make it like this, simply roasted in the oven with a little olive oil, coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. It’s also delicious sprinkled with a breadcrumb and Parmesan mixture right at the end of it’s cook time. (more…)

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If there is one thing I’m learning it’s that I will always thank myself on Tuesday night for cooking up a batch of brown rice Sunday. Food prep like cooking grains, baked potatoes and even shredded chicken in the slow cooker ALWAYS saves me during the school week.

When I find myself unsure of what I want to make for dinner (not to mention, short on time), it’s always incredibly helpful to have a few staples already cooked up and waiting in the fridge. Brown rice is one of those staples and helps to make this super quick and easy Vegetable Fried Brown Rice possible even on the busiest of nights.

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With Thanksgiving this week, I wanted to share with you some of my go-to vegetable side dishes – these Roasted Green Beans with Almonds is one of them. I have been making this dish for as long as I have been contributing to our family’s Thanksgiving meal. It’s a great, fresh alternative to green bean casserole, if you are looking for something lighter to add to the table.

How do you cook green beans with almonds?

I like to roast my green beans in a 425 degree oven with a little sliced onion or shallot then toss with lemon zest and almonds. You can use sliced almonds or slivered almonds. I typically use sliced almonds but change it up every now and then depending on what I have. This time I used slivered almonds. I like to add my almonds to the green beans and have them toast up in the oven while the green beans are still cooking but you could also pan toast the almonds and use them as a topping for the green beans when they are done cooking.

These green beans are so easy to oven roast, but if you wanted to, you could easily steam them ahead of time and toss with same lemon zest and almond mixture in a skillet to save room in the oven. Don’t forget to squeeze some lemon over the green beans and season well with salt and pepper before serving! The lemon adds even more fresh flavor to the vegetables.

Side dishes for Thanksgiving

These roasted green beans with almonds and lemon round out our Thanksgiving table well. I am a big fan of side dishes on Thanksgiving and my plate is always filled to the rim with all the veggies, stuffing and cranberry sauce. My family’s traditional stuffing is this Italian Stuffing and I always make this fresh Apple-Orange Cranberry sauce every year.

If you need some last minute Thanksgiving side dish inspiration check out this post with 50 Thanksgiving Sides – you will definitely be hungry after browsing through all those recipes!

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Roasted Green Beans with Almonds

• Author: Aggies Kitchen
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Oven

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Roasted Green Beans with Almonds is a simple side dish that is perfect for holiday entertaining or to serve alongside your favorite weeknight meal.

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Ingredients

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest
• lemon juice, from half lemon

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Toss the green beans in a large baking dish with the oil and sliced onion and season well with salt and pepper.
3. Roast until just cooked through and slightly browned, about 15 to 18 minutes. Combine the almonds and zest in a small bowl. Sprinkle zest and almonds over green beans and toss. Roast for another 3-5 minutes, careful not to let almonds brown too much.
4. Transfer green beans to a platter and squeeze juice from half lemon over green beans. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

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Click here to pin this Italian Stuffing recipe!

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This recipe was inspired by one I found in Everyday Food Magazine – does anyone remember that magazine? It was always one of my favorites, and I’m so happy I chose to save a huge stash of them. I was just looking through them the other day and I can’t tell you how many pages I dog-eared with recipes that I want to make. Their recipes are always simple and straight forward, which is definitely my style of cooking.

I originally made this Mini Honey Mustard Meatloaf recipe in June of 2008 when I first started blogging. Here’s the picture I took of dinner that night:

You have no idea how it feels to look back almost 9 years to one of the first recipes I shared on this blog. It’s like I remember exactly the day I made the meal, and served it to my, at the time, 2 children who were only 3 and 1 years old!! It’s crazy. I remember my husband loving this one, and he still does. My kids too – I don’t make a lot of meatloaf, so this was a real treat for them and their response is always a good one. I need to put this back in the rotation more often!

Like I said before, these are simple and straight forward. I used ground chuck in the recipe this time around but I’ve used lean ground beef before as well. Your choice. I tend to pick up ground chuck occasionally when I shop at The Fresh Market for their $2.99 chicken and chuck Tuesdays.

What’s great about this meal is you can use the oven to roast up the potatoes at the same time. My kids adore roasted potatoes so I make them pretty often. This is one of my go-to ways to make them – a little olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Easy peasy.

Round out your plate with a nice green salad and you’ve got yourself a nice home cooked meal. Comfort food right? The best part for me is the portion controlled meatloaf. It’s the perfect amount and although it’s not the leanest of meats, I know I’m not eating more than I should. If you are concerned about your fat intake, then definitely switch to lean ground beef.

Need more ground beef recipe ideas? Take a look at this Ground Beef Stroganoff and this Instant Pot Low-Carb Soup with Ground Beef.

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Mini Honey Mustard Meatloaf with Roasted Potatoes

• Author: Aggies Kitchen
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Dinner
• Cuisine: American

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Mini Meatloaf recipe topped with homemade honey mustard and cheddar cheese. Portion controlled and cute for kids! Serve with roasted red potatoes and salad and you’ve got yourself dinner!

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Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil or cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons mustard
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1.5 pounds ground beef chuck or lean ground beef
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1 cup shredded white cheddar (about 4 ounces)
• 1.5 lbs baby red potatoes, quartered
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Set oven racks in top and bottom thirds of oven. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with oil or spray with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, mix together mustard, ketchup and honey.
3. In a medium bowl, combine beef, eggs, panko, garlic powder, 1/2 mustard mixture, 1/2 cup cheddar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper. Form into six 2-by-4-inch loaves; place on baking sheet. Brush with remaining mustard mixture and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar.
4. On another baking, toss cut potatoes with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
5. Transfer meatloaves to top rack in oven and potatoes to bottom rack. Bake until loaves are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating baking sheets after first 10 minutes. Remove meatloaves from oven and continue to cook potatoes for another 10 minutes, until browned and crisp. Serve with oven roasted potatoes and salad.

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Notes

Nutrition info is based on using lean ground beef.

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Like this easy Corn and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno recipe? Pin the recipe here!

This recipe for easy Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers was originally posted on July 5, 2011. Since then, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this recipe for get-togethers. My friend Heidi always serves them as an appetizer for parties at her house and just told me she likes to bring them to friends’ houses as well – that’s a true compliment and testament to how good they are! She also has told me she freezes them, so they are freezer friendly!

I wanted to share this recipe for these baked stuffed jalapenos with you again since it’s been so long, and since football season is right around the corner and you’ll be looking for easy appetizer recipes to make for game days. Check out the instructional video on how to make this simple stuffed jalapeno recipe below.

Enjoy!

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There are two foods my kids are obsessed with right now – potatoes and rice. This is a new thing for us. And it’s keeping things interesting for me because before this obsession I really didn’t cook potatoes and rice regularly. Now I find myself bookmarking recipes like this homemade rice-a-roni from Heather because I just know it will be a hit amongst the fam.

Now if I could get sweet potatoes onto this obsession wagon I would be a very happy cooking mama. Something about the orange is making the kiddos turn away from their plate. If they only knew and remembered how much they loved that weird orange food just a couple of years ago when they ate them all the time.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

There are a million ways you can season and roast potatoes in the oven. This little roasted red potatoes with smoked paprika recipe has become quite popular on Pinterest. I’ve made it plenty of times, as I have already made this dill version a few times in the past month. I like to change up the shape of how I’m cutting them (crinkle cut is fun like in my perfectly baked Italian herb French fries) as well as the combination of spices every time I cook them.

When you are cutting your potatoes make sure you are using a strong, sharp knife (like a chef’s knife or santuko knife). If you’re looking for a crinkle cutter to change up the shape of your fries, there are some great ones out there!

You all loved these grilled bison burgers, and that made me (and my hubby) happy. We think you’ll also love these potato wedges that are perfect alongside any burger you cook up this summer.

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