Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easy and Quick Side Dishes

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter! I hope you have a wonderful time with your family and/or friends! We got to get together with my husband's extended family and have a pot luck dinner. We had ribs, ham, meatballs, green beans and almonds (my husband made it and it was heavenly. It always is!), jello salad, fruit salad, and rolls. They were all very tasty!! 

Today, I'd like to introduce to you two of the simplest and quickest side dish recipes- my favorite way to prepare asparagus and a new recipe that I came across a while back when I asked you for healthy recipes. If you are trying to get more greens in your diet, try these. They are healthy and also tasty. 

This broccoli recipe comes from "The Cutting Back Kitchen" and the Chinese flavor goes very well with the taste of broccoli. If you don't have a low-sodium soy sauce, I'd reduce the amount of soy sauce to 1 tablespoon so that it's not too salty. I also added a little bit of almonds and it was great!

Chinese Style Broccoli

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
1 (1 1/2 pound) head broccoli, cut into florets (6 cups)
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Directions:
Heat oil in a large wok or high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, garlic, lemon juice, and almonds; continue to stir-fry until broccoli is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

This is my favorite way to serve asparagus. I normally use "Santa Maria" seasoning to season many of my vegetable dishes (You can see and order your products HERE on Susie Q's brand website). The way to prepare this dish is very simple. You will need a bunch of asparagus and break off the tips. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season them with Santa Maria seasoning. If you'd like, you could add a little bit of freshly ground black pepper and roast them in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 8-10 minutes. Simple, eh?


36 comments:

  1. Delicious broccoli.. fabulous side dishes..

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  2. My all time favourite veggie is ASPARAGUS!
    Happy Easter Sook!

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  3. great side dishes love Chinese cooking oh and would I feature you Orzo recipe on an Alaskan seafood company I write for and link to you?

    Rebecca

    rebeccasubbiah at yahoo dot com

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  4. broccoli is one of my favorite side dishes.. looks great..

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  5. I love broccoli! Never tried to cook them with soy sauce and almonds before - it's a nice idea!

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  6. I'm having asparagus! Love it this way! Happy Easter!

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  7. I love both of these and had asparagus! Great side dish recipe! Happy Easter!

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  8. Happy Easter to you and your family!!! I ate this all of the time when I was growing up and loved it!

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  9. Everything looks wonderful @My Fabulous Recipes:)Happy Easter!

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  10. As usual, love your pictures! I've never used almonds in my beef and broccoli before - interesting idea :)

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  11. broccoli is one of my fave veggies!

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  12. My husband and kid love broccoli and have to try this recipe. Looks delicious. Happy Easter!

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  13. those look and sound absolutely delicious! happy easter!

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  14. Always looking for a new way to cook Brocolli. Husband's favorite vegetable. And this looks like it would be good and simple.

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  15. Delicious looking broccoli and happy easter to you dear...
    Deepa
    http://hamareerasoi.blogspot.com/

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  16. We have similar side dish all the time. Hope you had a great weekend.

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  17. great side dishes, love brocoli although rarely cook aspergrous as I end up over cooking them so will give your recipe a try soon. have a nice week

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  18. Simple and yummy dishes, hope u had a great easter..

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  19. Asparagus seems to be popular this time of year. I think I have had some 3 times this week.

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  20. YUMMY! i love broccolli anything, this looks awesome!

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  21. I love these two vegetables and I love them the way you served it.

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  22. love both the side-dishes...i love making dishes w/both of these veggies...

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  23. asparagus season is gone for now. but at least brocoli is always in season!

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  24. Broccoli and asparagus are both my favourite.

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  25. Happy Easter to you! I am definitely going to try the broccoli recipe soon!

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  26. Sook, Happy Easter to you, and these veggie are my favourite too.

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  27. Great sides! I usually steam both of those veggies (easy and fast), but I love your variations!

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  28. Hey,
    Hope you had a great time over the weekend! I love both the side dishes!

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  29. The broccoli and asparagus look terrific Sook! So glad to hear you had a wonderful Easter.

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  30. These look like very tasty side dishes! Broccoli is just the best!

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  31. That is a quick way to cook brocolli. Thks for sharing!

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  32. There's so many ways to use broccoli in recipes--love your idea. I am always looking for new side dish recipes too!

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  33. Can't wait to try your Chinese Style Broccoli! Looks delish! (And I LOVE broccoli!)

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  34. I love the idea of almonds to the broccoli...what a great idea!

    Thanks for featuring my recipe! I am glad you enjoyed it!

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