I got a nice two pound bag of broccoli florets on sale today so this is what I did to it. Half the broccoli I blanched and froze and the other half was used for this recipe. I saw someone on TV do a recipe for maple bourbon sweet potato pie so those flavors were on my mind and was the inspiration.

I’ll tell you that this recipe is easier than it sounds because I used Watkins Maple Bourbon Rub. It’s not too sweet and it also is spicy, smoky and salty. Believe me there is not much to it.

Just one tablespoon and only a few other ingredients makes something impressive. My idea of serving size may differ from your idea of serving size. For me this made around 6 side servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1 pound broccoli florets

a palmful of salt to boil water for the broccoli

6 apples peeled, cored, cut into thick slices

1 red onion – peeled, cut in half, sliced very thin on a mandolin

1 Tablespoon Watkins Maple Bourbon Rub (I found mine at Walmart Grocery)

5 Tablespoons of sweet butter cut into thin slices

4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

sea salt – to taste

black pepper – to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

The apples, onions, Watkins Maple Bourbon Rub, butter slices, and apple cider vinegar go on a covered dish or pan in the preheated oven for an hour.

Put a pot of water on the stove to boil. Add a palmful of either kosher salt or sea salt to the boiling water. Add the broccoli florets. Boil only 2 1/2- 3 minutes. Pull them out with a strainer or slotted spoon. Keep to the side.

After an hour the apples and onions will look like this.

Remove half the apple onion mixture and blend it smooth so it can be the base of your broccoli dish. Mix the other half of the apple onion mixture with the broccoli.

Finish with a little bit of fresh grated sea salt and black pepper. You have something delicious that is not too heavy that will go well with a Holiday meal or a roasted chicken or turkey dish.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet potatoes are delicious and sweet already. I hate when people add a lot of sweetener to them like maple syrup, marshmallows, and brown sugar. I love those things but those things are for dessert and not a side dish in my opinion. ANYWAYS- I came up with just plan roasted with oil, salt, and pepper. Then I got the idea that cumin would taste good so I sprinkled some on. Then you have to add coriander…..Then I’m thinking Aleppo (a medium-ish almost mild pepper)….Then I thought I GOTTA use Urfa pepper…..(mildly smokey and raisin-like)…..I tasted it and TANGERINE JUST POPPED to me……So at the end I added tangerine zest and it came out FORKING DELICIOUS! Serving size is always difficult to determine. I don’t know if you want a small taste or a partial plate full……..My best guess is that this can possibly be 8-16 portions so I’ll say 8. I also note that I didn’t weigh my two sweet potatoes…..They were on the larger side so you might end up with a different amount of servings because of sweet potato size.

Ingredients for around 8 servings

2 Large sweet potatoes – cut into wedges (I quartered and cut each quarter in half)

about 1/4 cup – extra virgin olive oil to brush or spray all sides of sweet potatoes

fresh ground sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/2 teaspoon Urfa biber pepper

6 tangerines – just the zest for the recipe to finish the dish – serve the peeled tangerines for dessert.

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray or brush sheet tray(s) with oil.

Place the sweet potato wedges on sheet tray(s)

Lightly spray the sweet potatoes with oil and lightly salt and pepper them.

Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with the remaining spices (cumin, coriander, Aleppo, and Urfa.

Put the sweet potatoes on the middle rack of your preheated 425 degree F oven till done and lightly browned. Timing may indeed differ……Mine took 40 minutes.

Top with tangerine zest and serve.

This was pretty easy to prepare and also happened to come out FORKING DELICIOUS!!! It’s a really GREAT Alternate to adding lots of sweets to sweet potatoes.

This recipe isn’t exactly Yotam Ottolenghi’s but is based on his recipe that he did for crushed butternut squash with walnut salsa topped with roasted pork belly. I happened to have a butternut squash and there are many great chefs with great recipes on the internet but I haven’t found anyone else yet that makes so many incredible vegetable recipes as Multi Award and James Beard Award Wining Chef, Restauranteur, and Cook Book Author Yotam Ottolenghi. So I looked up another butternut squash recipe and this is what I came up with. Oh and by-the-way it came out incredibly delicious as expected. READ THIS>>>>>>YOU NEED A REALLY GOOD VEGETABLE PEELER TO PEEL A BUTTERNUT SQUASH> So don’t get mad at me if you can’t peel your squash. Serving size is always difficult to determine. I don’t know if you want a small side serving or a larger serving. Plus all the squashes out there are different sizes too! The one I made came out to be around 6 servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

One butternut squash – peeled, cut in half longways, seeds and membranes removed

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 Tablespoons white miso

Sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

1 apple – diced (it ok to leave on the skin)

2 + 1/2 ounce walnuts – lightly toasted and lightly crushed

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons yuzu juice (ok to substitute lime juice)

1 Tablespoon mirin

2 teaspoons tarragon

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

Non stick spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray a sheet pan(s) with non stick spray

Get the squash started

The squash has been cut longways in half.

Place the squash in preheated 425 degree F oven for 15 minutes so it’s easier to hasselback. When it’s cool enough to handle use wooden spoons or chopsticks around squash so you don’t cut all the way through.

In a small mixing bowl mix together the olive oil, butter, and miso and brush this on the squash. Lightly sprinkle the squash with sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Put the squash halves in non stick sprays baking sheets and paint on the miso butter. Give it a light sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Cover with non stick sprayed foil. Continue cooking till fork tender…Timeing will differ….depending on oven, freshness and size of squash……This will take another 45-60 minutes.

Make the Apple Walnut Salsa while the squash is cooking.

In a small mixing bowl combine apple, walnuts, vinegar, yuzu or lime juice, mirin, tarragon olive oil, salt and pepper.

When the squash is done. Serve it with the apple and walnut salsa.

ENJOY!!!!

A Special THANKS!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for his FORKING AMAZING Recipe so I could come up with what I got here!

2 pound bags of trimmed and washed green beans were on sale for $1.80 a bag today so they seemed fun to buy. I was thinking Asian Style……that are a little lighter because these aren’t fried. I figured I’d do an easy basic boiled green beans and pour a tasty Asian style sauce other them. So that’s what I did.

Ingredients for around 8 side servings

2 lbs green beans – strings and tips removed

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons hoisin

5 Tablespoons sriracha (preferably Shark Brand)

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup roasted salted peanuts – lightly crushed

3 scallions – root removed, cut on diagonal thin slices

Directions

In a small bowl add the hoisin, sriracha, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and white pepper. Put to the side.

My big pot takes too long to heat up to a boil so I prefer to use my any-day pot to boil the green beans in two batches for three minutes a batch. I did mine at a rolling boil for three minutes a batch and didn’t need an ice batch…..But you can do an ice batch if you want to.

Drain green beans into a large bowl and mix in the sauce. Top with peanuts and then some scallions.

Serve.

ENJOY!!!