When I worked at a doctors office, we used to get lunch catered a lot. There was this one company, Lettuce Eat, that was awesome, she always had delicious salads and desserts but my absolute favorite thing she made was green beans! Of course I never got the recipe but ever since having her's, I've been on a mission to replicate them.

On my quest for the perfect tender-crisp green bean, I've steamed, baked, roasted and fried. Through trial and many, many error I found roasting the best, not to mention it only takes 15 minutes! 

So to get started, I rinsed and cut the tips off all my beans, I only used about 1/2 lb

To make my life easier, I put my beans on a foil lined tray

Drizzled a little oil, salt and pepper over them

Then stuck them in the oven @ 425 for 15 minutes, shaking them around halfway through

For me, these were the perfect combination of soft and crunchy. But of course, you can roast them longer or shorter based on your preference

As you may be able to tell, I ate quite a few before taking the photo because they were amazing straight out of the oven! But I stuck to my plan and the Parmesan just set it off! And voila, my copycat original recipe was born

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

Serves 2

1 lb fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed

2 T Parmesan cheese

1-2 T vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 and line a cookie sheet or tray with aluminum foil

2. Place green beans in one single layer on tray and drizzle with oil

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix up to coat all beans evenly

4. Roast beans in oven for 15 minutes, shaking tray to roll beans over halfway through

food green beans healthy Parmesan sides vegetable

9:11 PM

This recipe was inspired by the upcoming start of football season because what's a game without something hot and salty to snack on?

This is a super simple recipe with only a handful of ingredients and a short cook time. So to get started you need some baked potatoes, about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cheese, some bacon bits, sour cream and green onions. Because I had some open, I used nacho cheese in this recipe but shredded cheese works just as well

Just like my stuffed potatoes recipe, bake (or microwave) your potatoes, cut them in half and scoop out the insides leaving a thin layer inside so they hold their shape

Pour (or sprinkle) your cheese evenly into each half

Sprinkle your bacon over the cheese and stick them in the oven until the edges of the potatoes start to brown and the cheese is hot all the way through

Once they're done top with sour cream and chopped onions and enjoy!

I paired my skins with wings and steamed broccoli to add some greenery to my plate but they're great alone too! With this recipe you're sure to be ready for some football!! WHODAT! ;)

Potato Skins

Serves 2

3 potatoes, baked

3-4 strips of bacon, chopped 

1/2-2/3 cup cheese

Sour cream

Green onion, chopped

Directions 

1. Set oven to broil - hi. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out insides, leaving a thin layer

2. Pour cheese into potato halves and sprinkle with bacon.

3. Place in lower half of oven and broil until potato edged brown and cheese is heated through

4. Top with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with green onions

bacon cheap cheese easy fast Featured food football Potato skins potatoes recipe sides

3:04 PM

Feast in 5 minutes!

I haven't done a post on just a side and technically this could be a main dish but for the purpose of this post it'll be a side only =)!

Like most of the recipes I make this one is one of those "whatever I had on hand" type deals so this actual batch was a two bean, one pea salad. I normally use garbanzo beans, black beans and edamames but you can use whatever your favorite beans are. This time I only had garbanzo and black beans in the cabine so I used one can of each, drained and rinsed

The veggies are also, of course, interchangeable as well. I tend to stick with sweet peppers, cucumbers and broccoli but I didn't have any broccoli in the fridge so I substituted it with some of my own home grown sugar snap peas, fresh from my garden!! 

As far as measurements, I used about 15-16 peas that I broke into pieces, roughly half a cucumber and 5 mini sweet peppers

Next I added my "secret ingredient", about 1/2 a pack of dry buttermilk ranch dressing (you can use more or less for taste) and enough apple cider vinegar to get everything covered a bit

Then mix everything up and eat! You can eat this room temp or cold, but the longer it sits in the fridge the better the flavor! Also if you like it a bit creamier you can add mayo with the seasoning and vinegar, I usually only add mayo when I'm making pasta salad but do what you like best. I also went back and added some cilantro because I had a bunch in the fridge, you can toss just about anything in this salad and it'd be awesome! 

Try it as a main dish with a baked potato for a meatless Monday dinner, or serve it as a healthy side with burgers! 

black beans chickpeas easy edamame fast food garbanzo beans healthy salad sides veggie

2:18 PM