Instant Pot white rice takes only three minutes to cook. I have a rice cooker that I have had for years and years and I just love it. I never thought I would ever stop using it…until I tried making rice in the Instant Pot. Game changer, folks. Game changer. My pot takes about 10 minutes to come to pressure and I let the rice natural release for 10 minutes for fluffy perfection. So, total, I’d say about 25 minutes of hands-off cooking time for perfect rice.
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Oven roasted sweet potatoes are a healthy, simple to make side dish and are also great for meal prep. Simply toss the sweet potatoes with a bit of coconut oil, salt, and pepper and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Super easy and super tasty!
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Oh, Instant Pot…how I love thee… It’s true. Remember the days of baking your spaghetti squash in the oven? Those days are OVER! The speed and ease of cooking, combined with the ease of clean-up is a dramatic improvement in my life. I know that sounds crazy but it’s true. Instant Pot spaghetti squash is my new go-to for a low carb pasta fix. It’s also an easy make-ahead or meal prep.
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Oven roasted red potatoes are a delicious addition to any dinner. I will often make extra and then use the leftovers to mix in with some scrambled eggs for a nice egg and potato breakfast. Lately they’ve been a favorite side when serving fish. The kids eat them up. I like to really crisp them in the oven with some olive oil and garlic salt so in a way, they are a bit like French fries. Only healthier. The key to the crispiness is to make sure the potatoes are not crowded on the cookie sheet and that they are well-covered in the seasoning.
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Pesto pasta salad is a fresh take and nice change from regular macaroni salad. It’s easy to make ahead and is perfect as a side dish to grilled meats and would also be great to take to a picnic or potluck. You can also have it as a main meal if you add some protein like grilled chicken, steak, or shrimp.
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This broccoli pasta salad is the perfect salad to make a side for BBQ or to take to a picnic or potluck. It’s super easy to make and it’s definitely best as a make ahead dish. The broccoli, pasta, and veggies come together with some ranch dressing. Using different color peppers and blanching the broccoli make the salad vibrant, beautiful, and super tasty.
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Have you ever tried roasting broccoli? I tried it the other night and added a little garlic and Parmesan cheese and oh my, was it fabulous. It’s so incredibly easy and the clean-up is a cinch if you line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
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BBQ season is upon us! Nothing goes better with some BBQ than coleslaw! It’s easy to make and it tastes best if you make it a day in advance. When you mix together everything in this recipe, it becomes more flavorful if you refrigerate it at least 4 hours and tastes even better if marinating overnight. The cabbage needs time to “bleed” some liquid out and an soak up the flavor of the salad dressing. When you first mix the coleslaw ingredients, it seems heavy on the mayo and not very flavorful. But after a few hours, things start to marinate together, the flavors marry, and there’s a cool crispiness to each bite. A perfect balance to whatever hot food you cook on the grill. This recipe uses half a head of cabbage. That feeds about 4 people. If you want to use the whole head of cabbage, just double the amount of ingredients.
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It’s that time of year when my garden starts overflowing with produce and I’ve got to get creative with how to enjoy it all. The tomatoes and cilantro and growing like crazy! Throw in a bit of red onion and some limes from my lime tree and what to you get? Pico de gallo! I’m not one for having things too spicy and often salsa is too hot. So pico de gallo is a perfect flavor combination. It’s cool and refreshing and perfect to dip some salty tortilla chips in or add as a topping to a casserole. You can make as much or as little as you need. My rule of thumb when tossing this together is to have equal parts tomato and cilantro with slightly less red onion.
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Green bean almondine is an easy side dish that comes together in just ten minutes. The key is to use fresh green beans. The beans should be firm and crispy. A good test is to bend them. If they snap in half, they are fresh. If they keep bending and seem a little wilty after you mess with them, they’ve been sitting in the store for a while. For the almonds, you can slice them yourself or buy the already sliced ones. If I don’t have some pre-sliced ones leftover from something, I’ll slice them myself. However, I lack skills in this department and I always end up with more of a chopped and not sliced version. You can usually buy the already sliced ones in the bulk areas of grocery stores and natural food markets.
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