Tag: side

Cucumber Pasta Salad

This cucumber salad recipe is light and refreshing. By letting the cucumber and onion sit in the vinegar, they get to absorb some of the tartness. However, paired with the pasta and other dressings, you end up with a flavorful and balanced side. It’s also very easy to make and you can easily double or triple it for your next cookout! It even tastes great the next day. I used 1 cup diced cucumbers, 1/4 cup shallots/onion, and 2 cups uncooked rotini.

  1. Dice up 2 small cucumbers, and 2 shallots. Add 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar, stir and set aside.
  2. Bring water in a large sauce pan to a boil. Add 16 oz rotini and cook for 15 minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water.
  3. Add pasta to cucumbers and onion. Add 1 1/4 cup mayo, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, and 2 Tbsp Italian dressing. Stir and serve.
1

Butter Ramen Noodles

This was one of my favorite college foods. Ramens are delicious dry, and are tasty as a soup, but if it’s hot out or you need a quick meal, this is a great choice. I made this as a side for me and my husband, and it’s a great option as a side dish if you also have a family. The salty flavor of the ramen is complimented by the oil, and the oil helps distribute the flavoring evenly through the noodles. If you want, you can add an additional 2 Tbsp of water, if you’d prefer a thinner sauce. But this is a meal ready in minutes!

  1. Boil 2 packets of chicken ramen noodles in water for 5 minutes. Strain your noodles.
  2. Add 1/4 cup coconut oil to the pot, 1 Tbsp butter, and both packets of chicken flavoring from your ramen. Stir the mixture until the butter and oil melt. Return the noodles to the pot and toss until fully and evenly covered. Place in a bowl and enjoy!
0

Macaroni Salad With Tuna

My mom started making this version of macaroni salad when my brother and I were little. We used to only make egg based macaroni salad, but then my mom found a recipe for imitation crab salad, and from there it became a tuna salad since tuna is a lot cheaper than even imitation crab. The tuna gives the macaroni salad a light flavor that is refreshing in the summer. We’ve also added celery to this in the past, especially if you or your family doesn’t like the flavor of onion.

  1. Boil 1 1/2 cup macaroni until al dente. Strain pasta and rinse with cold water.
  2. Transfer into large serving bowl. Add 1 1/2 cup mayo, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 can of strained tuna, and 1/2 cup diced onion. Stir.
  3. Serve right away or refrigerate before serving.
1

Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls are a nice filling side that I love to serve with Italian food. I like placing butter on hot rolls and enjoying them, or having cooled rolls sliced and filled with spaghetti. These dinner rolls are not sweet and are better as a side with a bigger meal rather than a meal by itself. I really enjoyed these rolls and will enjoy them with many meals to come. I have frozen most of them since it is just Josh and I, but if we were traveling more, I would likely be giving them to someone as a gift. I like to make my white bread as a gift, but these will soon join them. It also took me 2 1/2 hours to proof with my yeast starter, and I baked my rolls for 25 minutes, but they didn’t have too much color, just a light browning.

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour, 1 cup starter (1 cup water, 1 cup four, and 1 packet of active yeast), 5 Tbsp melted butter, a pinch of salt, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup milk. Mix until dough cones together.
  2. Divide dough into 16 pieces. Roll into balls and place on a large baking sheet. Let rise for 1-3 hours until doubled in size.
  3. Heat oven to 350 F. Bake for 20-30 minutes until tops are browned and top is firm.
1

Salt Potatoes

Every year growing up we would go to the county fair, our little town would also celebrate it’s founding, and have a day of education and celebrate the river in our town. When I was older, a new local business started coming to these events, and they had salt potatoes. They were delicious and flavorful. My family also had the regular visit from Schwan’s. We bought “baby bakers” from them regularly, because they were also covered with a very similar flavor. Both used small red potatoes for their recipe, but all I usually have is white or russet potatoes, so I make do. I’ve been making these at home for several years, and work great as a side dish for families or parties, since they are so easy to make. Makes 6 side servings.

  1. Heat oven to 400 F.
  2. Dice up 5 medium potatoes into large chunks, about 3-4 cups. Break apart and place in small baking dish.
  3. Cover potatoes with 1/4 cup oil, 3 Tbsp salt, 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder, and 1/2 Tbsp oregano. Mix with your hands.
  4. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Stir before serving.
1

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started