gimme five, on the side...

Alright, more like 3 on the side.

You know, there actually has been quite a bit of cooking going on, and several items I make that are
good haven't made it into the blog.  Right now I'm going to share a few recipes for side dishes that
were easy, tasty, and overall enjoyable.

RECIPE 1:
PASTA SIDE SALAD (made over!)
This is from Kraft Canada, this is great pasta salad.  If you've ever seen the Simpson's episode where
Homer is having a BBQ and Lisa is a new vegetarian and she suggested veggies to eat and Homer and
Bart sing "you don't make friends with sal-ad! you don't make friends with sal-ad!" well, you WILL
make friends with THIS salad.  I guarantee it.  I have :) LOL.  It's a salad you can use what you
want for pasta (small is best, like mini penne, shells, ditali) and veg, I've done corn, celery,
green pep, blanched broccoli, whatever.

Original Recipe here:http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/pasta-side-salad-makeover-92145.aspx

Goes great with pork chops and
grilled veg

What I did:
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup elbow macaroni, uncooked
1/3 cup Miracle Whip Calorie-Wise Dressing
2T cup Kraft Calorie-Wise Zesty Italian Dressing, 2T roasted red pepper Parmesan dressing
80 g of old cheddar, cut in tiny little squares
3/4 cup matchstick-cut carrots (julienne)
1/2 cup chopped fresh snow peas
1/2 cup of julienne celery
1/2 medium red pepper fine chopped
2T of cilantro finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste.

METHOD
- COOK macaroni as directed on package; drain. Rinse with cold water a few times and drain very
thoroughly.
- MIX dressings in large bowl with cilantro and fresh herbs of choice. Add cheese, veg, and mac and mix gently until well combined
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to 24 hrs before serving (I'd recommend a few hours)



RECIPE 2
BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP (low fat too!)
I happened upon processed cheddar cheese, I thought it was real! Silani brand was on sale at a
discount grocery chain and I bought 'mild cheddar' but it was 'american' style cheese (they can take
that name, thanks) kind of like Velveeta right?
Adam's mom got me a great cookbook a few years ago 'cooking light' - it's a big binder based one that
has great recipes, basically reduced calorie favourites without compromising taste.

Original Recipe here:http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/broccoli-cheese-soup-10000000231619/

goes great with corn muffins (recipe below)

What I did
(i made half and changed method slightly) makes 4 side dishes:

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 cups chicken broth
8 oz of fresh (small pieces) broccoli florets and peeled stems
1.5 c skim milk
3T cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces (120g) of melty fake cheese like Velveeta

METHOD- Heat a medium saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic; saute 3-5 minutes or until tender.
- Add broth and broccoli. Bring broccoli mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to
medium; cook 10 minutes. Take out about half the broccoli/veg and reserve in bowl
- Combine milk and flour separately, whisking until blended. Add milk mixture to hot broccoli mixture.
- Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in pepper. Remove from heat; add
cheese, stirring until cheese melts.
- Puree mixture in blender in batches or use immersion blender and process until smoothish with some
chunks, add the reserved broccoli back in.   Serve hot! (But honestly, the cold leftovers are awesome)



RECIPE 3
CORN BREAD MUFFINS
I like things in muffin form, any kind of quick bread in muffin form is awesome. I've never actually
made cornbread, but I'll make it again.  I followed the original except I omitted most sugar and
added a 1/4C of habenero peppers for color (they're dark green, not that spicy).  Turned out really
well, great with butter.  can't wait til corn on the cob is in season locally to make this again!

Original Recipe here:http://www.canadianliving.com/food/country_corn_bread_with_real_corn.php

What I did:
I halved the recipe and made muffins and used oil instead of butter, the recipe made 6.  Great accompaniment to BBQ chicken!!!!


peppers add colour and texture, a sweet version
has more sugar (omit peppers!)



INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1T granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
2T cooking oil
1/2 cup corn kernels - thawed from frozen
1/4C fine diced habenero peppers (use a jalapeno for kick! or green or red bell for colour)



METHOD
- In large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In smaller bowl, beat eggs blend in buttermilk and oil. Pour over dry ingredients.
- Sprinkle with corn kernels and stir together just until evenly moistened.
- Transfer mix into 6 greased standard muffin cups about 2/3 full
- Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes until a good peak rise happens on the muffins and a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from tin after about 5 minutes and cool on wire racks.