Jan is still on her very soft food diet from her oral surgery. She is having some of the vichyssoise for dinner, but she has been craving something with a bit more bulk. She asked for mashed yams. Last month, I made some that she really liked, but I think I can make them better.
Karl’s Mashed Yams II
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
Adapted from anonymous
Usually when I make Greek lamb I make potatoes. Last Easter, I decided to try a Greek lemon rice pilaf recipe. It was good, but for my sister Karen I thought I could make it better for this Christmas Eve’s dinner.
Karl’s Greek Lemon Pilaf II
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
Yams go very well with ham. They also cook much more quickly than regular potatoes. This makes them perfect for my time-delayed dinner. We are going out to a movie and I need to do the prep before we go, but have everything pulled together quickly after we get back.
Karl’s Mashed Yams
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
I have a hot vegetable for this meal, but Chris will not eat the yams, because of his ketogenic diet. Leafy greens and turnips are within his diet, so I am making a quick salad. I will serve the dressing on the side and he can take as much or little of it as he wishes (it will have a bit of sugar, which is also not on his diet).
Karl’s Mesclun Salad with
Red Raspberry Balsamic Dressing
Filed under Salads, Side Dishes, Starches, Vegan
I usually do my traditional recipes for Thanksgiving. I do not do anything spectacular for the turkey (butter and Bell’s Poultry Seasoning under the skin and apple, lemon and herbs in the cavity) and I have already posted my Thanksgiving stuffing. Chris, my son-in-law, requested my cauliflower au gratin (yes, this is the third time in three weeks—he and Jan really like this dish). Other dishes we made this year were Jan’s Cranberry Cumberland Sauce and Jan’s Pecan Pumpkin Pie (this was just her pumpkin pie topped with pecans). The other dish that Jan requested for this year was mixed roasties.
Karl’s Mixed Roasties
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches, Vegan
I have some diners who do not eat starch or fruit. In converting my Moroccan oxtail tajine to chicken I have had to deconstruct it to make some of my diners happy. I have moved all of the starch and fruit into this side dish. Green lentils take some time to cook while couscous cooks in no time at all. The trick here is to cook the dried fruit and lentils until almost done and then add more cooking liquid for the couscous.
Karl’s Moroccan Quince and Green Lentil Pilaf
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
I need a starch dish to go with my chicken and pears. Noodles did not seem right. Potatoes or rice did not fit the hole in my head either. Since my dish is sort of French influenced, I had considered couscous to make it a bit Algerian. I tried searching for chicken and pear recipes and found several for soups with barley. That was the one that sounded right.
Karl’s Herbed Barley
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches, Vegan
Jan made sweet potato pie recently and she only used two of the three jewel yams she had bought. One small yam is not enough for three people, but I did not want to run out and buy more. What could I do to stretch it into a side dish?
Karl’s Jewel Yam Rice
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
I am making Jamaican Chicken salad tonight. For a Chinese chicken salad I would have crunch noodles as the starch. That doesn’t sound very Caribbean, so I decided on broiled plantains instead.
Karl’s Broiled Plantains
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches, Vegan, Vegetables
I am making barbequed Jamaican chicken this weekend and, with fewer restrictions to my cooking than normal, I can pack my dishes with fruit. Parboiling is a way to speed up the cooking process. Warm half-cooked potatoes absorb more of the marinade and roast in less time. Potatoes burnt on the outside and raw on the inside is not the dining experience that you are looking for.
Note: Unless that is how your mother made them. I had a friend in college and his mother cooked just that way. Of course, he also thought that a frozen submarine sandwich was haute cuisine.
Karl’s Jamaican Lime Potatoes with Green Mango
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
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Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 