This beet and goat cheese salad has become one of my favorite salads ever! I didn't discover this wonderful combination until just a year or so ago. It truly is a match made in culinary heaven! I serve this with either a homemade honey dijon or a maple dijon vinaigrette. I am sharing the maple dijon vinaigrette recipe today. This salad is not only delicious but it is also beautiful and very festive for Christmas! I hope you will try making this! Here's what you need: 1 lar

This time of year it is all about dinner parties, family gatherings and celebrations. My sweet friend, Judy Hayes asked me if I had a recipe for corn casserole that she could have for the holidays. I sent her this tried and true favorite that I once had in a church cookbook, but now I cannot find it! Anyway, I did a practice run before I sent it to her and I am so glad I did! This is a bit indulgent but a delicious and easy side dish idea! We will get back to lower calorie an

This yellow squash casserole is one of my family's favorite side dishes for those holiday meals. In fact, I have made this each year for Thanksgiving or Christmas for a long long time. If you try it, you'll see why. It is pure comfort food and pretty easy to make. Hope you will try it this year. Here's all you need: 3 cups boiled, drained and mashed yellow squash ( cut up in medium dice first, then boiled) 1 cup sour cream 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 large onion, diced 1 s

This is an easy, colorful and delicious side dish. My recipe for roasted root veggies includes beets,butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and yukon gold potatoes, but you can leave out something you don't like or don't have on hand. You can also add a different root veggie you might want to add, such as a parsnip. Just roast the ones that make you happy! It is a simple and delicious taste of fall! Here's what you need: (Dice all of the following in 1 inch cubes) 1 lb b

These Brussels sprouts are just so good! I make these at least once a week I love them so much! This is so simple, but so delicious! This is a perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving dinner! Flavored with a little dijon mustard and bacon...how can it not be good! I saute these and they cook up fast, and it requires very little ingredients. If you haven't had fresh brussels sprouts cooked this way, it's time to give it a try! Here's all you need: 24-32 oz fresh brussels spro

This is one of my favorites! It is such a simple,but so savory and delicious way to prepare acorn squash. It is a wonderful side dish for Thanksgiving and is always a hit! Here's all you need: 1 acorn squash, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced into 3/4 inch pieces (yes, the peel is edible) 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese 2 T olive oil 1/2 t salt 1/4 t black pepper 1/4 t paprika Preheat oven to 400. Toss the squash slices with the oliv

This was THE best salad I have had in a long time! I grew butternut squash in my garden this year and I love them roasted, sauteed or made into soup. I decided to roast some with some honey crisp apples and make a harvest salad with some feta and pine nuts and golden raisins and it was amazing! I topped it with an easy honey vinaigrette you can whip up in a jiffy. This is a beautiful fall salad that will be a delicious addition to your Thanksgiving meal. I hope you will tr

This salad is one of my all-time favorite holiday side dishes! The broccoli and cauliflower, plenty of cashews and raisins, chunks of Monterey Jack cheese, mandarin oranges and crisp bacon all mixed together with a creamy dressing make this salad worthy of your holiday dinner! It will become one of your favorites too! You can make this up the day before, stick it in the refrigerator and it will be ready and delicious on your big day! Trust me,your guests will love it! Here'

This is a delicious take on the traditional cranberry side dish for Thanksgiving. My Mom makes this every Thanksgiving and it always tastes so delicious, not to mention how beautiful it is and how wonderful it smells! The tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the apples combined with the oats and pecan topping makes this a winning Thanksgiving side! The topping is crunchy and nutty and the fruit cooks perfectly in the oven. The prep for this is really fast and ea

Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Yes, it's that time again when we get to gather with family and friends, to give thanks and to enjoy some delicious holiday foods! While it is the holidays and indulgence is part of that , I have some delicious , simple, and healthier recipes that you can make and add to your holiday feast! Some absolutely delicious sides that you will feel good about eating and serving to your family and friends! Yes! Indulgence made Healthy! Fo

Today I had the pleasure of getting to do Heart Healthy cooking demonstrations at the American Association Heart Walk here in Paducah, Ky. I was asked to help with it through my culinary school at WKCTC. My good culinary buddy, Erica and I served up grilled chicken breasts on brown and wild rice topped with my apple chutney, and it was a hit! We also served up teriyaki shrimp skewers. I think we showed that healthy cooking doesn't have to be boring! I got asked by several

Simple, wholesome, comforting, and delicious! Those are some of the words I use to describe this wonderful bowl of my butternut squash! I love butternut squash and I grow it in my garden most years. It has a similar taste to sweet potato, only milder. It is full of Vitamin A and C and just so delicious! I love to dice it and saute it, mash it like mashed potatoes and I love it made into this creamy soup! Here's all you need: 1 butternut squash, peeled and diced 2 red potat

I have discovered a pizza crust that I have fallen in love with! It's the Cali'flour Foods Caulifower Pizza Crusts! They are gluten free and only 2 (yes 2!) grams of carbs per 1/3 pizza and only 60 calories! I get them at Paducah Meal Prep in Lone Oak. They come in different flavors, and I used the Original Italian and the Sweet Red Pepper for these recipes. I made the classic Margherita and I made an oh-so-scrumptious Mushroom and Pesto pizza. I have included the two ve

Salsa made with in-season, juicy, ripe peaches.....mmm, now that's just peachy! I posted this recipe earlier back in the summer with my Grilled Chicken and Peach Salsa recipe, but I made it again the other day and I thought it was so good, it was worth sharing one more time. You can get fresh peaches right now, so it's a great time to try it! It is really delicious served on grilled chicken or fish. However, I could sit down and eat the entire bowl all by itself! Here's all

Spaghetti squash is such a magical veggie! When it is cooked, it has the consistency of pasta and it is such a wonderful alternative to traditional pasta with all the carbs and starch that you may not want. It is a low-fat, low-carb, low-calorie food that is absolutely wonderful served with your favorite sauce! I am especially excited about this spaghetti squash because I grew it! I made a primavera sauce with tomatoes, zucchini, and basil from my garden too! So this dish

Right now, there are two things I have plenty of in my garden. They are tomatoes and basil. So a wonderfully delicious way to use both is in a caprese salad topped with a homemade pesto. This is traditional basil pesto, but there are many varieties of it and I love trying new recipes for pesto. This traditional pesto is so fresh and yummy, it is good tossed with pasta, served on bread, or chicken or fish. The caprese salad itself is as simple as it can be. It is sliced f

We hear a lot about the Farm to Table Movement and I love it! I love the idea of using fresh, locally grown ingredients in the food I cook for my family. At my house, it gets even closer to home. I call it Backyard To Table! I love going out to my garden and picking fresh vegetables and using them in the dishes I prepare. The summer is full of recipes using homegrown tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumber, peppers, okra, eggplant and beans. I have shared some of those recipes

Happy Birthday America! Hopefully, today you and your family and/or friends will be celebrating Independence Day together. If you are having a get-together, or you are invited to one, you may need some sides to go with the meal. Well, one of my mainstays is good old potato salad. Through the years, I have tweaked my recipe and my potato salad always goes over big! My latest tweak makes it healthier by replacing most of the mayo with plain Greek yogurt and promise you, it is

It is summer in Kentucky and boy do I have lots of zucchini and basil growing in my garden! So what do I make? A yummy dish of zucchini noodles tossed with fresh basil pesto! I bought a spiralizer to create noodles out of the zucchini, but this dish will work with just sliced sauteed zucchini as well. I just make the zucchini noodles ( I used three large zucchini) and saute them in a saute pan with a little olive oil and salt. I drain off the excess liquid when it has the co