Side Dishes

Celebrate Summer’s Occasions with Creamy Greek Pesto Pasta Salad

May 25, 2014 by Kathryn 50 Comments

The food of summertime is one of my favourite things about the season and here in Saskatchewan, we’re enjoying summer weather in full force. While we’ve had plenty of barbequed meals already to celebrate this month’s many special days, there’s so much more to summertime food than just barbeque and for a cool and refreshing meal on a hot day, there’s nothing better than a hearty salad.

Personally, I tend to favour pasta salad recipes since they’re so versatile. I’m actually not overly fond of the traditional pasta salad with ham and cheese that so many seem to love. But a pasta salad loaded with vegetables is a hit with me every time and so this weekend I decided to put a few twists on the Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad recipe on the Kraft What’s Cooking website to create a Greek-style pasta salad perfect for a light summer supper.

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Broccoli Salad Recipe for Sobeys Food Revolution Day #BetterFoodForAll #PotluckChallenge

May 20, 2014 by Kathryn 58 Comments

Friday, May 16, was the third annual Food Revolution Day, an occasion created by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to help teach children about the joy and importance of cooking with real, wholesome ingredients. This year, Sobeys teamed up with Jamie Oliver to host the country’s biggest potluck, the Potluck Challenge, through the Better Food for All website and I was so excited to be a part of it!

The mission was simple. Host a potluck for Food Revolution Day, Tweet and Instagram pictures from the event using the hashtags #PotluckChallenge and #FRD2014 and for each hashtag mention, Sobeys would donate $1 to Children’s Aid Foundation’s Cooking Toward Independence project. This initiative teaches children in the child welfare system how to cook so that when they reach adulthood, they have the skills they need to prepare nutritious meals for themselves. I’ve always taken for granted the cooking skills I learned from my mother when I was younger but since learning about this program, I’m so grateful that I had her in my life. Thanks to Sobeys and Food Revolution Day, now other children will have a chance to develop the same essential skills!

I shared a few tips for hosting a potluck a few weeks ago, and I took advantage of every one of them when Food Revolution Day arrived and it was time for my own potluck. I decided on an outdoor barbeque potluck, so as host I provided burgers and fixings while guests brought salads and desserts. But I couldn’t resist also whipping up one of my favourite potluck recipes, Broccoli Salad! [Read more…]

Get Kids Gobbling Their Veggies with a Little Help from Country Crock and Clare Crespo

April 14, 2012 by Kathryn 4 Comments

This post is sponsored by Country Crock. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

When it comes to veggies, my boys are a little bit picky. Zackary loves raw vegetables but shies away from them as soon as they’re cooked. Benjamin will eat huge amounts of corn and turns his nose up at almost everything else. And I’m left trying to cook a nutritious side dish that both of them will love when dinnertime rolls around!

That’s why I was so excited when I got the chance to test out one of the tasty-looking recipes in the new A Very Veggie World cookbook by celebrity chef Clare Crespo, available free on the Country Crock website! Looking through the beautiful and creative recipe choices kept me entertained for hours, but I finally decided to try the cute Lighting Bolts recipe.

Country Crock Clare Crespo Lightning Bolts

Ingredients:

3 carrots, peeled, trimmed and sliced in half lengthwise

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1 cup corn kernels (cut off a cob or frozen)

3 Tbsp. Country Crock® Spread, melted

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

Preparation:

Cut carrot slices into zigzag shapes to resemble lightning
bolts.

Place 1 or 2 inches of water in a large pot. Place carrots,
cauliflower and corn in steamer basket and place in pot.

Cover and steam for 7-10 minutes until vegetables are
tender. Drain vegetables.

Place carrot pieces on plate. Place cauliflower florets
above carrots so they resemble a cloud. Sprinkle corn
kernels over top to resemble raindrops. Continue with the
rest of the vegetables.

Drizzle Country Crock® Spread on top and sprinkle with
salt and white pepper.

One of the things that I liked about this recipe was that it was quick and easy. I just cut the cauliflower into florets, cut the carrots into lengthwise slices, added some triangular cuts to create “lighting bolts” and then steamed the two vegetables quickly along with a handful of frozen sweet corn.

Once the veggies were steamed to perfection, I just had to arrange them on the plate so that the carrot lightning bolt looked like it was shooting out of the cauliflower storm cloud, with droplets of corn kernel rain providing the finishing touch! A drizzle of melted Country Crock Original and a little salt and pepper and my masterpiece was complete!

country crock lightning bolt image

We spoil ourselves with pizza for supper every Friday and so I added a slice of pepperoni and bacon pizza to each of my boy’s plates as well and presented them with their supper. They both loved the presentation, but Zackary studied the cooked vegetables with a very suspicious look. “I made you this special lighting bolt cloud, so you’d better at least try it!” I told him.

He hesitantly broke off a piece of cooked cauliflower and popped it in his mouth. “I forgot I never tried this before, Mom!” he exclaimed with wide eyes. “It’s good!” And he wasn’t just trying to make me happy either; to my surprise he actually ate the entire thing. I could tell he really enjoyed the buttery taste that the Country Crock gave to the vegetables!

Benjamin, on the other hand, ate every corn kernel raindrop on his plate, sneakily gobbled up most of his brother’s corn as well when Zackary was distracted and then requested more corn afterwards! His cauliflower and carrot were left for me to finish, but if he had a good serving of vegetables with his meal, that’s a win in my book!

zack with his country crock lightning bolt

I can’t wait to try some of the other recipes in the Clare Crespo cookbook. One of the things I love about these recipes is that not only are they delicious, they are also so attractive and fun! I think next time inspiration strikes I’ll be trying the adorable Zucchini Boats; I love the little orange pepper sails! But when baseball season starts, I’ll have to make Out of the Park Baseballs, cute balls of mashed potato garnished with red pepper, for Zackary!

Are you looking for quick and simple tips and recipes to make serving veggies more fun? Download the free Clare Crespo Cookbook here for fun and whimsical recipes your family is sure to love!