If you ask me, nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of delicious, cheesy mashed potatoes! This version features the intermingling of tangy buttermilk with sharp, melty cheddar cheese. Leave the skins on the potatoes for extra texture, color, and nutrition. This dish makes a perfect pair with saucy pork chops, roasted chicken, holiday turkey, or juicy pot roast.

Buttermilk-Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

5-6 medium red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1/2-3/4 cup buttermilk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, diced or shredded

Place potatoes in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Salt the water, if desired. Place on the stove and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes for about 20-30 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain the water and return the potatoes to the pot. Over low heat, add the butter and mash the potatoes with a masher or ricer. We like to leave ours a little lumpy for texture. Gradually add and stir in the buttermilk, until the potatoes reach your desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Last, add the cheddar cheese and allow it to melt before serving.

This is an easy, reasonably healthy, and absolutely delicious side dish that my husband and I love to add to our dinners.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2-3 medium sweet potatoes, washed
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Slice your sweet potatoes into thick-cut “fries,” roughly 1/2″ thick. Cut as uniformly as possible to ensure even cooking. Toss the potato slices with the olive oil, salt, and pepper until completely and evenly coated.

Spread the slices in an even single layer across a large baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, tossing the fries occasionally to evenly brown them on all sides. Serve plain or with your favorite dipping sauce.

My husband made me dinner tonight, and it was fabulous! This is a perfectly flavorful and light pasta dish to add into your rotation. The addition of the lemon to the traditional pesto flavors really adds an extra zing and freshness. And I absolutely love the idea of adding white beans to a light pasta dish for that added flavor and texture (not to mention protein and fiber). The original recipe does not call for chicken, but I loved the combination of the textures of the beans and the chicken in this delicious and zesty dish. If you’re looking for a vegetarian option, simply omit the chicken.

Chicken-Lemon-Basil Pasta
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

10 ounces uncooked linguine
1 19-ounce can white kidney beans or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 of a lemon, zested and juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 grilled or sauteed chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

Cook the pasta following the package directions, adding the beans for the final two minutes. Remove about 1 cup of the cooking liquid and set it aside. Drain the pasta and beans in a colander, cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and add the lemon zest. Cook for one minute and remove from heat.

In the small working bowl of your food processor add the cooked lemon peel, the lemon juice, the basil leaves, and the 2 remaining tablespoons of olive oil. Process until basil leaves are fine and consistency is smooth. Add the reserved cooking liquid, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency for your sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the chicken to the pasta and beans. Toss all with the basil-lemon sauce. Garnish with extra basil, if desired. Makes about 4 servings. Enjoy!

If you ask me, sweet potatoes are hard to improve upon – the simple richness of a sweet potato baked to caramelized perfection is my ideal. That is why I love this simple, old-fashioned recipe for mashed sweet potatoes. It subtly enhances the flavor and texture of the sweet orange flesh without overwhelming the main ingredient with unnecessary embellishments. This dish is pleasingly fluffy and light, and it melts in your mouth like sweet candy.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
adapted from Southern Cooking by Mrs. S. R. Dull

4 medium sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed

Place clean potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender (boiling time will depend on the size of the potato). Carefully peel the hot potatoes and slice cross-wise into 1/2″ slices – this will prevent any stringy parts of the potato from ruining the texture of the dish. Place the potato pieces in a medium bowl and mash with the butter until melted and incorporated. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the salt, milk, egg, and brown sugar. Beat gently with a fork until light. Spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish. (At this point, you can cover and refrigerate the dish for up to 24 hours.) Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes, until piping hot all the way through and edges are beginning to brown.

Note: For a more upscale dish, you could embellish this recipe by mixing brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped pecans and topping the potatoes with this crumbly mixture. But sometimes I just like the simple sweet decadence of the potatoes alone!

I am sad to announce, dear readers, the passing of a much-loved blog that I and many others have enjoyed over the past several years. For unknown reasons, Katie has taken down her food blog, Good Things Catered. In celebration of and appreciation for her contribution to the food blogging community, to our kitchens, and to our imaginations, I am sharing one of my favorite Good Things Catered recipes with you all.

I hope you will enjoy this delicious dip. Katie amped up the flavor of this classic appetizer by roasting the artichokes before adding them in to the creamy, earthy goodness of spinach blended with a variety of cheeses. This is a great recipe to have on hand during the holidays, when guests are dropping by unexpectedly or when we are called on to bring a dish to a neighborhood party. You can even mix these ingredients together up to three days in advance and then warm the dip in the oven just before serving.

Roasted Artichoke and Spinach Dip
from the now deceased blog, Good Things Catered

2 14-ounce cans of premium artichoke hearts (frozen works, too)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
16 ounces baby spinach leaves (frozen works, too)
1 medium onion, minced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (I subbed goat cheese – divine!)
1 1/2 cups assorted cheeses, grated (I used paremsan, cheddar, mozzarella, and romano)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons minced thyme leaves
A pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated (I used a combo of parm and cheddar)

Preheat your  oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.

Toss drained artichokes with one tablespoon of the olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Spread the artichokes out over the baking sheet and roast, stirring occasionally. Until browned at the edges, about 25 minutes. Let the artichoke cool and chop coarsely.

Meanwhile heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Sautée spinach until wilted. Drain thoroughly and remove from the pan.

Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and add the onion. Cook for until softened, about 5 -7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer the onion and garlic to a bowl with spinach.

Stir in the mayonnaise, cream cheese, grated cheeses, lemon juice, thyme, and cayenne and thoroughly combine. Gently fold in the artichokes and season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the mixture to a large baking dish and sprinkle the top with parmesan. (At this stage, you can cover and refrigerate the dip for up to three days if needed.)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake the prepared dip uncovered until hot throughout and top is golden brown, about 20-25 mins. Let cool at least 5 minutes before serving. Served with tortilla chips or sturdy crackers. Enjoy!

Every year, we grow vegetables in our garden over the summer. It feels so good to get out there and dig in the dirt every spring, and it is so rewarding when you are able to make dinner entirely of vegetables picked from your own garden! Recent years have been difficult for our garden, as Georgia underwent a severe drought. Luckily, the drought is over (for now), and this summer has been one of the wettest we have had in many years! What did this mean for our garden? An abundance of veggies!

The first budding tomatoes of the season - May 2010

I grew two cherry tomato plants this year, and they produced like CRAZY! Most of them became ripe at the same time, so I was challenged to find dishes that would use these sweet and juicy tomatoes up at their peak of flavor. We love to eat them as a salad, sliced in half tossed with feta, basil, and balsamic vinegar. But they are also great to cook with. This is a recipe that I have tweaked over the years, originally inspired by Cooking Light. It is also great if you add in some diced and sauteed onions….mmmm!

Cherry Tomato Pine Nut Spaghetti
Inspired by a recipe in an issue of Cooking Light magazine

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
3 cups fresh cherry tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3-4 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and toss together lightly. Toast the mixture for about 2 minutes, until the breadcrumbs turn a light golden brown. Remove the toasted mixture from the pan and set aside.

Return the pan to the stove and heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the cherry tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes, or until the tomatoes turn wrinkly and begin to soften and release some juices.

Add the remaining garlic powder, the sliced garlic, and the Italian seasoning. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for another 1-2 minutes over medium heat; then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and let the mixture simmer while you cook the pasta.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions, and drain. Add the hot spaghetti, the toasted pine nuts, the breadcrumb mixture, the fresh basil, and the feta and parmesan cheeses to the tomato mixture. Toss lightly to combine, and serve immediately.

Dear readers, I was eating some beautiful strawberries the other day. They were sliced into beautiful heart-shaped pieces, and it made me think of my oldest friend, who is awaiting a heart transplant. She and I grew up next door to one another, romping and playing together since we were in diapers. She is just barely 29 years old, and is in need of a new heart. Her life depends on the generosity of some yet-to-be determined individual who decided to become an organ donor.

When we were growing up, our moms would take us to this wonderful breakfast place in Atlanta called the Original House of Pancakes. Our moms’ favorite item on the menu was the famous strawberry waffle. Up until recently when my friend’s mom moved away to be with her as she awaits her transplant, our moms  were still in the pattern of meeting every Thursday morning to eat a strawberry waffle at the OHOP and to share news of our families.

This morning, my husband and I had strawberry waffles for breakfast at home, and I thought of my dear friend, waiting for her new heart.

Have a heart? Then I hope you will consider becoming an organ donor today. The lives of my friend and many others depend on our caring and generosity today.

Click on the heart to learn more about organ donation.

Strawberry Waffles for Two

1 cup strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 waffles, made from your favorite recipe or a mix
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Whipped cream

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and the sugar. Toss gently to combine

Make your waffles so that they will be nice and warm when served.

Sprinkle the waffles with the powdered sugar. Top with a dollop of whipped cream. Spoon over the strawberries and any juice. Serve immediately.

Sometimes I like to consider myself a sophisticated foodie:  a worldly woman with high-class taste in food, wine, and the finer things in life.  Other times, all I want to do is sit down in front of the TV with a big bag of sour cream and onion potato chips and an icy cold Coke.

Well, you might consider this dish a combination of those two sides of me . . . because these colorful, flavorful, and decadent mashed potatoes actually taste like a delicious sour cream and onion potato chip.  The fresh herbs add a punch of flavor, and the sour cream brings a hint of creaminess.  Leaving the skins on your red potatoes puts that perfect colorful touch on this delicious dish.  Enjoy!

Sour Cream and Herb Mashed Potatoes

4-6 medium red potatoes, scrubbed clean
2/3 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons chives, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Place on the stove and bring to a boil; cook until fork-tender, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove the potatoes to a bowl, reserving the liquid in the pot.  Mash potatoes until coarse.  Add the sour cream, chives, and parsley.

Continue to mash until desired consistency is reached, adjusting with the reserved liquid if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Our family strives to put mostly seasonal fruits and veggies on the table.  Not only is it more economical, but veggies that are in season tend to be more nutritious because they don’t have to travel from the other side of the globe before they reach your plate!

Seasonal produce in the spring come as such a refreshing change after the winter.  Asparagus, strawberries, and avocados are such a welcome change!!  Here is a delicious way to prepare asparagus that will tempt even the asparagusphobes in your household.  It also really captures and highlights those fresh-from-the-garden flavors that just sing out “It’s Spring!!!”

Parmesan-Crusted Asparagus

1 large bunch of asparagus, washed and trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the asparagus in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Drizzle on the olive oil and sprinkle over the cheese and the salt ad pepper. Use your hands to toss the ingredients together until the asparagus is completely coated with the oil, cheese, and seasoning.

Bake for 10 minutes and serve immediately.

Here is a delicious, figure-friendly soup that will satisfy and comfort you – without breaking any of those New Year’s resolutions!

Veggie-Noodle Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 13-ounce can of sweet corn, drained and rinsed
3 cups low-sodium vegetable (or chicken) stock
1 cup of bowtie pasta
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot,  heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion, the carrot, and the celery.  Cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes, until they are nice and soft.  Next, add the sweet potato, the corn kernels, and the vegetable stock.  Bring the mixture to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes – or until the sweet potato is tender.

Add the pasta, and return to a boil.  Lower the heat to a simmer for another 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender.  Adjust the seasoning of the soup with salt and pepper and serve immediately.