Orange-Glazed Sweet Potatoes is a sweet and starchy side dish that will bring something a little bit different to the dinner table. Prior to finding this recipe I had never considered pairing citrus and sweet potatoes, but a quick search of the internet suggests that I’ve been missing out. This particular recipe dates back……
Course: Side Dishes and Salads
Creamed Beans with Dill Seed (Oregon, 2006, adapted)
Creamed Beans with Dill Seed is a simple yet elegant side dish with a unique and alluring flavor profile. The recipe comes to me by way of Recipes of the Heart, a 2006 cookbook from my home congregation. The author is a dear woman who still lives nearby and who I still see regularly. She is……
Mushroom Scalloped Potatoes (adapted from Sunset Cook Book, 1949)
Mushroom Scalloped Potatoes is a dump-and-go potato side dish suitable for Sunday dinner. It’s a labor-saving alternative to more sophisticated sides, and while it lacks the panache of a good pan of scalloped potatoes or funeral potatoes it will still scratch the itch for a creamy, starchy side. The recipe comes to me by way……
Makina No Tsukemono (adapted from Nippon Ryori Syu, 1972)
Makina No Tsukemono is a quick pickled cabbage-and-peppers recipe in a nominally Japanese style. I’ve adapted the recipe from Nippon Ryori Syu, a 1972 cookbook compiled and published by the Intermountain District Council of the Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL). The JACL today bills itself as “the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American/Pacific Islander civil……
Soup Bagdad (adapted from Smart Shopper’s Cookbook, 1972)
Soup Bagdad is a warm and rich lentil-and-lamb soup punched up with a heavy hand of fresh herbs. Despite the long simmer time this is still a tractable weeknight meal, and requires very little chopping or active time. It’s also plenty hearty for a weekend meal. This recipe comes to me by way of Smart……
Oktoberfest Potato Pancakes (adapted from Beta Sigma Phi International Cookbook, 1956)
Despite not having a lick of German heritage, the German language is spoken frequently in our house. My spouse and I both learned German in high school, and my daughter has two years of college German under her belt. None of us are anywhere near fluent but we’re fairly competent, enough for a week abroad……
Macaroni with Yogurt Sauce (California, 1990s, adapted)
I’ve been cooking long enough that I can figure out what a recipe’s going to taste like just from reading the ingredient list. There’s not a lot new under the sun, and the community cookbooks that I frequently cook from aren’t exactly known for their innovative cuisine. There’s an awful lot of repetition, even within……
Chicken Pistachio Pasta Salad (California, 2006, adapted)
Chicken Pistachio Pasta Salad is a hearty entrée salad perfect for a warm summer evening. This recipe comes to me by way of a community cookbook from the Mother Teresa Maternity Home in Placerville, CA, which serves as both a women’s shelter and a temporary home for pregnant women. Unlike most community cookbooks, this one……
40 Carrots (Nebraska, 1987, adapted)
I’m a little bit embarrassed to publish this. 40 Carrots isn’t much of a recipe, and the end result isn’t really worth eating. Spoiler alert: it’s cooked carrots and Cheez Whiz. It tastes exactly like you’d imagine. My kids weren’t impressed. I won’t be making this one again. Why did I choose to make it……
Funeral Potatoes (California, 1997, adapted)
Funeral potatoes are an almost meme-worthy dish these days, one of the few mid-century canned-soup-and-cream casseroles that’s still aligned with the twenty-first century palate. I’ve never been to a funeral with refreshments, much less a full meal. The dreary name presumably stems from a custom of serving them at a post-service family meal, or perhaps……