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My side dish dilema

© Debra Diana Blue

Hello folks! I have a confession to make: I'm in a side dish rut. Because I love rice, I tend to "rice" my kids to death. No wonder they're ordering pizza on both phone lines. So in fairness to them and to break the monotony, I thought i'd search for side dish recipes. Luckily they aren't finicky and will eat vegetables, so I have a wide array of choices for the little darlings now.

My first stop took me to Kellog's rice krispies treats side dish recipes I found recipes for cheddar broccoli corn bake, bean patties with picante and an extensive list of mouth-watering dishes. Also each recipe gives nutrition facts and the percentages of fat, cholesteral, sodium and vitamins. Then I visited the Pillsbury mealtime ideas: side dish recipes site. They have some side dishes that may take a little time to prepare and may need to be prepared in advance but it would be well worth it if you could look forward to something as wonderful sounding as Cashew orange sugar snap peas, or Apricot glazed brussel sprouts. Wouldn't it?

At the Green Giant side dish recipes site I found some dishes that can be done in about 30 minutes or less, for example: Crunchy cheese topped vegetables and Easy italian corn saute. Then I found the the Good Karma Cafe and selected this recipe to drop on you, my gentle readers:

Sweet Potato Bake

2 (18-oz) cans sweet potatoes

1 (17-oz) can apricot halves (and juice from the can)

3 TBS brown sugar

1 TBS cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup raisins

3 TBS dry sherry

1/2 tsp grated orange peel

1. Place drained potatoes in a 9x9-inch glass baking dish.

2. Arrange drained apricots among potato pieces.

3. Take apricot juice and add water to make 1 cup.

4. In saucepan, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and salt. Stir in apricot juice and raisins and stir over medium heat until boiling; stir in sherry and orange peel. Pour over potatoes and apricots.

5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Baste several times during baking to glaze.

SOURCE: Larraine Gorath, Fairmont, MN from "A Cause for Celebration" the 1996 JCPenney Associate Cookbook

But in all fairness to me, the rice lover, I found Indian Harvest. the ultimate bean, rice and grain website...I requested their free catalog. They have varieties of rice and beans that I have never heard of. Red Rice? Black Barley? And they have a pasta section and also rice and bean cooking tips which will be helpful if I'm going to cook red rice.

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