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Lynsey Lou's

Enjoying Life One Bite at a Time!

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A Taste of the Tropics

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The other night our meal was inspired a little by the tropics.  We had coconut breaded shrimp with a sweet cilantro cream  dipping sauce, cilantro lime rice and steamed asparagus with a hint of lime.  All of those flavors combined remind me of somewhere sunny and warm with sandy beaches; and being somewhere like that sounds so awesome right now!  

We have had a mix of weather here in Arkansas lately, so one week I can be cuddled up with big bowl of steamy soup and the next week soup is one of the last things I want to cook.  Let me tell you, it’s now November and we are still experiencing weather in the upper 70’s!  Crazy Arkansas weather; if you don’t like the weather just stick around and in about five minutes it will be completely different:).  

Enough about the crazy weather patterns, this is a food blog not a weather blog.  To compliment the coconut shrimp I made cilantro lime rice.  It was awesome!  You could taste a hint of all the flavors in the rice but none of them overwhelmed the other.  This was a perfect side item; it was light and fresh and so simple to make.  This meal was my taste of the tropics in mid November when the weather matches the weather in the tropics!  CRAZY!

 

Ingredients:

1 Cup cooked brown rice

1 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoons cilantro, roughly chopped

1 1/2 Tablespoons lime juice

 

Directions:

Combine cooked, warm rice and butter and stir together.  Once butter has coated all the rice stir in the cilantro and lime juice.  Mix together well and serve.

 
Cilantro Lime Rice  
Recipe from: Lynsey Lou

Asparagus with a kick

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After I started the No Name Chicken(the name is still to come) I had to run a few quick errands and I asked Spencer to take care of the asparagus and rice.  I gave him free reign over the asparagus; and I told him he could do whatever he pleased.  The end result was so awesome and it complimented the flavors of the chicken incredibly well.  The spice added to the asparagus was the “kick” we needed to go with our meal.  He did an excellent job; and the texture of the asparagus was perfect!

 

Chipotle Ranch Asparagus:

Ingredients:

Asparagus

Salt and Pepper, to taste

1 1/2 Teaspoons Tupperware Chipotle Ranch seasoning

Olive Oil for drizzling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a small pan with foil, place aspragus in foil.  Drizzle olive oil over asparagus and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chipotle ranch seasoning.  Close foil over asparagus and bake until desired texture.

 A picture of the yummy asparagus Spencer cooked!

 

Recipe by: Lynsey Lou’s hubby!

Fanned Potatoes

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Potatoes are such an easy and versatile vegetable to use for sides with multiple types of food.  I love potatoes and I love trying new recipes using them.  This recipe was so easy and very quick to put together.  You could use pretty much any type seasonings you wanted to to change it up and to make it compliment the taste of the main dish.  For this particular recipe I just used salt, pepper, butter and garlic salt to season; something very simple but it made the end result very good.  This recipe isn’t just your average “baked potato” recipe; the inside of the potato is very soft more along the lines of a baked potato but the outer edges were a little crispy and gave the entire taste just a little something different.  We thoroughly enjoyed these and I’m sure we’ll definitely be having these many more times.

 

Ingredients:

2 Potatoes-medium to large size

2-4 Tablespoons butter

1/2 Small onion, sliced

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Salt-(I use Lowry’s Garlic Salt with herbs)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Thinly slice potatoes, but do not slice all the way through, making the end result look like a fan.  Rub the bottom of an oven safe dish with either part of the butter for spray with cooking oil.  Place potatoes in dish; season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt.  Spread onion slices over potatoes and dish and then set butter slices on top of potatoes.  Place in oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until tender in middle.

 

Recipe Source: adapted from Recipe Zaar

Parsley Fried Squash

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Being from the south I can’t help but be a true southern girl.  I definitely integrate some southern flare in a lot of my dishes.  Southern style food, as we all know, is known for having a lot of fried style dishes and squash is not exception.
I have grown up on squash in various forms.  It is one of my favorite veggies; I love it fried, boiled, on salads…pretty much in any form.  We had gotten some fresh squash from my hubby’s dad’s garden and so I decided I would fry this batch up.  Instead of doing the traditional cornmeal and flour I decided to add some herbs to give it a change.  It turned out wonderful and the small addition of herbs made such a difference!

Parsley Fried Squash

Ingredients:
1 Cup milk
1/2 Cup cornmeal
1/2 Cup flour
Salt and Pepper- to taste
1/2-1 Tablespoon parsely
Oil for frying

Directions:

 Preheat oil in medium to large skillet on low-medium heat. 

Clean and thinly slice squash.  In medium bowl combine flour, cornmeal, parsley, salt and pepper.  In separate bowl pour milk.  Dip squash in milk, toss in flour mixture and then place in frying pan. 

Fry until both sides are golden brown.
Remove from oil, place on plate covered with a paper towel.

Recipe Source: A Lynsey Original

Cheese-Garlic Biscuits

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Cheese is a main staple in our house.  We make so many things that includes cheese and we’re always looking for new recipes including cheese.  I have made these before it was just a long long time ago.  It is one of those recipes that we LOVED but it just kind of slipped through the cracks and I didn’t really ever think of making them.
We were having a surf-n-turf meal at our house and when I was putting the menu together I wanted to make a bread but something other than garlic bread or regular biscuits.  DH and one of the other guys that was coming over LOVES the garlic cheese biscuits from Red Lobster so I knew that was a no fail recipe for this group.  I looked around the internet for a little bit and came across quite a few recipes and decided on this one since it was quick and easy.  I did find some others that I want to try that are a “from scratch” recipe but I just didn’t have the time to do that with everything else I had to get together.
These biscuits were awesome.  They are so simple and easy to throw together; especially when you need a quick bread side.

Cheese-Garlic Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 Cups Bisquick mix
2/3 Cup milk
3/4-1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 Cup butter, melted
1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Mix baking mix, milk and cheese until soft dough forms; beat vigorously for 30 seconds. (If too dry add a little more milk) Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Mix butter and garlic powder; brush over warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.  Serve warm.

Recipe Source: adapted from www.cs.cmu.edu

Broiled Parsely Tomatoes

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These tomatoes were pretty easy and very quick to throw togehter.  I was looking for a side that would go well with chicken I was cooking and the chicken had somewhat of some pizza toppings on it; so I thought what better to go with pizza flavors than tomatoes.  I saw this recipe in The Taste of Home Cookbook and thought it would do the job perfectly.

Broiled Parsely Tomatoes

Ingredients:

4 Large plum tomatoes, halved

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 Teaspoons minced fresh parsely

1/4 Teaspoon salt

1/4 Teaspoon pepper

Directions:

With a knife, make deep cuts in the cut surface of each tomato.  Place tomatoes cut side up on a greased baking sheet.

In a small bowl, combine all of the remaining ingredients; spoon over tomatoes.  Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 3-4 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.

***I also added some parmesan cheese. 

Recipe Source: Taste of Home Cookbook

Green Beans with Stewed Tomatoes

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Green beans are a common side dish for us.  They are so easy, quick, and very versatile.  I’m always trying new things to change up the taste of our green bean sides.  So in an attempt to try to change things up I decided to combine two flavors I love to make this dish; green beans and tomatoes.  The flavors of the two vegetables complimented each other well and the sweetness of the sauteed onion paired with it nicely.   Although there is not a lot to this recipe it was really good and different that what we’ve had before. 

 

Green Beans with Stewed Tomatoes:

Ingredients:

1 Can green beans, whichever style you prefer (I used french style)

1 Can stewed tomatoes

1 Slice onion

1 Clove garlic, finely chopped

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

 Heat small skillet over medium heat.  Separate rings of onion slice, place in skillet.  Once onions start becoming translucent add garlic and saute for 1-2 more minutes.  Once finished cooking remove from heat.

In microwave safe dish add green beans (drained), stewed tomatoes, onions and garlice from skillet and mix together.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Place in microwave for 5-7 minutes (until heated entirely) and then serve!

 
 
A Lynsey Original

Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt and Garlic Mayonnaise

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I love sweet potatoes but it seems like the only time I have them is Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Lately I’ve been wanting to spice up my side dishes and have some stuff that  is out of the ordinary for us.  The last time I went to the grocery store I bought some sweet potatoes and figured I could try out some new recipes.

I searched sweet potato fries on the food network website and found these by Giada.  Although the fries are nothing out of the ordinary the mayonnaise is fabulous. 

Sweet Potato Fries:

Ingredients:

5 sweeet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 5-inch fries
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the fries on baking sheet lined with foil and toss with olive oil. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

While fries are baking combine the basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.

When the sweet potato fries come out of the oven, sprinkle with the basil salt. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise for dipping.

 

               

Recipe Source: Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network

Baked Asparagus

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Asparagus is one of our favorite vegetables, it seems to make a regular appearance during meal time at our house.  Although I am always looking for new ways to cook it sometimes you just can’t go wrong with preparing it simply.  One of my favorite recipes is so simple and a definite go to for something quick, it is baked asparagus paired with onions and seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil.  Sometimes the best dishes are so easy and the flavor are brought to life by the simplest of seasonings.  I know I always get caught up in trying new and exciting dishes so if you’re like me remind yourself that sometimes the best dishes are simple and lightly seasoned, don’t forget to go back to the basics from time to time! 

 

Baked Asparagus: (for 2)

Ingredients:

12-14 Asparagus spears, prepared

1 slice of onion

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Olive Oil

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 300 F.  Place foil on baking sheet. 

Take slice of onion and separate rings, then place on foil.  After arranging onion place asparagus spears on top, salt and pepper to taste then drizzle with olive oil (to liking). 

Bring foil together and seal.  Place in oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until asparagus is to texture of liking.   

Recipe Source: Lynsey

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