The green and the crunch of this broccoli recipe just made the lunch

This was my best-est Thanksgiving holiday find—Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews. It was an easy side for the TG buffet and helped fill that necessary broccoli quota, where we probably all lag behind.

The crunch of the cashews and the tangy sauce made this memorable—a great go-together with turkey and dressing, or with anything.

I prepared it with fresh broccoli, but the recipe provider says frozen could probably be used in a pinch.

Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews

1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/3 cup butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or brown-sugar substitute)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup chopped salted cashews (I used unsalted)

Place the broccoli into a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil; cook for 7 minutes or until broccoli is tender but still crisp. Drain and arrange broccoli on a serving platter. While the broccoli cooks, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Mix in the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, and garlic. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Mix in the cashews; pour sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings. (Source: allrecipes.com)

Lucky the person served Good Luck Greens and Peas with Ham

“Good Luck” is in the name of this recipe; whoever gets a taste of this dish is lucky indeed. Collard greens and black-eyed peas, along with a slice of ham, simmer in a slow cooker for 6 hours. The aromas that emerge from that slow cooker are unbelievable.

At the end of the cooking time, the meal that is produced would be terrific for Thanksgiving week, as a Thanksgiving side, or to freeze a batch for those crazy-busy days that are about to descend on us.

The recipe suggests serving the ham alongside the greens, but I diced it up and stirred it back into the greens and black-eyed peas. Delicious!

Good Luck Greens and Peas with Ham

1 (32-ounce) container vegetable broth

1 (16-ounce) package frozen black-eyed peas, thawed

1 sweet onion, cut into eighths

1/4 cup apple-cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons country-style Dijon mustard

1 (5- to 6-pound) smoked, fully cooked semi-boneless ham (I used a ham steak)

1 (1-pound) package shredded fresh collard greens

Place first 5 ingredients in a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir together brown sugar and mustard; rub mixture over ham. Place ham in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 6 to 7 hours or until ham is tender. Uncover and add collard greens. Cover and cook on high 1 additional hour or until tender. Slice ham and serve with greens mixture. Makes 8 servings. (Source: Southern Living November 2012)

A little light feast in this green-bean dish

I certainly know one recipe that, Lord willing, will be on my Thanksgiving table.

We test-drove Green Beans with Lemon and Garlic last night for dinner. The recipe showed up in my most recent Sam’s Club flyer. The feature was called “The Light Feast” and recommended ways to eat healthy over the holidays without giving up great taste.

Fresh green beans are stir-fried until tender/crisp and then tossed with lemon juice, salt, pepper, maple syrup, and garlic. The toasted nut and lemon-zest topping go on at the end.

Hubby and I agreed: what a great new way to prepare green beans! The toasted nuts give it a Thanksgiving-y twist; the lemon makes it light, and the maple syrup stirred in just does what maple syrup is supposed to do. This recipe’s a keeper!

Green Beans with Lemon and Garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon sea salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons maple syrup (I used sugar-free syrup)

4 cloves garlic, minced

zest of two lemons

1/3 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add green beans and cook until beans are still crisp, about 10 minutes. Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and maple syrup. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with lemon zest and toasted pecans. Serve hot. Makes 6 servings. (Source: SamsClub.com/healthy living)

Festive Spiced Pears a divine idea for Thanksgiving side

Although today’s feature, Spiced Pears, resembles the recipe in Friday’s blog, it’s definitely not the same. This dish was so amazing and was such a great idea for a Thanksgiving side, I just had to include it even though it, at first glance, looks as though it might be a re-run of that marvelous Cranberry Orange Relish from last week.

Spiced Pears was included in my Taste of Home Thanksgiving recipe cards in which I’ve found all sorts of treasures. The description (by recipe contributor Ruby Williams) stated that this was a change of pace from the typical Thanksgiving sides and that it was easy to fix and looked festive on the table.

It consists of six pears, two oranges, and a can of whole berry cranberry sauce. I had a bag of fresh cranberries on hand, however, so I boiled them until they were soft and measured 14 ounces of them in a cup (same amount as in a can of cranberry sauce). So everything in my recipe was fresh.

The sliced, cooked pears taste absolutely wonderful aswirl in the cooked cranberries and oranges. Added spices give the mixture a nice perk-up. Hubby wouldn’t get near these Spiced Pears at first because he thought they contained strawberries, his nemesis, but when I assured him of the contents, he waded in for a bite . . . and then more and more. And our little grandmunchkin, while he was staying with us over the weekend, went nuts over this dish, so if you’re looking for a Thanksgiving dish that will appeal to the kiddos and all other ages as well at your table, look no further!

Spiced Pears

1 (14-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce (or fresh cranberries

cooked to measure 14 ounces)

1/3 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

6 medium pears, peeled and sliced

2 medium navel oranges, peeled and sectioned

In a large saucepan combine the cranberry sauce, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ginger. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in pears and oranges; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until pears are tender.