Better Homes and Gardens Sweet Potato Salad

I have posted a number of potato salad recipe lately that I made a couple weeks back. I tried different varieties to see what stuck out to my family. Most of the recipes I tried were red or white potato based, so I tried one last recipe that used another type of potato. In the June issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine there was a recipe for sweet potato salad that looked out of the ordinary.

The prep for this recipe is a little longer than a lot of other potato salads. The sweet potato are baked for over an hour and then cut into chunks. Additionally, there are a number of vegetables requiring chopping, making the total prep time (with chilling) approximately 3 hours. This would not be a recipe to start right before dinner, but instead would be great to prep that night before a get together. The ingredients used are basic, with nothing that couldn't be found at my local grocery store.

This potato salad has a very distinct sweet taste It would go best with any kind of bbq; with other dishes it might taste too sweet. My two boys liked this recipe, I made it with burgers and next time would make it with pulled pork or bbq chicken. With either of those dishes this salad would fit perfectly and would be great to take to a bbq.

For the recipe go to Better Homes and Gardens Sweet Potato Salad.

Better Homes and Gardens Potato-Cauliflower Salad

During the summer I love eating potato salads as a side dish. My mom used to make potato salads frequently when I was younger, but I have made them only infrequently as an adult. I am most likely to make potato or macaroni salad for a function or picnic, but not as often to eat as a side dish at home. Hoping to remedy this situation, I made a week of potato salad recipes a few weeks back. One of the recipe that caught my attention to try was for potato-cauliflower salad in the June issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

The majority of the time used for this recipe comes from the 1-24 hours of refrigeration required to cool the salad down. The prepping of the vegetables only takes about 5 minutes and the best part of this dish is that the cooking is done in the microwave. This is perfect for hot summer days when using the oven turns the kitchen into a sauna. My local grocery store had multiple varieties of bread sticks and brands of blue cheese available, so the ingredients were very easy to find.

My husband and kids were unsure of this recipe due to the whole red potatoes. After my husband smashed his potatoes and ate the potato salad that way (imagine a cold baked potato), he loved the dish and thought it was some of the best he had ever tried. I would suggest cutting the potato in have, or smashing them on the plate like my husband and boys did. The taste of the potatoes comes through better and makes the whole dish more flavorful. I would use this dish again with the above modification and it would be perfect to bring to a summer get together or picnic.

For the recipe go to Better Homes and Gardens Potato-Cauliflower Salad.

Martha Stewart Living Potatoes, Peas and Mint

I do pretty well getting a main meal on the table every night. What I am still working on improving is my ability to make side dishes in the amount of time I have to make dinner preparations. I have been trying a number of side dishes recently, looking for quick, delicious options. Recently, Martha Stewart Living magazine had a recipe for potatoes, peas and mint that looked great for making a very quick side dish.

This recipe is beyond easy. The main prep is boiling and cooking the potatoes, which are then sliced. No prep is required for the peas and the mint takes minutes to chop. The ingredients are very simple and were easily avaliable at my local grocery store. The total time required for this recipe is around 20 minutes, perfect for a quick weeknight side dish.

I really liked this side dish. The flavor comes from the fresh mint and olive oil, making this dish the perfect side to more flavor packed main dishes. The subledy of flavor is fresh and light and my whole family enjoyed this dish. I would definitely use this dish again, it's a quick, easy, and delicious recipe that tastes great warm or cold.

For the recipe go to Martha Stewart Living Potatoes, Peas and Mint.

 Note: the above photograph show the salad with an eggplant burger. Check for it soon on Frugal in WV.

Taste of Home Roasted Red Potato Salad

I love making side dishes, especially cold ones in the summer. My favorite cold dishes are potato and macaroni salads---just not the ones that come from the grocery store. I tend to run out of time during the week making my main recipe and forget about making a side dish. Lately I have been trying to experiment with trying to make new side dish recipes and a recipe in the April/May issue of Taste of Home magazine for roasted red potato salad looked easy and perfect for a weeknight meal.

The majority of the prep work for this recipe, 35 minutes, is done in the oven. The rest is quick and mostly involves blending ingredients. All the ingredients were easily found in one trip to my local grocery store. I was able to quickly put this recipe together while making turkey burgers without feeling like I was overwhelmed.

I really enjoyed this recipe. It uses a nice combination of canned and fresh ingredients, thereby saving time. I also like the slightly spicy taste provided by the green chilies and the cream cheese makes a nice creamy dressing. My two boys thoroughly enjoyed this recipe and I would make it again, especially on a burger night.

For the recipe go to Taste of Home Roasted Red Potato Salad.