I live on a farm …

Beside myself

You can take that statement, “Beside Myself” in a couple of different ways … perhaps.  But I am actually using it as a play on words.  My focus is on the “side” syllable.  I have shared a couple of main course recipes the past two weeks from those my son and I have worked on together, and today I thought I would share two recent side dishes we have deployed into the family menus.

Unfortunately, these two side dishes are so good that each time we make them up, they are devoured before a camera can be fetched–so I have no photos for you.  They are, however, so delicious that I will describe them to you in detail and you will be able to fill in with your own imagination what I have been unable to capture with my camera.

Before I do that, for my knitting readers I need to give an update regarding the summer blanket knit-along I mentioned last week.  There were plenty of people interested in joining in, so I have posted the first set of instructions here (and if you look at the top of my blog, under the header photo there is a navigation tab “KAL”, that is the one you can click on to go directly to the knit along). Be sure to check in there, and sign up in the Comments for the RSS feed for the KAL to stay connected with the group and receive updates via email.

And just one more thing for my knitter readers and other fiber artists. I have been telling you the last few weeks about the Knitter’s Eye Chart art prints my son and I collaborated on. This past weekend we released our newest art print for fiber lovers … I am calling it Stash Pride. As you can see, it states very clearly, “If You Can Read This You Are Standing Too Close to My Stash.” The inspiration for this one should be obvious to any fiber hoarder lover fanatic addict … well, all of those things that we are.

The Fiber Stash is sort of like a sour dough starter that has gone completed out of control. It begins with a tiny little bubbly internal growth that you hardly notice at first but over time (a short amount of time usually) each bubble (represented by one more ball of yarn or poof of wool) multiplies exponentially until before you know it the Stash has taken on a life of its own and is bursting forth, spilling out of the closet, into the hall, throughout every room in your house, into your purse, your car, your garage, your attic, the lawn, the street … well, you know how it is.

The Stash Pride art print is a way of proclaiming the completely obvious, but also making it clear you are proud of your fiber addiction. We created them in five different color schemes and they are available in my Etsy store or on my website in two sizes:

11″ x 17″ for $19, any three for $49
8″ x 10″ for $10, any three for $26

You can also now get the Knitter’s Eye Charts in the 8″ x 10″ size for $10, three in that size for $26 — in addition to the original 11″ x 17″ size ($19, set of three $49).

Okay, back to being Beside Myself with a couple of scrumptious side dishes.

These are both super simple, nutritious side dishes that will tickle your palette and your appetite in a big way: Sweet Potato Almond Jumble, and Roasted Carrots with Asparagus. We came up with both of these sides in an effort to put more alkaline-based food choices on the table in a life-long quest to provide delicious yet healthy food to family.

The Sweet Potato Almond Jumble is delicious for breakfast, or as a side dish any other time of day. This is a beautiful, jewel toned side because sweet potatoes bake to such a glowing orange color. Little almond chunks and almond dust with maple syrup dripping over them on top of the potatoes provide texture visually and in the mouth.

The Roasted Carrots with Asparagus is a surprising punch of flavor, as roasting brings out the rich flavor potential of the carrots and the roasted asparagus gets a bit crunchy–the two vegetable flavors pair perfectly with each other.

Sweet Potato Almond Jumble

1 to 2 large sweet potatoes or yams
1/4 to 1/3 cup finely chopped roasted or raw, unsalted almonds
a touch of butter or an olive oil based butter alternative
touch of sea salt
maple syrup or raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Wash potatoes thoroughly in cold water. Puncture several times with a fork. Place on the oven rack and bake until tender throughout, about 40 minutes to one hour depending on how large the potatoes are.

Remove potatoes from oven, cut in half and peel immediately. Slice potato halves into a casserole dish, or directly onto serving plates; cut slices into bite-size pieces and arrange in a little pile. Put a dab of butter or alternative on each pile of potatoes. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt (optional). Sprinkle finely chopped almonds evenly on each potato pile. Drizzle about 1 Tbsp maple syrup over each pile, or 1 or 2 tsps raw sugar (to taste).

Each potato makes a good sized serving for two people.

Roasted Carrots with Asparagus

One bunch of carrots
One bunch of asparagus (preferably younger, thin stalked asparagus)
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Wash carrots and asparagus thoroughly. Peel carrots and remove tops and tips. Cut carrots into one-inch long pieces, then slice each piece down the center. Cut asparagus into 2 inch long pieces.

Place carrots and asparagus in a bowl, then pour 1 to 2 Tbsp of olive oil on top. Stir the vegetables together, tossing so that the olive oil evenly coats them. Use enough olive oil so that all of the veggies are coated. Spread them in a glass cassrole dish or on a cookie sheet lined with foil, large enough so that the veggies are in a single layer.

Place in oven and roast for 40 minutes, or until carrots are tender and begin to get a lightly roasted color to them.

Remove from oven and serve as-is, or lightly sprinkled with sea salt.

My family completely loves these new sides we created. As always, I appreciate my son’s collaboration with me on menu plans and recipe development … thank you dear son of mine.

I have to run now, but hope you enjoy the recipes and, if you join the knit-along, that as well!

Have a great day,
~firefly