Oh my gosh, now here is a gorgeous, delicious vegetable side dish that I absolutely adore. This is one of my mom’s recipes, and I think could eat an entire plate of this buttery corn for dinner. She whipped it up for us this weekend and I knew I had to share it with you guys. What makes this corn so special is that it’s got the best of both worlds. It has that wonderful creamy quality of creamed corn, but the corn itself is still crisp and fresh like it’s straight off the cob. Perfection.

Start with six ears of corn.

Shuck the corn by peeling off the outer layers.

And snap off the husk.

Pull any remaining silks off the corn and rinse under cool running water.

In a large bowl, cut the corn from the cob with a sharp knife.

Start in the middle and work your way down.

Then flip over to get the other side.

Check out these knife skills, getting every last kernel of corn!

It was nice to be able to just stand back and photograph this recipe!

Once you’ve cut off all the corn…

Scrap up the cob with spoon to get the milk.

The creamy corn milk is completely worth it.

Here’s what the cob will look like after.

Next, combine three tablespoons of flour…

Two teaspoons of sugar…

1 teaspoon of salt…

And sprinkle in about a quarter of a teaspoon of pepper.

Dump all of this into one and a half cups of water.

And stir with a fork or a whisk to combine.

Melt three tablespoons of butter in a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium-low heat.

When the butter is melted, swirl to evenly coat the bottom of the pan.

Add the corn…

Then pour in the flour and water mixture.

Cook this over medium-low heat for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Here’s what it looks like after 45 minutes, a lot of the liquid has been absorbed.

Gorgeous.

This beautiful, buttery, creamy yet crisp corn is such a treat.

Make some. I know you’ll love it!

© kevinandamanda.com, 2011. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

This is one of my all-time favorite side dishes. It’s colorful and sweet and really easy to put together. Some nights I don’t have a whole lot of time to put too much thought into a side dish, so it’s nice to have these vegetables on hand and know I can just throw them together. The colors look great on a plate and the vegetables complement everything from fish, chicken, to steak. Plus.. they’re delicious! :)

Start with equal parts of diced zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, and corn kernels.

You can cut the corn fresh off the cob, or use frozen kernels like I have here. In fact, one of the reasons why I love this recipe so much is because you can use all frozen vegetables. I have so much zucchini in my garden this year, I have been picking it as it gets ready, dicing it, and keeping it in the freezer for when I need it. Same with the bell peppers. And the red onion, I almost never use an entire onion all at once, so I just dice it all at the same time and freeze the leftovers. I use a mandolin and cut-proof glove to dice my vegetables. Makes the task quick and easy. When I get ready to use them, I just pull my ziploc bags out of the freezer and mix everything together. No thawing necessary. Turns out great and it’s so nice to have them on hand!

For two people, I go with a 1/3 cup of each vegetable.

Your choice of color on the bell pepper, btw. I like red because then I have something red, yellow, green and purple on the plate. :)

Add some minced garlic while you’re at it…

Plenty of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper…

And just enough olive oil to coat. Stir gently to mix everything together.

Throw everything in a baking dish- one that’s big enough to arrange the vegetables in mostly a single layer. This is an 8×8 dish here.

Roast the vegetables at 400 degrees for 15-20 mins.

And serve! The sweetness of the corn & bell pepper and the freshness of the red onion really make this side dish shine.

Try it this week with our favorite salmon! ♥

© kevinandamanda.com, 2010. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

This delicious, cheesy, ooey gooey lasagna is so yummy! It may sound weird, but with fresh, summery zucchini, plenty of bacon, three types of cheese, and a little pinch of nutmeg, it’s just bursting with flavor. It’s fun to make and super impressive because you get to toss around phrases like “fontina cheese”, “freshly grated nutmeg” and “Oh, I’m just whipping up a béchamel sauce!”

Give it a try… you won’t be disappointed! :)

What better place to start than with bacon! I’m seriously considering making this my desktop background. You’ll need about 6-8 slices cooked bacon, and here’s how I do it: Arrange bacon slices on a cooling rack (like for cookies) and set on top of sheet pan. If you don’t have a cooling rack, you can just put it in the sheet pan. Or a 9×13 dish. Either will work! :) Place bacon in a cold oven, then turn heat to 400. You don’t have to wait for the oven to preheat, go ahead and set your timer for 16 mins. After 16 mins, flip the bacon and bake for another 16-18 mins, or until done.  Quick. Easy. Painless. Not to mention crunchy & yummy! :)

While the bacon is baking, let’s prepare the zucchini. You’ll need 1 zucchini, or about 2 cups, diced. This summer I planted eight zucchini plants and ended up with more zucchini than any two people could ever possibly eat. So I just pick my zucchini as it’s ready, dice it, and freeze it in ziploc bags. Then when I get ready to use it, it’s all diced up and ready to go. Perfect!

Toss zucchini in olive oil, just enough to coat, add 1-2 cloves minced garlic, and plenty of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. I never used to grind my own pepper until I got this. Love it! Now I never use anything else.

Roast zucchini in an 8×8 baking dish at 400 degrees for 15 mins… You don’t need to spray it, there’s plenty of oil to keep it from sticking. Go ahead and toss it in the oven with your bacon after you flip it if ya want! :)

You’ll also need 3 ounces of shredded fontina cheese. Ooh. I forgot to measure how much that is. I would guess about a cup. I just get the deli to cut off a 3 oz block, then bring it home and shred it.

Now for the good stuff. Once your bacon has cooled, chop into bite sized pieces. Combine bacon, roasted zucchini, fontina cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 egg, and more kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside while you whip up your béchamel sauce… :)

You’ll need just a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg… delicious! :)

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1 tbsp flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup milk. Increase the heat to just above medium. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk a pinch each of salt, pepper, and nutmeg into your béchamel sauce. Perfect!

Pour the béchamel sauce into the bottom an 8×8 dish. I use the same dish I roasted the zucchini in. Top with 2 lasagna noodles.

I like no-boil, oven ready lasagna noodles. Plus these are perfectly sized for 8×8! Nevermind the weird waves. Not sure what that’s all about.

Top with the zucchini mixture…

2 more lasagna noodles…

And 1 cup of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce.

Now for the really good stuff. Top with fresh mozzarella. I use smoked mozzarella when I can find it.. It gives the lasagna a wonderful smoky flavor. But… this time I couldn’t find it. I did find these mozzarella pearls though.

Very cool.

Aww. They’re cute.

Cover with foil bake at 400 for 20 mins.

Uncover, add a little more parmesan cheese on top, then bake for an additional 15 mins.

Until it looks like this.

Just look at those beautiful, crispy, golden brown and delicious bubbles of mozzarella.

*chomp*

If you can resist, let stand 10 mins before serving. It’s beautiful, cheesy, gooey and delicious! Enjoy! :)

© kevinandamanda.com, 2010. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

Don’t you love those roasted carrots and vegetables from a pot roast? When I just need those soft, slowly simmered carrots and not the entire pot roast, I make these. They turn out so sweet they can hardly be called a vegetable. They’re delicious, and they make your whole house smell wonderful.

Here’s what you need…

About 4 carrots per person
3-4 cups of liquid (chicken or beef broth or stock)
rosemary
thyme

These carrots need plenty of time to roast and get soft in the oven, so start your carrots about 1.5 hours before dinner needs to be ready. Preheat the oven to 400 and start washing those carrots!

Now, I don’t peel my carrots. I’m trying to be all rustic like the Pioneer Woman, and she doesn’t peel her carrots. If it’s good enough for Ree, it’s good enough for me!

But if you want to, go right ahead.

After they’re all washed, it’s time to start chopping.

Then throw them in a glass baking dish and cover them with the liquid.

And pour over the carrots until they’re all covered.

Now it’s time to get serious.

Make sure the seasonings are minced fine, and toss in about a handful of each.

Throw ‘em in.

And stir it up. Put this in your 400 degree oven for at least an hour. Mine went for about an hour and fifteen minutes tonight and they were just fine.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!