A Grateful Meal

Side dish

Air Fryer Carrots with Parmesan and Dill

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These Air Fryer Carrots are deliciously caramelized and rubbed with a parmesan-dill rub for a bold and sweet flavor that makes the perfect easy side dish. 

Using an Air Fryer

I hear everyone ask if an air fryer is worth the cost. It’s no secret that I love my air fryer, which is a countertop convection oven, and allows hot air to circulate rapidly. The hot circulating air makes food crispy and cooks very quickly, without the mess and fuss of deep fat frying. I highly recommend buying an air fryer. 

A close up of caramelized air fryer carrots on a plate topped with dill and parmesan

Air Fryer Carrots Ingredients

You’ll need:

  • Carrots: You’ll need to peel and cut the carrots in half or to a size that will allow the carrots to cook in an even layer in the air fryer. 
  • Olive oil: Using a small amount of oil will allow the carrots to crisp nicely in the air fryer. 
  • Parmesan cheese: Who doesn’t like parmesan cheese? I recommend using freshly grated parmesan cheese for maximum flavor. You can also use pecorino cheese instead. I have used both, and they both give lots of flavor. Pecorino cheese is a little bolder and saltier than parmesan cheese, so consider omitting or decreasing the salt as not to make the carrots too salty if you use the pecorino cheese. I like to grate a little extra on top when the carrots are done. 
  • Seasonings: One of my favorite blend of seasonings is dill, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne. I’ve used it on so many roasted or air fried vegetables. I recently told a friend about this combo, and now she’s obsessed with it too!

How to Make the Carrots

Really it comes down to just 3 simple steps. 

  1. Toss the carrots in the seasoning.
  2. Air fry and toss halfway through to evenly cook. It’s important to do this with most air fryer recipes to ensure even cooking. 
  3. Serve and enjoy immediately.

Okay, that was really just two steps, but you get my point – it’s an EASY, no-fuss side dish. These Air Fryer Carrots really will go with just about anything. 

Caramelized air fryer carrots on a plate topped with dill and parmesan

More Air Fryer Recipes

If you’re looking for more air fryer recipes, you might want to check these ones out as well:

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Air Fryer Carrots with Parmesan and Dill

Caramelized air fryer carrots laid out on aplate topped with dill and parmesan
  • Author: admin
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. of carrots, peeled and cut in half or cut to fit your air fryer
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
  • 1 1/2 tsp. dried dill
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. cayenne (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat air fryer to 360 F. Toss carrots together in a large bowl with olive oil, cheese, dill, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne (if using).
  2. Spread out evenly on the bottom of the air fryer (see notes). Air fry for 7-8 minutes. Toss carrots and continue cooking for additional 4-5 minutes for perfectly al dente carrots.
  3. Serve immediately.

Notes

If you have a smaller air fryer, you may need to cook in batches so that the carrots line the bottom of the air fryer in an even layer. If you need to work in batches, you can keep the first batch(es) of carrots warm on a sheet pan in a 200-degree oven while the remaining carrots cook.

Air Fryer Egg Rolls with Chinese Five Spice

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Air fryer egg rolls on a plate with dipping sauce on the side

I’ve talked before how much I love my air fryer. As I mentioned before, I didn’t think that I would, but it is so useful! I can make crispy, delicious food without all of the mess of frying in oil. I love me a good egg roll, so naturally, I needed to try my hand at making egg rolls in the air fryer. Per usual, the air fryer has not let me down yet. Air fryer egg rolls are the best!

Air fryer egg roll broken and dipped into sauce

I’m so happy that egg roll wrappers are so readily available in the grocery store. You can fill them with so many things. A classic choice for filling includes cabbage. Cabbage tastes so good sauteed in a skillet with some Asian seasonings like soy sauce or Chinese Five Spice. I feel that Chinese Five Spice is such an underused Asian flavoring. I’m happy that like egg roll wrappers, Chinese Five Spice has also become readily available in the grocery store. This spice blend is made up of peppercorns, anise, cloves, fennel seeds, and cinnamon. It’s warm and cozy without being spicy. 

Air fryer egg rolls on a plate with dipping sauce on the side

To make the egg rolls, I first sauteed my favorite Asian flavors in the skillet with the shredded cabbage. I then placed the cabbage filling in the middle of the wrapper. Then, I moistened the perimeter of the wrapper with water so that it would stick together when folded. Then, I folded one corner of the wrapper towards the opposite corner. Lastly, I folded in the two other sides and rolled tightly to secure the filling. The egg rolls will get their characteristic crunch by giving them a quick brush of oil before popping them into the air fryer for cooking. 

Once they’re done cooking, you have the crispiest air fryer egg rolls to share with your family or guests. These make a great side dish to have on your next stirfry night or just as an appetizer or small dish for a party or potluck. 

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Air Fryer Egg Rolls with Chinese Five Spice

Egg rolls on a plate with dipping sauce on the side
  • Author: Melissa
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 egg rolls 1x
  • Method: Air fryer
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. light-colored oil (light olive, avocado, or canola), plus more for brushing
  • 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger (or 1 tsp. dried powdered ginger)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Chinese Five Spice
  • 14 oz. bag of shredded cabbage slaw mix (or 6–7 cups of shredded cabbage)
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 12 egg roll wrappers
  • Sauce of your choosing for dipping (recommended: Sweet Chili Sauce)

Instructions

 

  1. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic, and Chinese Five Spice and saute for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add cabbage mix and green onions. Saute for 5-6 minutes. Add sesame oil and soy sauce. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly. 
  2. Fill each egg roll wrapper with about 2 heaping tbsp. of the cabbage mixture. Using your finger or a pastry brush, wet the perimeter of the egg roll wrapper with water. Fold one corner to the opposite corner, tuck in the sides, and roll tightly for each wrapper. Brush each egg roll with oil or spray with an oil spray. 
  3. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F. Cook the egg rolls for 3-4 minutes, then flip, then cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until crispy all over. Serve with sauce (like Sweet Chili Sauce) for dipping. 

Citrus Winter Farro Salad

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Overview of farro salad with brussels sprouts and citrus
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Happy New Year, folks! 2019 was quite the ride, and I’m ready for 2020. 2019 was a year of change for me. I quit my secure, well-paying job to move onto entrepreneurship. And I haven’t regretted it one bit. I’m genuinely excited about what the roaring twenties have in store for me and my little corner of the internet. It’s been a busy holiday season, and lately, I’ve been craving some fresh flavors like citrus, which is in season, so this Citrus Winter Farro Salad has been hitting the spot perfectly. It’s chock full of whole grains, crispy Brussels sprouts, and vitamin C-rich citrus. I recently went to a local tapas restaurant, which had fried, crispy brussels sprouts with grapefruit, and it was so good. I knew immediately that I needed to recreate it at home and for the blog as this Citrus Winter Farro Salad. It keeps well in the refrigerator, tastes great served warm or cold, and is an easy dish for weekend meal prep. 

Drizzling of citrus vinaigrette on farro salad with brussels sprouts

I know it seems cliche that a recipe posted on New Year’s Day would be a salad, but I assure you that this post is encouraging you to eat only salads this year. I’m not big on resolutions, but I do like the idea of setting intentions. I’ve set some intentions this year for peace, including cultivating more peace with food and my body. One area I think we (as a culture and society) could use is making peace with food. “Making peace with food” is the third principle of Intuitive Eating. Making peace with food means giving yourself unconditional permission to eat anything you want. Yes, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist just told you to give yourself unconditional permission to eat anything you want. It shouldn’t be shocking, but sadly, it might be for many. If you want to eat cake, eat cake. If you want to eat a salad, eat a salad. By giving yourself unconditional permission to eat whatever you want, you’ll never feel deprived or look at a meal as if its the “last supper.” If given permission, no one would only eat cake for the rest of their lives. At some point, it would become awful; you would start craving crunchy and savory foods. This would probably happen sooner than you might think.  

Close up of farro salad with brussels sprouts and citrus

I think that’s exactly how this recipe was born. I was craving crunchy vegetables, grains, and bright citrus flavors after having a lot of rich, soft foods around the holidays like mashed potatoes/gravy, desserts, etc. And I love me some rich, soft foods like mashed potatoes with gravy and desserts and plan to eat plenty of them in 2020 as well. But, this is the way life goes. Honor those cravings. Eat the “good” food and the “bad” food. And, challenge yourself this year to make peace with food and changing your vocabulary to not label foods as “good” or “bad.” Eat the salad, eat the cake, and get on with your life. And if you’re going to eat a salad, eat this one. It tastes so good. 

Overview of farro salad with brussels sprouts and citrus with some portioned on a plate

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Citrus Winter Farro Salad

Overview of farro salad with brussels sprouts and citrus
  • Author: Melissa
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups of farro 
  • 1 lb. brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
  • 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 2 tbsp.
  • 3 tbsp. lemon juice (juice of about 1/2 of lemon)
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 lb. brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
  • 1 large orange or grapefruit,  peeled and segmented
  • Salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions

  1. Cook farro to package directions, then place in a bowl to set aside to cool. 
  2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss sprouts with 2 tbsp. olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and toss again (or shake the pan to move around), place back in oven and cook an additional 5 minutes. Set aside. 
  3. While sprouts cook, make the vinaigrette. Mix lemon juice and dijon mustard together. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil while continually whisking until dressing is well blended.
  4. Toss farro, brussels sprouts, vinaigrette, and citrus segments together in a bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Smoky and Savory Sweet Potato Casserole

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A serving of savory sweet potato casserole being spooned out on a dish
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I didn’t really grow up eating sweet potatoes. On the other hand, they were a staple in my husband’s family growing up. When I think of potatoes, I think savory flavors. Salt, herbs, vinegar, you know, those kind of flavors. It wasn’t until adulthood that I really embraced the sweet potato and all of his lovely casserole forms around the holidays. However, this holiday season, I’ve been craving a more savory sweet potato casserole instead of the norm. I recently had a very delicious sweet potato bisque that involved coconut milk, chipotle peppers, and bacon, which was my inspiration for this savory sweet potato casserole. Man, oh man, did my muse serve me well. This is freaking fantastic. 

Close up of savory sweet potato casserole with bacon topping

It gets its smokiness from not just smoked paprika, but also chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Chipotle peppers in adobo can easily be found in the Latin section of the grocery store. Chipotle peppers are simply dried and smoked jalapenos, and the adobo sauce is a sweet and tangy tomato sauce that they are canned within. No need to drain off the sauce. I typically just pull out a pepper from the can onto my cutting board and chop it finely. I discard any stems but include the seeds in my cooking. I love keeping a jar of these around the kitchen and put them in all sorts of dishes that need a little kick.

Overview of the savory sweet potato casserole

The topping of the casserole is simply breadcrumbs with a little oil, seasoning, and crumbled bacon. All of this adds a beautiful crunch component to the consistency of the casserole. I think that this dish is all about balance. The sweetness of the potatoes is balanced with smoky and savory flavors. The soft texture of the potatoes is juxtaposed with the crunch of the panko breadcrumbs and crispy bacon. And, there you have it, folks. I’m totally going to win a casserole of the year award here. I mean, that should totally be a thing, right?

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Smoky and Savory Sweet Potato Casserole

A serving of savory sweet potato casserole being spooned out on a dish
  • Author: admin
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours
  • Category: side dish
Scale

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pierce each one several times with a fork. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until easily pierced all the way through with a fork. Set aside to cool. 
  2. Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook bacon until crispy and remove to drain on a paper towel. Drain bacon fat from skillet except for about 1-2 tsp. Add onion and for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chipotle pepper, smoked paprika, oregano, and salt/pepper to taste. Cook for additional 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat, add coconut milk, and stir. 
  3. In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs, olive oil, and bacon crumbles. Season to taste with black pepper. 
  4. Once sweet potatoes cool enough to handle, scoop orange flesh out of potatoes into large mixing bowl. Add coconut milk mixture and mash. Fold in the eggs to the sweet potato mixture. Spray a 9×13 size casserole pan with nonstick spray or with olive oil. Add potato mixture to casserole pan. Top with breadcrumb mixture and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until breadcrumbs golden and casserole warmed through.

Crispy Green Beans with Prosciutto and Mustard Vinaigrette

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overview of a plate and sheet pan of crispy green beans, prosciutto, and mustard vinaigrette
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There are two types of people in this world, those who like their green beans super soft and those that like them crisp. I am squarely in the latter category. I have observed the former camp that they love their green beans simmered for hours with some sort of pork product. Don’t get me wrong, the taste is good, but I always feel like I’m eating baby food. I have to have crispy green beans, and one of the best ways to make them super crisp is by roasting them at a high temperature. Since salted meat certainly makes the mushy green beans taste good, it makes the crispy green beans absolutely perfect. This brings me to my Crispy Green Beans with Prosciutto and Mustard Vinaigrette recipe. It is the ideal balance of sweet, salty, and tangy. And not only do the green beans crisp up in the oven, but the prosciutto does as well. It’s heaven.

sheet pan of crispy green beans with prosciutto

Thanksgiving is mere days away, so let’s mix it up a little and bring a little heaven on earth to your table with these crispy green beans. They’re easy to make ahead and still taste amazing even if they get a little cold. You can always reheat again by popping into a warm oven for a few minutes while you’re making gravy or putting finishing touches on other parts of the meal.

close up of a sheet pan with crispy green beans and prosciutto with mustard vinaigrette
plate of crispy green beans with prosciutto and mustard

This recipe can definitely sway some of the soft green bean people over to the crispy green bean camp.

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Crispy Green Beans with Prosciutto and Mustard Vinaigrette

overview of a plate and sheet pan of crispy green beans, prosciutto, and mustard vinaigrette
  • Author: admin
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 18
  • Total Time: 23 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Method: Roasting
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb. green beans, washed and trimmed
  • 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp. whole grain mustard
  • 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil 
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3 oz. prosciutto, chopped into ~1″ pieces

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk together vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, and fresh rosemary. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking. Toss green beans in vinaigrette and spread out on a large baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. (Tip: for easy cleanup line with a silicone baking mat, tin foil, or parchment paper.)
  2. Top green beans with pieces of prosciutto and roast green beans for about 16-18 minutes or until starting to brown. 

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Roasted Squash Salad

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Roasted acorn squash on top of massaged kale salad with pecans, shaved Parmesan, and dried cranberries with serving utensils
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I am all about that Thanksgiving prep lately. Have you been able to tell? This autumn roasted squash salad is no different. You can make this salad ahead of time and let it hang out in the fridge until mealtime, which is perfect considering all the day of Thanksgiving cooking that often needs to happen.

I love the flavor combination of this recipe. The greens are dressed in a tart and sweet dressing topped with dried cranberries, toasty nuts, and salty, shaved parmesan cheese. It’s all rounded out with the caramelized and buttery quality of the roasted acorn squash. It’s so good that my husband requested that I make it for his company Thanksgiving potluck. This is perfect because it helps offer a different vegetable option for the party, and keeps well when made in advance. 

Close up of roasted acorn squash on top of massaged kale salad with pecans, shaved Parmesan, and dried cranberries in a bowl
Overview of roasted acorn squash on top of massaged kale salad with pecans, shaved Parmesan, and dried cranberries in a bowl
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Honestly, this roasted squash salad is perfect for everyday meal prep too. I love making hardy green salads in the winter. My favorite go-to green for fall/winter salad-making is kale. I hear a lot of people don’t like kale in salads because it’s so tough and fibrous. Well, sorry to break this to you, but you’re probably doing it wrong. The best kale salads are allowed to marinate in an acidic dressing or vinegar for long periods, or you can speed the process up by massaging the dressing or vinegar into the greens. The acid works the way that heat does in cooking greens; it allows for the fibers to break down, making the greens soft and tender. Even if you massage the greens, you can still make the salad ahead of time without it being too wilted. 

I’ll be making this salad for months to come for sure, and once you try it, I’m sure you will too. 

P.S. If you’re all about that Thanksgiving prep, too, make sure that you join my email list. I’ll be sharing all things holiday food and lifestyle from now until New Year’s. 

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Roasted Squash Salad

Overview of roasted acorn squash on top of massaged kale salad with pecans, shaved Parmesan, and dried cranberries in a bowl
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 0 servings 1x
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 medium acorn squash, seeded, sliced (skin is edible!)
  • 1 tbsp. fresh sage, minced
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. olive oil, divided
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 tbsp. dark fruit jam (like cherry or blackberry)
  • 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 6–8 cups kale, chopped
  • 2–3 oz. (or more to taste) parmesan cheese, shaved
  • 1/4 cup pecans, toasted
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Toss sliced acorn squash, sage, 1 tbsp. olive oil, and salt and pepper on a sheet pan. Roast squash for 20 minutes. Flip squash, rotate the pan for even cooking, then roast for another 10 min.
  2. Meanwhile, make dressing by whisking together jam, vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, and salt/pepper to taste. (Or put dressing ingredients in a mason jar, seal, and shake until incorporated.)
  3. Massage kale with dressing until slightly wilted about 2-3 min. Once squash is done roasting, top kale with squash, cheese, pecans, and dried cranberries.