Sweet & Spicy Sides

S, s, S. The popular ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book by Dr. Seuss is one of Ethan's favorites. They have the book at my allergist's office and every week when we are there for my shot, he likes reading it with me. He's very good at the "big S, little s, big S" thing. :)

This Sunday, I have some sweet and spicy sides to share! ;) First up, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Rosemary. I had been planning to make baked sweet potatoes for a side dish a couple of weeks ago, but instead, I decided I wanted to try to experiment with some ingredients instead. I am so glad that I did. The results were delicious and resulted in something I will be making many more times in the future.

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 Tbsp honey

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash and peel the sweet potatoes, then dice into small 1/2- to 1-inch cubes. Spray a baking sheet with an olive oil spray, then place cubes onto the sheet. Drizzle the EVOO on top of the cubes. Season with the cinnamon, salt and rosemary. Drizzle 1 Tbsp of the honey on top of the cubes.

Stir the cubes around the sheet to make sure they are evenly coated. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir the cubes around the sheet again. Drizzle with the rest of the honey. Place the sheet back in the oven and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, or until the cubes start to brown and caramelize. Enjoy!

This dish was super easy to make and sweet potatoes are loaded with great nutrients...Vitamin A, C, B6, manganese, potassium and iron. Plus they are a great source of fiber! The potatoes are nice and soft inside and crispy and caramelized on the outside. They are so delicious that you'll think you had dessert instead of dinner. ;)

Next up, Spicy Cilantro Corn. I had intended to just defrost some frozen sweet corn and season with some butter and cajun seasoning, but decided to change it up a bit. I had fresh cilantro in the fridge for another meal that I was making that week, so I thought it would be a nice addition to the corn, which would accompany my Salsa Chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound bag frozen Silver Queen corn (or your favorite variety)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
• Dash of freshly ground sea salt, to taste
• Dash of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Directions:

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Place the corn, onion and butter in the skillet. Heat until warmed throughout and onion is translucent or golden. Season with the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and ground red pepper. Serve while warm.

This was another easy side dish that offered a lot of flavor. It's a nice change from plain corn and was great as a Tex-Mex side.

What ingredients do you use to enhance common veggies?