I have been making this Wintry Green salad for a few years now. It's really easy, and it offers a great simple side to an evening meal, or serve it for lunch with chicken salad. The Mandarin oranges and cranberries make it colorful, and worthy for entertaining.

I had it on the menu for my tree-trimming meal last month, and my Mother-in-Law loved it so much that she requested it for our Christmas Eve gathering. I don't think you can go wrong with this salad. I have, however, cut the sugar amounts for the dressing from the original recipe, which was published in the 2003 Jr. Guild of Rocky Mount Cookbook, "A Dash of Down East." 

Wintry Green Salad with Citrus and Cranberries

Wintry Green Salad with Citrus and Cranberries

1-11 oz can of Mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup almonds, toasted
8 to 10 cups mixed salad greens

Sesame Cider Dressing:

1/3 cup sugar (Original recipe calls for 1/2 cup sugar)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 1/2 teaspoons of minced onions
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

Combine all dressing ingredients except oil in a bowl. Gradually whisk in oil.
Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl. Toss with dressing just before serving.

Be sure to visit all my favorite recipes in the HinesSight Blog Recipe section.

Updated: December 2023. I saw my Mom this morning, and she asked me about cooking a Christmas rib roast. It was like Christmas De Ja Vu. I would not commit, but it got me thinking about this post I wrote in 2017. It may be time for a rib roast this holiday. We'll see, but after reading more cookbooks than I can count, the rib roast recipe I've posted below. My holiday looks a little different these days. I'm now a parent to teens.  This post was originally written in December 2017, 

I read the recipes she sent, and they frightened me a little.  I would never commit to her, and still, two days before this Christmas, I still did not know what I would prepare for our holiday dinner. I pulled countless recipe books from my pantry and thought I might attempt some beef or pork tenderloin. When I went grocery shopping, I took two cookbooks to Lowes Food, and they sat in the cart while I looked at meat. There was not a beef tenderloin in sight for less than $80.

My wallet spoke up.  Boneless ribeye roasts were on a significant sale. A four-pound boneless ribeye roast was marked down from $52 to $32. I flipped through my cookbooks, surfed the internet on Lowes's free Wi-Fi, and decided to try it. It would be my meat entree and sides of corn pudding, macaroni and cheese, southern butterbeans, green beans, and rolls.

This is an appetizer where you can't eat just one.  It's one of my favorite holiday appetizers using dates and manchego cheese.  It's easy and a fabulous combination of sweet and savory. Fontina cheese would be a good substitute if you can't find manchego. 

Manchego Cheese is from the La Mancha region of Spain. I was first introduced to it on a trip there decades ago. It's made from the Manchega breed of Sheep.  It's a semi-soft cheese with a mild, nutty, fruity, sweet, and tangy flavor. For me, that just translates into delicious.  Medjool dates are soft dates also known to have health benefits for your heart, brain and gut. You usually find them in the produce section of your grocery store, especially this time of year. I also like to purchase them locally at specialty stores such as Sassool in Cary or Neomonde in Raleigh.  Fontina Cheese is an alpine-style cheese more readily available in most markets. 

Dates Stuffed with Manchego and Topped with Pistachios and Honey

Ingredients:

1 pound of Medjool Dates (approximately 30 dates)
6 ounces of Manchego cheese, cut into  1" X  1/2" strips
3-4 ounces of pistachios, salted and roasted
Drizzle of honey

Instructions:

Toast pistachios for 10-15 minutes in the oven at 325 degrees. Pull them out when they smell "toasty."

Use a paring knife, and make a slit down the center of one date.

Tuck a cheese strip inside the date, and repeat the same process for all 30 dates. Increase the to 350 degrees.

Place in a baking dish and warm in a 350-degree oven.

Remove from oven after cheese melts. Approximately 10 minutes.

Let it cool for 5 minutes, then drizzle it with honey and pistachios.

Dates are higher in calories so this is certainly not a low-calorie appetizer, but so worth it when you indulge. 

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You can also create a cheese board with grapes, olives, extra pistachios, and crackers. And don't worry about a fancy cracker---Ritz-Crackers work fine and pair well with this cheese.  Multigrain crackers are also a good choice. 

Manchego also pairs with certain jams, which can be another appetizer using this cheese. Red Pepper,  Hot Pepper jelly, or gourmet fig jam on a cracker topped with a piece of fontina cheese is delicious. 

Updated November 7, 2023

If you are looking for an easy, southern holiday side, then I have the perfect recipe for you. It's not different from a casserole, but it is without marshmallows, which causes it to have the souffle name.  It will work great for any time of the year, but it screams the holidays because sweet potatoes are in season in North Carolina. This dish pairs well with the traditional holiday turkey or ham.  However, it is also divine with pork tenderloin. 

I'm going to be cooking with friends this holiday weekend. My friends are Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, and Joey. You may know them, too. They came into my home every week for years, and now I see them in syndication when I flip through channels occasionally. I adored them. We were all the same age, and even though I didn't live in NYC above a coffee shop, I somehow managed to relate to their wacky lives weekly.   I will confess that when I drive through downtown Raleigh now and see all these new condominiums with shops and restaurants below them, I get a little nostalgic about my past TV life with my "friends" and say to Will, "I think it would be so neat to have a bar or coffee shop below your residence."  Don't you?


In 1995, my Mom, who had probably never watched an episode of Friends, found a cookbook called "Cooking with Friends" and gave it to me for Christmas. The cookbook is 20 years old and a little worn from use. The photos in the book are from the show's early days, with a few pictures during the period when Rachel unveiled her iconic haircut.

I use a lot of recipes out of this book. They have cute and catchy names for food, such as mashed potatoes for the broken-hearted or Chandler's "Could This Be Any More Fattening? Cheesecake. You all remember how Chandler talked, right? Brings back some memories! What about "How You Doin'?"  I admit I go around the house and use a little "Joey" to speak to my children when they wake up.

According to the cookbook, Joey might not be much of a cook, but he does know how to make a burger. That is true, my friends! I've used "his" burger recipe now for years. It's the most delicious and straightforward burger recipe, and I'm sharing it with you, my friends, because it will be perfect for any weekend cookout.



Joey's Best Grilled Burgers from The TV Show "Friends"

2 pounds of ground beef
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
(I have added some Italian seasoning to the recipe because, after all, Joey is Italian).
6 buns, split

Gently mix the meat with the ingredients, and form into six patties (about an inch thick)
Grill for about 8 minutes for medium-rare, turning them once. For medium, grill for about 10 minutes.

























 

Updated August 2023

Before summer is over, I will give you a list of five of my favorite recipes that are perfect for those summer days that are still left in North Carolina when it's still a little hot and humid. We're transitioning into football season, but it's still hot. I have already featured these recipes on the blog at some point in my twelve years of owning this website.  

A friend messaged me this week and said she made my spaghetti pie recipe, and it was the dish I took to her fourteen years ago when her son was born. Reading that one message took me down my kitchen rabbit hole of finding all the recipes in my archives. 

As my kids have aged, meals are a constant struggle in my home due to our schedules. There are days that I count the days until no one depends on me to make nightly dinners. I will regret even making those remarks when those days are gone, but my afternoons were not busy when I started this blog in 2011. The kids played, watched TV, and I prepped dinner. My busy times were from 7 am to 4 pm, whereas the hours between 3 pm and 9 pm are when I'm at my absolute busiest at this stage of life. 

But throughout my 11 years of writing, my goal has always been the same: I like to prepare easy meals with few ingredients. The following collection of recipes is easy and can be used in various ways. 

Italian pasta salad with no mayo

Visit NC's official tourism site to see where else you can explore North Carolina. 

Whether you are a Philadephia Eagles fan or a Kansas City Chiefs fan, this recipe is a winner. I like easy recipes. I want an ingredient list so short that I can remember what goes in it without a grocery list. You will love this BBQ chicken slider recipe with peach salsa because it's easy and delicious. I made this in a crockpot, but an instant pot would also work. 

Fresh peaches were abundant when I first made this dish, but you can substitute frozen peaches or even canned ones when peachers are not in season.  







Here in North Carolina, that farm-fresh peach window is about six weeks in late summer. Luckily, for super bowl season, we have canned or frozen peaches that can easily be used to make this peach salsa to pair with BBQ Chicken Sliders. If you use canned peaches, definitely rinse them in syrup. 

This easy and quick recipe for pulled chicken and peach salsa recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight or hosting a party for a crowd like the Super Bowl or a college tailgate. My kids eat BBQ chicken and hamburger buns, so even if they don't eat peach salsa, they have something to eat.



The peach salsa is also great to serve with chips if you want to skip the BBQ-pulled chicken sliders altogether and just serve chips. I like blue chips with them. Or you can skip the peach salsa and do BBQ-pulled chicken sliders for dinner, a tailgate, or a party for a crowd. Leftover BBQ pulled chicken is significant for another night in the week if you are serving a small group. The sliders also taste great without the salsa but combined, it's a culinary touchdown.





Pulled BBQ Chicken Sliders in Crockpot

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts (or combo)
1/2 onion, minced
1 cup plus 1/4 Brown Sugar-Based BBQ sauce ( I used a sauce from Trader Joe's)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

**If you do not have a brown sugar-based sauce, add 2 Tbsp brown sugar to the crockpot.

Add onion, BBQ, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and brown sugar (if needed) to the crockpot. Make sure salt and sugar are dissolved. Add chicken, and mix to coat thoroughly. Cook for 3 to 4 hours at a high temperature until you can tear the chicken apart with a fork. When the chicken is tender enough to take apart with a fork, transfer the chicken to a bowl, and add some cooking juices. Continue to pull the chicken apart, and mix 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. Stir until the chicken is coated. Add salt or additional seasoning to taste. If you like heat, add a hint of red pepper. Serve on buns or small rolls. Add the following Peach salsa for a Superbowl touchdown.

If you are cooking in this easy pulled bbq chicken in the Instant Pot, you can search many recipes, but most say to pressure cook for 15 minutes, then do a natural release for ten minutes, and then open the valve. I've yet to do this in an Instant Pot, but I will put it on my menu soon.

Peach Salsa

2 peaches, chopped ( I used fresh when in season, but canned peaches work, too)
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 jalapeno, seeded, minced
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp salt.

Combine chopped peaches, Roma tomato, lime juice, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a bowl. Mix well. Add additional salt or lime juice as needed or to your taste.

Serve pulled chicken on hamburger buns with peach salsa.





Other sides or main dishes that are easy for Tailgating have been featured by me
     Easy No-Mayo Pasta Salad
     Southern Baked Beans with a Twist
     Potatoes for a Crowd
     Deviled  Eggs from Bill Smith 
     Southern cornbread
     Cackalacky Game Day Dip
     Marinated Asparagus
     Shoe-Peg Corn Salad
     Hines Mac and Cheese 
     Caribbean Bean Salad 
     Creamy Pasta Salad 





Updated: January January 2023