Summer Sides

 I love this time of year when we frequently fire up the grill and our meals get a little lighter and a little easier.  Yesterday afternoon my parents came over for supper... my mom and I usually split the duties, so she took the hamburgers and I took the sides. 

Roasted Sweet Potato "Fries"

I wanted to come up with something that resembled fries, but was healthy.  So I cut up some sweet potatoes to look like fries and roasted them.  I roast vegetables all year long, but my favorite time to roast them is in the summer when vegetables from the garden are plentiful (can't wait)... usually it consists of simply coating them in olive oil, but last night I added some maple syrup to give the sweet potatoes some sweetness... they were delicious!  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut up 2-3 large sweet potatoes so that they resemble fries.

Whisk together 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 1/4 cup maple syrup and pour it over the cut sweet potatoes and mix so they are evenly coated.  

Lay a piece of parchment paper (makes for easy-cleanup) in a baking dish (I used a large glass Pyrex dish).  

Place the sweet potatoes in the dish and sprinkle with plenty of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Roast for 45 minutes.  

Fruit Salad

I don't know about you, but I start craving fruit this time of year... in green salads, by itself, mixed with other fruits, you name it.  This is almost too simple to share, but a hint of orange juice and local honey hit just the right note of sweet.

Chop and slice fruit (I used a combination of strawberries, grapes, blackberries, apples and oranges).

Add a splash of orange juice and honey and stir.

Buttermilk Cake with Homemade Whipped Cream

This is a cake recipe that comes from a cookbook I have called Super Natural Every Day, but I found a similar recipe posted on her website here.  Just omit the large grain salt at the end and I used blackberries instead (I've even used apples before).  What I love about this cake is that it's not very sweet or heavy.  I like to make homemade whipped cream to go with it... it's the perfect complement and completely worth the time.

Whipped Cream

With an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream until it has soft peaks.  Add a splash of vanilla extract (about 1 tsp) and some sugar (about 1 tsp - or to taste) and only beat long enough to incorporate.  You have to be careful not to beat overly long or the cream will quickly look like butter (don't ask me how I know - smile). 

Have a great weekend!  I'm sitting here watching the rain come down and hoping for some motivation to work on a project or two today...

P.S.  One last reminder that there is still time to enter the giveaway for the Pfister kitchen faucet!