Instead of working extra hours in the kitchen, enjoy the Easter egg hunt and take pictures of the kids discovering their baskets. You can make these Braised Lamb Shanks in Red Wine in the slow cooker before festivities get underway, so you can enjoy the fun with everyone else. Serve the rich shanks over mashed potatoes or polenta for a special holiday dinner.
If you’re sitting down for a meal on Easter, asparagus will likely make an appearance on the table. Blue cheese vinaigrette, toasted walnuts and fresh dill top this asparagus to deepen the flavor profile and make it a memorable side dish. Roasted Asparagus Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette is a nice accompaniment to ham, steak or lamb, or you could enjoy it as a standalone lunch.
This cold pea soup is a refreshing twist on a classic. Spring Pea Soup is lightened up with brighter ingredients like vibrant herbs, zesty lemon and tangy Greek yogurt. The spring pea, determined not to be taken for granted, shines in this soup that will be the perfect addition to your Easter lunch menu.
Deviled eggs are an Easter must-have. While Classic deviled eggs are a no-fail favorite, why not jazz up your favorite recipe by adding something no one will complain about – cheese. We mixed pimento cheese with the egg yolks for a cheesy twist on the standard deviled egg. Top each Pimento Cheese Deviled Egg with a small slice of crispy bacon to assure your guests come back for seconds.
Just incase your guests didn’t get their sugar fix from all of the Easter egg candy, serve Carrot Cake for dessert this Easter. This carrot cake is simply delectable, and since it’s made with two cups of shredded carrots, it at least seems healthy, right? The tartness of the cream cheese frosting brings it all together, making one sweet, crunchy, moist delicious cake. Serve it with coffee to end your Easter meal.
Spring has sprung and we’ve started to lighten – and brighten – things up in the kitchen. We’re swapping winter’s hearty soups and stews for fresh salads. This spring green salad with lemon vinaigrette is the perfect dish to help you dive into your new seasonal menu.
This simple salad is packed with some of our favorite springtime ingredients – asparagus, radish, and spring peas.
Start with your favorite greens, then add blanched asparagus (blanching them will make the spears easier to eat and brighten their color), blanched peas, beautiful red radishes, and some lemon slices for color.
The Hamilton Beach® Professional 14-Cup Dicing Food Processor was used to expertly slice the radishes. This food processor comes equipped with an adjustable slicing blade. With 14 thickness settings, the food processor makes it easy to achieve everything from paper thin radish to thick pepperoni slices in a matter of seconds.
We drizzled this fresh salad with our blender-made lemon vinaigrette. The Hamilton Beach® single-serve blender is great for making quick dressings and marinades. Bottled dressings can be expensive and making your own lets you save a little money and control the ingredients (especially the salt and sugar). Use yours to blend fresh lemon juice, olive oil, shallot, honey, salt & pepper.
The citrus dressing is the perfect accompaniment to this spring salad. Serve this spring green salad by itself for a light lunch or serve it alongside grilled chicken or fish for a seasonal supper.
In a medium saucepan over high, heat 4 cups of water to a boil. Quickly blanch asparagus spears and fresh peas, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Immediately, place in ice water to chill. Drain and set aside. If using frozen peas, defrost in microwave.
Divide greens between 8 salad plates. Arrange asparagus spears, peas and sliced radishes on top of greens. Add one slice lemon to each plate.
Drizzle with Lemon Vinaigrette.
Lemon Vinaigrette
In a single-serve blender, combine olive oil, lemon juice, shallot, honey, salt and black pepper. Blend until smooth.
Looking for a simple vegetarian side dish or snack? Let me introduce you to baked asparagus fries. These “fries” are baked in the Easy Reach Toaster Oven and couldn’t be easier to make.
First, make a 2-for-1 spread that helps breadcrumbs stick to the asparagus before baking and works as an easy dip for the fries (any leftover spread would be delicious on salmon, burgers, or your favourite sandwich). You only have to dirty one bowl – score.
Mix mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Then brush asparagus with the mayonnaise mixture and roll in breadcrumbs (we used panko because they brown beautifully and add a nice crunch) until fully coated. The Test Kitchen found that thick asparagus work best with this recipe, so steer clear of the pencil-thin stalks you can sometimes find at the grocery store.
Place the asparagus on a baking pan and bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and you’re ready to dip and dunk.
Whether you need a hand-held vegetarian appetizer for game day, the perfect addition to brunch, or a side dish to serve alongside fish or chicken during the week, baked asparagus fries fit the bill.
I think we can all agree, there is nothing worse than dry, rubbery chicken. Whether you accidentally set the timer on the oven for 10 minutes too long or walk away from the stovetop, dried out chicken is never something you’re proud to put on the table.
Overcooking chicken is something that happens more often than I’d like to admit and even the most delicious sauce can’t save the dish. Thanks to the Hamilton Beach Professional Sous Vide/6 QT Slow Cooker, overcooking my main protein is now a problem of the past.
For our sous vide chicken and asparagus with brown butter, both the chicken and the asparagus are cooked in the temperature-controlled water bath. Not only are your main and side dishes cooked together (leaving everything conveniently ready to be served at the same time), the results will make you rethink the next time you put your chicken in the oven.
The sous vide chicken is moist and tender while the asparagus maintains a bright green color and crisp texture.
Submerge your chicken and asparagus in the water bath, set the temperature and time, and walk away. Put your feet up while you wait or run a few errands. Cooking sous vide gives you maximum flexibility because once the desired internal temperature of the chicken is met, the temperature doesn’t fluctuate. Whether you come back in an hour or three, your meal will be ready and waiting – not over or undercooked.
Give the chicken a quick sear in a hot pan and drizzle the reserved brown butter over top. Finish with some cracked black pepper and fresh herbs and your delicious dinner is served. Trust me, everyone at the table (at least at mine) will enjoy eating perfectly done chicken (for once).
Select sous vide mode and set temperature to 145°F and time for 1 hour.
Prepare the brown butter. In a small saucepan over medium, heat butter and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the herbs and garlic, reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Strain about 4 tablespoons of the butter into a small bowl and reserve. Strain the remainder into a separate container to reserve for serving.
Prepare the chicken. In a small bowl, combine kosher salt and sugar. Season chicken breasts generously with the salt mixture.
Using the reserved 4 tablespoons of brown butter, brush each chicken breast with about 1 tablespoon of butter. Place each chicken breast in a sous vide-safe bag. Vacuum tightly and seal.
Prepare the asparagus. Place all of the asparagus, olive oil and salt to a sous vide-safe bag. Vacuum tightly and seal.
When water reaches set temperature, add chicken and asparagus to the water bath and press start.
When cooking time has ended, remove bags from water bath and open.
Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels.
In a large skillet over medium-high, heat vegetable oil. When oil begins to shimmer, add chicken to pan skin-side down. Sear chicken until skin is crispy and browned. Turn chicken and sear other side until browned. If desired, slice chicken before plating.
To serve, warm the reserved brown butter. Place asparagus on plates and top with chicken. Drizzle with brown butter.
