Lady Sage Dressing

Have you heard of Joy the Baker? She's amazing. And, well, it's no secret that I follow her blog religiously and have made at least half of the recipes she's posted. But as much as I love her, I have to stray away from her recipes just a bit and give them my own little twist (and name...you'll see)

So Joy has this Green Goddess dressing that has always looked so fresh and tasty to me, and, although I love
plain yogurt and use it for just about everything, I'd never ventured to try her dressing...until last night. (and boy, am I happy that I did!) I slathered my corn and avocado salad in it last night, and doused my arugula and chicken salad in it for dinner tonight.

So Joy's dressing is called "Green Goddess Dressing", and since I tweaked the recipe, I only thought it fair to create my own name, right? And Lady Sage seemed fitting. I'm a lady. I love sage (and, yes, I use it in the dressing).

If you eat a lot of salads. or if you don't. Even if you hate salads (really? you hate salads!?) You must try this dressing! It's so easy to make, and even easier to change it to your liking (the only rule is that you have to come up with a creative new name...I just made that rule up now).

Let's Talk About Sweet Potatoes!

Since Lizzie started us off with an Autumnal post, I'd like to keep the theme going.

Do you love sweet potatoes? Your answer should be a resounding YES! Sweet potatoes are wonderful. They're tasty just alone, baked in the oven (if you have the patience), delicious in pie, great as baked "fries", mashed, whipped, fried... really, I could go on forever...
Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite autumnal foods! ...along with pumpkins, of course, and honeycrisp apples (jeeze, oh man are they good! But I'll post about them later...)

Guess what I had with my salmon burger last night? Spicy sweet potato fries! And for dinner the night before? Goat cheese whipped sweet potatoes. And what I made for my friend Lisa for her birthday? Sweet potato granola bars. Are you sensing a pattern here?

Sweet potatoes are a staple food around the world from China, to Africa, to the Caribbean. They're super nutritious, versatile, and did I mention delicious?

Last Christmas, my darling mother gave me a sweet potato cookbook which has a ton of great recipes involving my favorite root vegetable. I've actually only tried a few, but this season, I'm going to make a point of sharing many of them with you. ...but not today. Today, I'm wingin' it!

How does Cinnamon Spiced Sweet Potato Chips sound? (...sorry brevity isn't really my thing.)

Sweet Heat Pumpkin Soup

Have you noticed that pumpkin season is here?!

Cooks go a bit pumpkin crazy this time of year, but for good reason. Pumpkin is such a diverse fruit because it can be served sweet or savory. Not to mention it's delicious, healthy, and should be the official flavor of Autumn. So if you haven't jumped on the pumpkin bandwagon yet, I urge you to join us!

To kick off Nectar at the Roadside's first pumpkin recipe, I am making my Sweet Heat Pumpkin Soup. I love plain pumpkin soup, I do. There is something very special about its simplicity, it usually being seasoned with only salt and pepper.  But, if you're a spice/flavor addict like me, then you will probably prefer my amped up version.

Recreating Recipes: Gimme Coffee!'s Orange Ginger Molasses Cookie Edition

If you haven't heard of Gimme Coffee!, don't fret, most people haven't. Gimme Coffee! is a small cafe chain that claims its roots in Ithaca, NY and has slowly trickled down to NYC.  Ithacans are extremely proud of their Gimme Coffee! digs and if you have ever been to Ithaca, you may have noticed a Subaru wagon or Volvo 240 with Gimme Coffee!'s red exclamation point sticker on its backside. Gimme Coffee! is a really great place. Pretentious? Absolutely. You may not get a smile from one of their employees, but you will get outstanding beverages and baked goods. I recommend the chai! Super spicy and not sickeningly sweet. I digress.

Anywho, I now come to the point of this post: cookies. Orange ginger molasses cookies to be more precise. A little more than a year ago, I was at the Trumansburg, NY location ordering my cup of fair trade coffee, when I saw a delicious looking cookie in a glass jar on the counter. I decided to give it a try. It looked like a large ginger snap, but to my astonishment, it was moist and soft. It also tasted as it ought to, strongly of ginger and orange (too many so called "ginger" cookies do NOT taste like ginger). I had a new obsession, but unfortunately, it was short lived. A few months after my discovery, Gimme Coffee! changed bakers, and I was left to lament my loss.

Sunday Spiced Banana Bread

Hi there! Rebecca here.
For my first recipe here on Nectar at the Roadside, I’ve decided to share my tasty Sunday breakfast.
Sometimes I wake up wanting something super-delicious, warm and toasty...don't you? And banana bread seemed like just the thing.


So let’s get started!

First, gather your ingredients, and watch out for the kitty in the background. He loves to help...not really, though.


I always keep overripe bananas in the freezer for times like these. So if you’re like me, take those out of the freezer and let them thaw.