Two Delicious Vegetable Side Dishes

For our Christmas dinner this year we did something a little different.  My daughter is not terribly fond of turkey and when I asked her what she would like for our dinner, she replied “Sushi”.  I am allergic to seafood so this wasn’t an ideal choice for me so I worked out a compromise.  I bought her some fresh sushi to have along with our meal and then I prepared steaks with balsamic caramelized onions, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and the following two side dishes which were new recipes for us and HUGE hits!

Cola Carrots *actually you can use any type of cola, root beer, or Dr. Pepper – 7Up or Sprite or something like that might also work well but I haven’t tested those.  I have seen other recipes using them though!

Bring 1/2 cup water, a 12 oz. can of your chosen pop, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves, and 1/2 tsp. coarse salt (I use Fleur de Sel) to a boil.  Add 2 lbs. baby carrots or regular carrots that have been peeled and cut up, return it to a boil, cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Uncover and reduce heat to medium/medium high and cook for an additional 15 minutes, until tender.  Yummy!

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Place the beans (ends snapped off) in water to cover.  Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, for about 8 minutes until done to a tender/crisp stage.  (This recipe makes 4 servings and for each serving you need about 12 green beans).  Meanwhile, cook 4 slices of bacon until done but not crisp.  You need them to still be pliable enough to wrap around the beans!  This takes approximately 3 minutes.  Drain the bacon on paper towels.  Lay a “bundle” of about 12 green beans on each bacon slice, wrap the bacon around the bundle, and secure with toothpicks.  (note:  I didn’t have any toothpicks so I just laid the bundles with the bacon ends underneath them to hold them in place.  It worked okay but would definitely be more secure and easier then to serve if you used the toothpicks.)  Place each bacon/bean bundle on an ungreased baking sheet.  Combine 3 T. butter, melted, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. soy sauce (the recipe called for 1/8 tsp. but I really like soy sauce so I increased it!).  Brush this mixture over the green bean bundles.  Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes until the bacon is crisp.  So tasty!