3 Side Dishes for Your Summer Cookout
Your summer cookout isn't complete without the side dishes! We've rounded up three quick and tasty recipes that will please a crowd: chicken tortellini salad, zucchini noodle salad, and grilled potato skewers.
Chicken Tortellini Salad
Featuring fresh tortellini, bacon, spinach, and chicken tossed in a bold, creamy pesto sauce.
What you need
Salad
- 1 package Cucina Fresca Four Cheese Tortellini, cooked, drained, and rinsed with cool water
- 1 package Applegate Grilled Chicken Strips, diced
- 1/2 bag of Fresh Express Baby Spinach
- 3 slices of your favorite bacon, cooked and chopped*
*Optional
Dressing
- 1/4 cup Smith Brothers Farms Heavy Whipping Cream
- 4 oz. Cucina Fresca Pesto Sauce
- 2 tsp. garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Combine all ingredients for the salad and toss together. Gently stir pesto into the heavy whipping cream. Add garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour over salad and mix. Serve immediately.
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Summer Zucchini Salad
Light, colorful, and crunchy salad coated in a toasted sesame dressing.
What you need
Salad
- 12 oz. Pacific Coast Fruit Zucchini Noodles, cut into smaller lengths if desired
- 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
- 3 carrots, cut into matchsticks
Dressing
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. ground pepper
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes*
*Optional
Instructions
Mix zucchini noodles, sliced onion, and matchstick carrots in a large bowl until combined.
In a medium bowl, add vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, then whisk until salt and honey have dissolved. Pour sesame oil in slowly while whisking, and continue whisking until sauce is well incorporated.
Pour dressing over vegetables, and toss to coat. For best results, allow to sit for an hour in the refrigerator, tossing occasionally to redistribute sauce.
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Grilled Potato Skewers
Baby potatoes, onions, and red peppers basted in a buttery herb sauce that's grilled to perfection.
What you need
- Bamboo skewers, soaked for an hour in water
- 1 package Tasteful Selections Garden Herb Potatoes
- 2 tbsp. Smith Brothers Farms Butter
- 1 sweet onion
- 1 red bell pepper
Instructions
Preheat gas grill on high (or have your charcoal ready to go). Cut onion into quarters, leaving the ends intact. Slice quarters parallel to end, and cut those strips into inch squares. Set aside.
Core the red bell pepper, and cut into one-inch wide strips, then slice strips into one-inch squares. Microwave potatoes according to the package (reserve the seasoning), and remove to cool slightly before handling.
Thread onion, pepper, and potatoes onto skewers until you're out of potatoes. (We found that approximately 4 potatoes per skewer was just about right!) Melt butter in a small bowl, and add seasoning packet from potatoes.
Brush some of the butter mixture onto skewers, and place on grill. Continue basting with the butter mixture as the onions and peppers cook. Remove from the grill when vegetables are cooked as desired and potatoes have some grill marks, approximately 10 minutes.