A Party is a Great Excuse for New Dishes! Marinated Veggies & Succotash Salad

We had a big party this past weekend and lucked out with great weather for March. We brought out the smoker and I had a blast deciding what to put out with it. I love putting together a party menu! I put an obsessive amount of thought, reading, and brainstorming before making a final decision. I even buy a few back up things to have on hand just in case. Love it!! This year I browsed through all my books, jotting down tasty things that went well for a group and could sit out for the whole party. We had people arriving over the course of the day and I like to try and have fresh food at various intervals to keep things interesting. Here are a few things that I tested out on my friends.

Roasted Marinated Vegetables- Kitchen Secrets
The picture in this cookbook has been luring me for years. It shows all of the different vegetables, looking grilled and delicious. I love love love grilled vegetables, but they're such a pain to make and this particular picture looks pretty intimidating. When I was browsing through and finally read the method I realized that the veggies were baked and not grilled! I decided to make a grilled veggie try instead of my usual crudite and see how it went over. The recipe calls for a pound of new potatoes and I found miniature potatoes at Trader Joe's that were adorable. I thought it would be a fun substitute to the dish. I also used zucchini, red & green peppers, squash, eggplant and red onion. I decided to hold off on adding the mushrooms until the next day but ended up forgetting them the next day.

Sidebar- I hate slicing onions!!! No matter what I do or what tricks I try I end up with sore eyes for the next hour. These particular onions were a doozy.

After everything was cut up, I put all of the vegetables on a disposable baking tray, wrapped with saran wrap, and placed in the fridge for the next day. About an hour or so before the party started I removed the veggies & transferred everything into two pans; leaving a single layer on each pan. Baked everything for 15 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Once it was ready, I drizzled the marinade over everything and left out to cool. The original recipe stated to cook the potatoes first but since they were mini I cooked them all together. They were a little underdone, so I threw them back in the oven for a few minutes and all was well. I transferred everything to two platters and served with slices of fresh mozzeralla.

The trays were beautiful and exactly what I was hoping for! The vegetables were delicious, with the exception of the eggplant which was a little tough for my taste. The balsamic in the marinade was such a nice touch and it was nice to have a veggie option that was outside of the box. My only complaint was that I didn't put the leftovers away early enough and had to throw them away after being out all day. I would make this again and again! I want to try it next as a side dish to a pasta or lasagna meal, which is one that I often have trouble pairing veggies with.

Succotash Salad- Smoke &Spice
I love the new trend to use edamame beans as a replacement for lima beans in succotash recipes. Such a great idea! I knew that I wanted this type of salad for one of my side dishes and picked this one because it seemed fresh & simple. The recipe calls for baby string beans and I had planned on using frozen haricot verts that I keep in the freezer. Unfortunately, I didn't have them. All I had was frozen or canned green beans so I went the frozen route. They didn't thaw to the texture that I wanted so I grabbed a new bag at the last minute. The salad didn't take long at all. I combined the corn, green beans, edamame and celery and put them in the fridge the night before. On the day of the party, I added the shallots & parsley and mixed it all up with the vinaigrette before serving. Asthetically, it was a boring salad. In the future I would add carrots or something colorful to the mix to keep it from being boring. Maybe serve in a lettuce cup? It tasted very good, although I felt that there was way too much oil in the dressing. There was quite a bit leftover and I found it to be delicious when I heated it up as a dinner side dish later in the week. I would make the succotash again, but slightly altered the next time.

Roasted Marinated Vegetables- Kitchen Secrets
1lb small new potatoes, quartered
2T olive oil
1T chopped fresh rosemary or 1tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
1tsp salt
1 large sweet red pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into strips 1-inch wide
1 large sweet green pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into strips 1-inch wide
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch slices
1 medium yellow squash, cut into 1-inch slices
2 small red onions, cut into slim wedges
8oz button mushrooms, stemmed & wiped clean
2 cloves garlic, minced
*For the marinade
3T balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, or lemon juice
1T olive oil
1T chopped parsley
2tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp dried thyme
2tsp Dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, minced
1tsp finely grated lemon zest, optional
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450F. In a large shallow pan, toss potatoes with oil, rosemary, and salt. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
2. Stir in sweet peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Bake, uncovered, stirring frequently, until vegetables are lightly browned and tender- 35 to 45 minutes.
3. To prepare the marinade: In a small bowl, whish together vinegar, oil, parsley, thyme, mustard, garlic, lemon zest, salt & pepper until smooth. Pour marinade over vegetables in a roasting pan and stir gently but thoroughly to coat. Cool to room temperature. Makes 6 servings




Succotash Salad- Smoke Spice
8oz fresh thin young green beans, trimmed, and halved or thirded diagonal
2c cooked baby limas, butter beans, or shelled edamame, fresh or frozen
2c cooked corn kernels
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
2 large shallots, minced
2T minced fresh parsley
*Dressing
6T extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste
pinch or 2 of sugar
2T cider vinegar

1. Steam the beans over simmering water for a few brief minutes, just until tender. Run cold water over the beans to retain their bright green color and drain. Transfer the green beans, limas, corn, celery, shallots, & parsley to a large bowl.
2. Prepare the dressing, whisking together their ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss until completely combined, and chill covered for at least 1 hour. Serve chilled or at room temperature.