I think side dishes are so hard to come up with.  We all kinda get stuck in a rut when it comes to veggies-steamed broccoli, green beans, blah, blah…  And, lets face it the kids don’t like veggies and I know a lot of adults that don’t like veggies which makes it even harder to get those greens down.  I will make it my mission to come up with some new, healthy side dishes this summer.  I’ll keep ya posted! Send me your thoughts!!!

Now the dish of the hour is not “healthy”, but it is so good.  I will work on a “healthy” version of this dish and post it. But, in the meantime this side dish goes perfectly with BBQ, grilled chicken, shrimp, pork… Put it with anything and it makes whatever you are serving better:)

 

Confetti Corn

6-8 Servings

8 slices bacon, chopped
2- 12oz. packages of frozen corn kernels, white or yellow
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1- 2.5oz can mild green chilies (use canned diced jalapenos for spicier)
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped (about 1/2 of a large bell pepper)
4oz. cream cheese, cubed (1/2 a block)
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 green onions, chopped

In a large non-stick skillet, cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove to a paper towel to drain.  Keep about 1 Tablespoon of bacon grease in skillet.

To the bacon drippings, add corn, onion, green chilies and red pepper and cook until vegetables are tender, about 6-8 minutes.  

Add the cream cheese and milk, stirring until the cream cheese melts and the mixture is evenly combined.

Stir in half of the bacon, green onions, sugar, salt and pepper.

Serve warm topped with reserved bacon. 

Note:

This dish can be made in advance.  Put the cooked mixture into an oven safe dish and sprinkle with bacon.  Cover with foil and store in fridge.  When ready to serve heat oven to 350°.  Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. 

To cut the calories use skim milk and low fat cream cheese.