BBQ Sides

Two BBQ sides to make your weekend sizzle.

An Old Fashioned BBQ Meal 

served with a side of Slow Cooker Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes
Cook's Notes: I was practically drooling smelling these potatoes cooking for 4 hours. What a fragrant aroma filling the kitchen. The recipe serves four but can easily be doubled. It was adapted from recipecritic.com It is a delicious side for any meal. 
Ingredients: 

• 6-8 medium sized red or yellow potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 cups sweet onions, diced
• 6 slices of bacon, halved
• 2½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 TB. from a dry ranch seasoning packet
• 1 T butter
• Optional ½ cup sliced green onions

Directions: 

• Line a cookie sheet with foil and bake bacon at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until crisp. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. 
• Line your slow cooker with aluminum foil. Leave enough to over hang so that you can wrap the potatoes on the top once in the slow cooker.
• Spray the inside of the foil with cooking spray and layer half of the potatoes along the bottom. Next layer with half of the cooked bacon, onions, 1 TB dry ranch dressing, and top with 1 cup cheese. Repeat the layers and top with cheese and butter, reserving ½ cup cheese.
• Bring the layers of foil together to enclose the potato mixture.  This helps them to steam and cook perfectly. Cover and cook on high for four hours in your slow cooker. Once finished, top with remaining ½ cup cheese. 

Veggie Salad with Ranch Dressing

Cook's Notes: It's not hard to understand why ranch dressing is so popular.It's creamy without being heavy, with a good herbal kick and a subtle garlic presence. A perfect summer salad for your next BBQ. Use a prepared dressing for easy preparation.
Ingredients: 

• 1 bottle prepared Ranch Cucumber Dressing or Lite Ranch Dressing (you will need about 1/3 cup)  
• 1 cup each diced broccoli florets, cucumbers and radishes 
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 3/4 cup red onions, diced

Directions:

• Mix veggies together  with onions in a bowl. Drizzle enough dressing to coat veggies.
• Refrigerate 30 minutes to chill.