Side Dishes

I find that I very often neglect side dishes. I get very excited about the main attraction and don't even think until the last moment as to what would go well with it. It's not that I don't love a good side dish. I mean I am crazy for mashed potatoes and veggies cooked in any way shape or form. Maybe it's because I am both cheap and lazy. No maybe about it.

I think the hardest dish for me to come up with an accompaniment for is hamburgers. Hamburgers are so delicious and big (the way I make them) that really they don't need anything with them, but I always feel this sort of obligation to keep them from being lonely on the plate. Remember, cows have feelings too.

My two new favorite side dishes for grilling season are Mayo-free cole slaw and Grilled Potatoes. What I love about both of these dishes is that there are endless variations.

With the Mayo-free cole slaw I use 1/2 head of green cabbage, 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, and one onion. I slice it all very thin and put it in a bowl sprinkled with salt and pepper, 1 tbsp sugar, and a 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes. You set it aside while you make the dressing. In a sauce pan combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar (apple cider vinegar would be good too), 1 tsp of mustard powder, and 2 tsp of lime juice. Bring the ingredients to a boil then allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the dressing over the cabbage and refrigerate for at least two hours.

You can easily change it up with any seasonal ingredients that you want, as well as spices.

The potatoes are cooked in small foil packages (do not fill with more than 1/2 cup of potatoes in each package or they will take forever to cook) with olive oil, garlic, paprika and italian seasoning on the grill for 20 minutes. You can add anything you want to these potatoes. Cumin would yummy. Or curry. I also think some shallots would be delicious. You can seriously put whatever your heart desires on these potatoes and they will be fabulous. Unless of course you put something gross. But if you can ruin potatoes, there is probably no hope for you and you should make sure to have take out on your speed dial.