Spanish side dishes

[quesadillas]

Hi,

Doing Boxing Day for the family. I've chosen a Spanishy chicken and chorizo casserole. Any ideas for sides? I'm a bit stuck. It's quite tomatoey, so patatas bravas are probably out - I thought I'd maybe do some plain sauteed potatoes. But what else? Things that have crossed my mind, maybe a bean dish, a friend suggested green beans, maybe something with courgettes. And a big leafy salad. Any ideas? I'm usually pretty good with food, but this has stumped me a bit!

Thanks!

Something ricey?

Rice could be good. Maybe a veggie paella or similar.

I'd still like to do something green on the side. I've even looked at the menu in a nearby tapas restaurant for ideas, but nothing's appealing!

Sounds lovely

Spinach with pine nuts
Kale with raisins and onions
roasted veg on Valencia rice

Ooh, I like the idea of spinach with pine nuts!

I'd still do patatas bravas as they're bloody lovely!

I'm not sure it's Spanish, but Mediterranean I guess... slowly sauteed courgettes and garlic, with some toasted pinenuts chucked in near the end

And yy to patatas bravas!

Spinach with toated pine nuts and raisins (espinacas a la catalana)

Roast red peppers(should be fleshy)peel and tear into strips. Cook slivers of garlic in olive oil over very low heat to infuse. Add pepper strips,salt and if liked a little flaked chilli

Slice unpeeled aubergine, put in colander with salt. Rinse,pat dry with kitchen paper. Salt and pepper, coat lightly with flour or dip in light batter and fry in olive oil. Drain on kitchen paper, can be served drizzled with black treackle (this is tradional in Malaga)aubergine may be sliced or wedged. Easier to fry sliced

Escalivada (dish from catalonia)
Roast veg in the oven. Red pepper, aubergine, tomato, purple onion, optional garlic cloves.
Peel and tear into strips. Place veg side by side on serving dish. Sprinkle with sea salt or salt maldon. Generous drizzle of good olive oil.
Serve with rustic toasted bread.
This is amazing

These all sound great, thanks!

Tortilla de calabacin(courguette tortilla)
Slice unpeeled corguette. Dry thorouly with kitchen paper. Slice onion thinly and cook over low heat, add sliced leaks, after a few minutes when onions and leaks are almost done add courgette slices.
Cook unfil done, salt and pepper. Beat eggs, drain vegetables and add to beaten eggs.
Set as for spanish tortilla.
This is made just the same as spanish tortilla but using fewer eggs ratio to vegetable.improve

A strange one from Andalusia: grilled aubergine with 'honey' which is here more like sugarcane syrup. But it might be nice with maple syrup in stead, the cane syrup is not very nice tbh.
It's more of a starter but such an unexpected taste it might work as a side dish.

Broad beans and ham is nice:
broad beans, Serrano ham, chopped onion, finely chopped (spring onion is nice or fresh onion with the greens)
2 tablespoons of olive oil, Fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)
Salt and Pepper

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the beans and continue to boil for 5-10 minutes, until just tender.
Drain them and place in a bowl of cold water to stop them from cooking further.
Unless the beans are young and tiny, peel off the outer skins.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes, until soft but not brown. Add the beans.

Stir in the ham and parsley and check the seasoning. Remember the ham is salty so do not add salt until after you have tasted to see if more is required. I doubt it will be.

Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle with the remaining oil if so desired. But do not use too much oil.

Molly
I just love the broad beans with ham and egg.
I was once very sick after eating a huge plate of this at 1:00 am

Used to work a very long shift and after running around for about 12 hr shift I was ravenous. I got home early hours and cooked the broad beans with serrano ham, not happy with that I added two fried eggs on top.
I was soooo sick.
You'd think I was put off, NO it's still one of my favourite dishes and have it almost weekly.

I love it too, but I don't like eggs with dinner (or late at night haha!) Great for lunch, with some bread and a bit of lettuce. Never used to like broad beans but like this I love them.

Broad beans with chorizo and tomatoes and onions is also great but there's already tomato and chorizo with the chicken so that's no good for OP.

Here's one my friend makes: wrap asparagus stalks (woody ends cut off) in Serrano ham (3 to one slice if you like), drizzle a bit of olive oil over and roast. Very salty and very delicious. They can be served with a dollop of garlic mayo but really just need some bread for mopping up yummy oil.

Oh and very easy and not quite Spanish:
Grate courgette in an oven dish, season it, top it with bread crumbs/grated cheese mixture (spanish cheese works but cheddar works fine as well)
Bung in the oven till topping is golden brown and crispy, done!
You can top it with potatoes mashed or just squased and crumbled as well, in stead of the breadcrumbs. Don't forget the cheese though. Nice!

Those all sound amazing! I might try out a couple this weekend. They might not go with what we're having this weekend, but worth a practice!

Padron peppers if you can get them, just fry in olive oil til skins blister and serve with salt.
Patatas bravas with aioli or garlic mayo & smoked paprika rather than tomato sauce
Potato croquettes with ham

Aaaargh, Molly and TheNumber you've made me crave berenjenas con miel now - one of my absolute favourites and I can never make it properly myself (always soggy)!