Interesting side dishes?

[teacupnic]

Has anyone got any ideas of interesting side dishes to serve with meat, fish etc?

I tend to make the same things like mashed or new potatoes and steamed veg. I'd like to be a bit more adventurous but nothing too time consuming.

What are your favourites to make? There's only me, DH and a 10 month old so no fussy kid to please yet!

stir fry veg in fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil and soy?

Red carmargue rice with spring onions and mangetout stirred in?

Roast potato wedges tossed in a tiny but of oil mixed with garlic paste and either smoky paprika or chopped rosemary?

Salad of thinly sliced fennel, oranges and fresh mint with a honey balsamic dressing?

These sound lovely. I've made wedges before but forgot about that option. Will definitely try smoked paprika on them!

I never think about rice as a side normally other than with chilli or curry. Never tried red rice either so that would be different.

Was reminded of bean mash as an option when reading a recipe book this morning so will give hat a go.

I love baked Polenta with cheese. Make the Polenta, pour half in the dish, dot with cheese (I love mozzarella, DP loves gorgonzola) pour the other half of Polenta over, dot with more cheese and bake! Yum

And savoy cabbage with pancetta and white wine.
Can't link so will write (yes I love it so much I'll write it out for you!)
Olive oil 3Tbsp
1 red onion
75g pancetta
3Tbsp white wine
750g savoy cabbage finely shredded
280ml veg stock
Salt and pepper
Heat oil, cook onion and pancetta for 5 mins. Pour in wine and cook for 2 mins. Add cabbage and stock and simmer with lid on for 25 mins. Take lid off for an additional 5 mins. Season, serve.

Fresh tomatoes in balsamic vinegar.

Rice salad. things that go in well (maybe not all together!) artichoke hearts, peas, olives, yellow, green and red pepper, soya beans, tomato, spring onion, sweetcorn, feta, butternut squash, seeds, nuts, carrot, fennel....all I can think of for now!

Coleslaw
Potato salad
Wraps with salad
Veggie sticks and dips (my DD loves these) like hummus, guacamole, salsa
Potato cakes
Roast veggies, peppers, sweet potato, tomatoes, courgette, sliced and dribbled with olive oil and baked in the oven, sprinkle with spices if you like
And for a treat, potato dauphinois (sp?)

Salsa style salads. My current fave is avocado and sweetcorn. Drain a large tin of sweetcorn (you can also use fresh or frozen), dry fry in a large frying pan until nicely toasted. Combine in a bowl with a couple of chopped ripe avocados, thinly sliced red onion and a little chopped tomato. A little finely chopped chilli and coriander is also optional. Squeeze over the juice of a lime and drizzle with olive oil. I guess it's a variation of guacamole..

Butterbean mash with lamb!

shameless placemarking. only 5 posts in but it's brilliant

green bean (runners or mange tout) and baked beans - served cold as a salad dish

Also lettuce cups. Cos work well as the are very rounded. Full with grated carrot and finely sliced peppers, cucumber, radishes, spring onion, watercress ect. Tomato doesn't work well for some reason

Ans cabbage cups. put veg on a cabbage leaf, wrap cabbage around veg, tie up with string and steam for 15 mins

Some lovely ideas, thanks. I've been scouring my recipe books for inspiration but find it much more interesting and useful to find out what real people eat!

With the cabbage cups you can put mince (already cooked) in with the veg. I like turkey mince. You can also spoon passatta over the cups.

I make batches of ratatouille (HFW's recipe in his veg book is lovely) and freeze, it goes with most meat and fish.

Also love homemade baked beans with lots of things but especially sausages.

I live inspirational threads like this

Quinoa with diced carrot and wilted spinach

Spinach sautéed in butter with garlic and nutmeg.

Quinoa and bulgar wheat with butter and salt.

Giant couscous with garlic mushrooms.

Pilaf

Ratatouille

Braised red cabbage.

Warm salads.

Slow cooked beetroot, apple and red cabbage.
Mini individual quiche
Lentil and veg
Nut loaf bake

Homemade mushy peas.

Cook your peas, with a chopped clove of garlic. Drain. Mash with a potato masher. Add a bit of mint sauce, s & p plus a couple of spoons of creme fraiche and mash some more. Bloomin' lovely.

Buttered savoy is gorgeous. Vegetable fusspot d2 gobbles up stacks of the stuff.

Agree that chopped 'salsa' type sides work really well - things like mango or peach salsa, an unmashed guacamole, tomato salsa all lovely.

Potato Dauphinoise, a family favourite with roasts, BBQ, etc, a bit of a faff but you can make it in advance and stick it in the oven when you're ready.

Baby new potatoes with a generous dollop of wholegrain mustard stirred through.

Roast onions, peppers, courgette, baby corn with a jar of salsa

Sweed and parsnip mash
Carrot and sweet potato mash
Broccoli and potato mash
cauliflower "rice"

We do a lovely cheesy leek bake which goes quite well with sausages (in our house) and other veg.

Basically sweat off two chopeed leeks and par boil some sliced potatoes maybe about 1cm thick max. Then make cheese sauce. Layer potatoes in an oven proof dish, spread the leeks over the top then pour over the cheese sauce and sprinkle with a bit of extra cheese and bake until golden brown on top. It could be a meal on it's own but I prefer it as a side.

Peel and thinly slice cucumber. Sprinkle with salt. Put aside. Drain water by squeezing cucumber. Add some sour cream. Can add some dill too.
It is Polish side dish called mizeria.