Sides always stump me

[cruelshoes]

My mother did not like to cook. When I was raised, dinner always consisted of 3 things: a main dish, a side dish (usually a starch) and a fruit or vegetable. No more, no less. Pork chops, potato, green salad. Chicken, rice-a-roni and canned peaches. Chili, cornbread and corn. You get the idea.

I am running out of ideas for side dishes. Usually I make one of the following: rice (which my son does not like), cornbread, biscuits or pasta with butter and herbs. Main dishes I am OK with, as well as fruits and vegetables (trying to have 2 at dinner instead of 1 like my mom did). For some reason, side dishes are the hardest part for me.

What are your favorite side dishes? Some times it seems like the old standards don't "go" with whatever I am cooking for dinner, and my brain is groping for something new.

Patiently awaiting your creativity.
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-Colleen
Dx 8/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
9-YO son Dx 11/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
Daughters have negative bloodwork - so far!

A woman is like a tea bag-you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. - Eleanor Roosevelt

[Kimmus]

In the summer, when grilling, our favorite side is potato packets. Just slice up some potatoes and put them on a big square of tin foil. Add anything* else you'd like, put a big dallop of butter on them and fold up the foil so that it's sealed inside. This is the first thing I put on the grill -- It can be kind of tricky to know when they are done, but we just make sure they are the first thing on the grill and the last thing off.

*The best part is adding stuff in. Most often, we just add some diced onions. I've also added sweet potato slices, carrots, fresh mushrooms, the list goes on. My 8-year old -- who doesn't like potatoes will even eat them this way.

Wow -- that would be hard with someone who doesn't care for rice. Seems we always have either potatoes or rice as our starch. My daughter likes rice with Kraft Italian Salad Dressing on it. Not my cup of tea, but she likes it that way.

A friend of mine throws in fresh beets when she makes mashed potatoes. Her kids think pink mashed potatoes are really cool. She said you can't taste it -- I haven't tried it yet.
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Kim --
Mom of a celiac teen (GF BD Oct-04)

[Kathie]

Lets see we sometimes have baked beans. Potatoes - baked, mashed, hash browns, fried. Red potatoes diced with olive oil, garlic and herbs and baked. Sweet potatoes. My husband makes many different types of bean soup and we often have that with some type of meat and vegetable also. However many times we have more than one type of vegetable instead of a starch (usually a starchy vegetable like corn or stir fry pea pods with olive oil and garlic).
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CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

[The Edifying Conscience]

From the top of my head and a peak at my recipe account. Here are sides that I make from time to time:

Quinoa Tabbouleh, Moroccan, etc, etc.
Cold Sesame Noodles
Polenta in its many forms--soft, cakes, etc.
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potato Gratin
New Potatoes with Shallots and Garlic
Roasted Rosemary Garlic Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes--4 varieties Plain, Garlic, Chipotle and Celeriac
Sliced potatoes, tomatoes and onion formed into a round and roasted
Potato Gratin with Boursin
Potato Salad
Puff Potatoes
Funeral Potatoes
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Spaetzle
Dumplings
Baked Spaghetti Squash
Baked Acorn Squash
Balsamic Roasted Pumpkin or Butternut Squash
GF Orzo cooked a myriad of ways - lemon, 'risotto, hot with red wine vinaigrette & sauteed veggies and feta, etc.
Lemon Angel Hair Pasta with Parmesan
Zucchini and Yellow Squash Gratins
Risotto
Risotto Cakes
Buffalo Chicken Rice sans chicken
Sticky aka Sweet Rice
Arroz Verde
Basmati Rice cooked plain or with saffron, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, cloves, etc.
Jasmine Rice
Artichoke Bread or Tomato Bread
Tortillas
Fresh Bread - Yogurt and Honey Quick Bread is great with soup

[ostrich]

"Side dish"? What is this "side dish" thing you speak of?
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Ostrich :>--O==={

I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of

[The Edifying Conscience]

[Torrey]

Tee hee, TEC & Os!

Colleen--I completely understand; my mom wasn't (isn't) much of a cook, either. Growing up, both of my parents worked (dad = attorney, mom = social worker), so once we were all old enough, we were all pretty much on our own. To this day, I rarely eat all of that stuff together (main dish, side dish, fruit/veggie). I usually eat a lot of small "meals" throughout the day instead.

I don't know if you have seen them, but Lundberg makes those rice pouch things (like Uncle Ben's) that you heat up in the microwave for 60-90 seconds, and all but one flavor is labeled gluten-free. Personally, I really like them, and they are SUPER easy and NO MESS!!

Going on Kimmus' idea, another thing to do with potatoes on the grill is to dice up red/new potatoes and get some GF Italian dressing. Put that all in a foil packet and throw it on the grill--it's mighty tasty!
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~Torrey

August 24, 1975
GF BD July 12, 2004

[Kimmus]

Thanks, Torrey. That sounds good with the Italian dressing in the potato packet... we'll have to try that.

I'd forgotten about quinoa... we like that one as well.

Kathie makes a good point... if you have a starchy vegetable, you probably don't even need another starch. Seems a lot of GF foods already have more carbs than their non-GF counterparts, so we more than likely aren't lacking in that area.
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Kim --
Mom of a celiac teen (GF BD Oct-04)

[isto]

Colleen, I remember on another thread you mentioned that when you have baked potatoes, you make extra for your lunch at work. You can also refrigerate extra baked potatoes, then the next night, cube them, toss with sliced onion, garlic, whatever seasoning you like and fry in hot oil - really great home fries. They go great with chicken.

Or, cook a 1/2 lb of pasta to the consistency you like it. Drain. While your cooking pot is empty, put in 2 T butter or margarine and melt. Then add 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (canned evaporated is good, if you can stomach the dairy), about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and 2-3 teaspoons of DRY Italian salad dressing mix. Add the pasta to the sause, toss and serve! Scrumptious!!!

Or shred raw potatoes. Throw in some sliced onion. Add egg, GF flour, salt and pepper. Put "pancake" sized amounts in a small amount of hot oil in frying pan to make potato pancakes.

Use left-over white steamed rice and veggies to make fried rice.

Toss raw, cubed potaotes with GF dry onion soup mix and a small amount of oil. Roast in the oven.

Toss cooked pasta with pesto. I've also mixed pesto into cooked white rice and we loved it!
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