Category: Side Dishes

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Thai Cucumber Salad

To round out the Thai trifecta, here’s a recipe that’s great with the Pad Thai and Chicken Satay recipes I shared recently. This cool and slightly sweet salad is the perfect complement to any Thai dish, especially if you like your food spicy. Prepare it the day before you serve it to really let the dressing soak into the veggies.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 1 cup Hot Water
  • 1/2 cup White Wine Vinegar
  • 1 tsp. Salt
  • 2 Large Cucumbers
  • 1/2 cup Red Onion, coarsely chopped

Directions

  1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together sugar, water, vinegar, and salt.
  2. Peel, slice, and quarter cucumbers, and place in bowl with vinegar mixture.
  3. Add chopped onion to bowl, and toss to combine.
  4. Refrigerate at least one hour (preferably overnight) before serving.
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Spinach & Parmesan Orzo

My daughter is a self-described “carb-ivore” and it was always a struggle to get her to eat her vegetables (or anything other than starchy foods) as a kid. After one ill-fated attempt to convince her that cauliflower au gratin was made from noodles, I started improvising with recipes like this one. That said, this is a simple but satisfying side dish for many meals.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Orzo Pasta
  • 1 Large Clove Garlic
  • 1/4 cup Butter or Margarine
  • 1/2 cup Frozen Spinach (thawed and drained)
  • 1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

  1. Boil orzo per package directions. Drain and keep warm.
  2. Peel and finely mince garlic.
  3. In a large skillet, melt butter or margarine over medium heat.
  4. Add garlic to skillet and saute for about two minutes.
  5. Add spinach to skillet and cook until hot, stirring to mix well with garlic and butter or margarine.
  6. Reduce heat to low, and add cooked orzo to skillet. Mix vigorously until pasta is well combined with spinach mixture.
  7. Add parmesan to skillet and mix well.
  8. Remove from heat and serve, adding a little sprinkle of extra parmesan on top of each serving.
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Cauliflower Au Gratin

Poor cauliflower. It’s always the last lonely vegetable left on the crudité platter. Maybe that’s because there’s no better way to eat cauliflower than when it’s smothered with cheese! This recipe also works well with cauliflower’s slightly more popular cousin, broccoli, and with a wide variety of cheeses.

Ingredients

  • 1 Large Head of Cauliflower
  • 5 tbsp. Butter or Margarine
  • 3 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 cups Whole Milk
  • 3 cups Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
  • 1 tbsp. Finely Minced Onion
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs

Directions

  1. Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.
  2. Cook cauliflower in a large pot of boiling water until tender.
  3. Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray.
  4. Drain cauliflower well and arrange in prepared baking dish. Set aside.
  5. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  6. In a medium-sized sauce pan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat.
  7. When melted and bubbling, add flour and stir to create a bubbly paste.
  8. Slowly add milk, stirring to thoroughly combine with the margarine and flour mixture.
  9. Cook and stir until it begins to thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Do not allow to boil.
  10. Slowly add cheddar cheese, stirring constantly.
  11. Cook and stir until all cheese is melted and sauce thickens.
  12. Add onion and salt and stir until incorporated into cheese sauce.
  13. Pour cheese sauce over cauliflower in baking dish, and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
  14. Cook in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
  15. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Sneaky Trick: Did you drain your cauliflower but it’s still really wet and soupy? Set the uncovered pot back on the cooling burner you just used while cooking it to generate a little steam and reduce the water content. Remember to turn the cauliflower frequently so it doesn’t crisp or burn on the bottom. This works great for boiled potatoes, too!

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Purple-icious Coleslaw

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a food processor, this is just the ticket. However, if you insist on doing this by hand, you might want to keep the band-aids handy as it will require a LOT of grating and chopping. This coleslaw has all of the cabbage (and more) of a traditional recipe, with a sweet, tangy dressing that even people who don’t like coleslaw will enjoy.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Large Head of Green Cabbage
  • 1/4 Large Head of Red Cabbage (Who are we kidding? It’s purple!)
  • 4 Large Carrots
  • 1/2 inch Center Slice of a Large Onion
  • 1/3 cup White Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1/4 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
  • 1/4 cup Whole Milk
  • 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup Buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. White Wine Vinegar
  • 2 1/2 tbsp. Lemon Juice

Directions

  1. Slice the Green Cabbage and Red Cabbage into sections suitable for your food processor, removing the toughest part of the center cores and stems.
  2. Run the Onion, Green Cabbage, Red Cabbage, and Carrots through the food processor using the grater attachment. (If you have a small food processor, you can do this in several batches.)
  3. Transfer vegetable mixture to a large bowl, and mix until all vegetables are distributed evenly.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, salt, ground black pepper, milk, mayonnaise, buttermilk, white wine vinegar, and lemon juice, and whisk together until thoroughly combined.
  5. Pour over vegetable mixture and mix until all vegetables are well coated.
  6. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight. The dressing will soak into the vegetables and will turn purple from the cabbage, too!
  7. Toss to ensure even distribution of the dressing before serving.

Sneaky Trick: If you want a finer texture for your slaw, chop everything in the food processor a second time using the chopping blade after grating. If you want a chunkier texture, use the slicer attachment instead of the grater attachment. The world is your oyster when you have a food processor!

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