Vegetable Side Dish Suggestion

I'm in a side dish rut. I need a vegetable side dish idea to serve alongside Melissa Clark's "My Mother's Garlic and Thyme Roasted Chicken Parts with Mustard Croutons" and Jacques Pepin's "My Mother's Cheese Souffle". I'm having Sunday dinner. Any ideas would be appreciated!

Third Floor Kitchen
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6 Comments

mochai February 11, 2012
Ratatouille!
 
Third F. February 11, 2012
Thanks for the suggestions! Since the chicken and soufflé (which is rich with Gruyere), I think i'm going to make the simple simmered asparagus. I don't why I have such a hard time with veg pairings but I do. I get in a rut and never know how to break out of my usual repertoire.
 
angiegeyser February 11, 2012
I made asparagus with cheese soufflé for dinner tonight... A wonderful combination! I simmered the asparagus in salted water with a couple slices of lemon until fork tender.
 
SKK February 11, 2012
Absurdly Addictive Asparagus http://www.food52.com/recipes/4023_absurdly_addictive_asparagus
Also, an favorite is Shirley O Corriher's Grean Beans with Gar
Fresh Green Bean Salad With Basil And Tomatoes http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106604562#106605361 Cut and pasted recipe below. This is a major hit and will go nicely with your chicken and souffle.

T. Susan Chang for NPR
Shirley Corriher, the wisecracking, infinitely knowledgeable kitchen wizard, blanches her green beans with sugar as well as salt. Because the dressing's sweet, I tend to omit the sugar in the blanching water. If you don't have a food processor to make the dressing, you can try using a blender. This makes quite a lot of dressing. Adapted from Cookwise by Shirley Corriher (Morrow 1997).

Makes 8 servings

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon salt (4 teaspoons total)

1 recipe garlic-basil dressing (below)

5 firm ripe tomatoes, sliced

4 sprigs fresh basil for garnish

Trim the stem ends of the green beans (you can leave the pointed tips). Halve the longer ones if you wish.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. While the water's heating, fill a large bowl with ice water (using at least a dozen cubes of ice). Once the water boils, add the beans and cook briefly: 1 or 2 minutes for tiny haricots, 4 or 5 for bigger beans. Don't walk away. Drain the beans quickly. Then shock them by dumping them in the ice water, agitating them briefly until they are quite cool (about a minute). Then drain again and set aside. They can be refrigerated in a tightly sealed plastic bag for several hours with no loss of color or texture. If you do refrigerate, first dry them extra-thoroughly on a dish towel.

When ready to serve, toss the green beans with 1/3 cup of the dressing in a large mixing bowl. Taste and add more dressing or salt as needed. Pile the beans high in the center of a large white platter. Arrange the tomato slices overlapping around the edge. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt, and drizzle 3 tablespoons of the dressing on top of them. Garnish with the basil sprigs. Serve immediately.

Garlic-Basil Dressing

1 clove garlic

1 shallot

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 cup canola, corn or other vegetable oil

15 fresh basil leaves

Turn on the processor with the steel knife and drop the garlic and shallot down the feed tube onto the spinning blade to mince. Add the vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard and sugar. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the oil. Add the basil leaves and coarsely chop with several on/off pulses.
 
ChezShea February 11, 2012
Asparagus spears sauted in browned butter: Easy,fast...always enjoyed.
Trim ends off asparagus,cut each stalk in half.Melt a tabl. of butter in skillet, medium heat until butter begins to turn brown. Add asparagus cook until crisp-tender, stir frequently. Add 1/2 tsp chopped fresh sage and 1/4 tsp grated lemon zest, 1/8 tsp sea salt , a pinch of pepper flakes. Cook one minute more sprinkle with fresh grated parmesean cheese. I've added extremely thin sliced onion and a squeeze of lemon to the mix successfully, but depends on the crowd as you may well know
 
jmburns February 11, 2012
Insalada di Farro by David Rocco on cookingchanneltv.com. Even the leftovers reheated are great.
 
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