Favorite Summer Sides?

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Kayelle

Kayelle

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Since Summer is on the way, I thought this may be a good thread for sharing your favorites.

Here's a family favorite side dish for grilled Summer food. It's especially good with grilled pork ribs.


Sauerkraut Salad

1 qt. sauerkraut
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 sm. jar pimentos
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup salad oil
2/3 cup vinegar

Place kraut in a colander, drain and slightly rinse with water pressing out water. Coarsely chop the kraut with kitchen shears. In a large bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients till blended and add the kraut, veggies, and drained jar of pimentos. Refrigerate covered for several hours or over nite, and pour off excess liquid before serving.






 
Copied and printed! Love the idea of a kraut salad. Nobody in my family will eat kraut except for me. I can make this just for myself and keep it in the frig.
 
 
Fresh fruit of the day salads...all summer long.

I also now love Kale salad

Kale Salad

Dressing
1/4 c EVOO
1/4 c Cider vinegar
Zest of meyer lemon
3 T meyer lemon juice
1 T honey

whisk together

4 c kale, chopped
1 c dried cranberries
1/2 c pecans, chopped
2 green onions, sliced

Toss, dress and chill.

Wasabi Ahi Tuna Salad
Serves 4

1 pound Ahi Tuna, seared and chunked
Salad Greens
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing
3 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons wasabi powder, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh shredded ginger
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or favorite salad oil
2 green onions, finlely sliced with green tops

Mix all dressing ingredients together, allow to mellow in fridge for 30 minutes. Toss Tuna in the dressing, marinate for 15 minutes. Place rinsed and dried salad greens on 4 serving plates, divide the Marinated Tuna and dressing, top the salads, separate red onion slices and sprinkle over the tuna. Serve Cold.

Ramen Salad

Favorite ramen recipe:
4 packages of ramen, cooked, drained and chilled (throw away the flavor packets)
1 cup sliced green onions, green and white parts
1 large red pepper, seeded and diced
2 cups baby bok choy, sliced thin

Dressing:
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon light olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced ginger root
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Mix all together and serve chilled.
 
Sliced tomatoes
Slices of oranges (not the segments)
Thinly sliced sweet onion. If no sweet onion, sprinkle salt on regular onion slices, let sit for a while then squeeze and rinse lightly.
Ripe olives pitted (or pitted Kalmatas)

A splash of vinaigrette. Or perhaps just some white Balsamic.

It's a pretty dish and can be arranged on some lettuce. No cooking!
 
My son makes what looks like a plain white rice recipe but it is so subtle and inviting. He cooks the rice in chicken broth with a couple of bay leaves. Then he adds rice vinegar, and fresh cilantro. Simple but addicting.

I make a side of couscous with sautéed onions, minced garlic, lemon juice, broccoli flowerets, S&P, and Parmesan cheese. This is a great side dish/vegetable when you don't have a lot of time.

Scratch-made oven baked sweet potato fries. Slice'em up thin, place on an olive oil sprayed cookie sheet then spray more olive oil over the top and season liberally with S & P. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20 mins.

BTW, I have two "Misto's" which are pump sprayers made for vegetable oils. I have one for olive oil and another for vegetable oil. They work beautifully, especially when lightly basting something in the oven or lightly sautéing something in a pan.
 
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chiklitmanfan said:
BTW, I have two "Misto's" which are pump sprayers made for vegetable oils. I have one for olive oil and another for vegetable oil. They work beautifully, especially when lightly basting something in the oven or lightly sautéing something in a pan.
Click to expand...

I love my Misto, with olive oil in it. Maybe time to buy another one?:)
 
I must have been living under a rock. I don't recall any discussions regarding Dragon Lady Noodles. I like Asian Noodles. This one's getting "taped" to the top of the recipe box >> e-recipes.

Favorite summer sides I don't see mentioned yet include Texas Caviar, Tabbouleh, Grilled pineapple or peach halves. Fresh Sliced Tomatoes>> don't need to get too fancy when local or home grown tomatoes are first available, Watermelon, corn on the cob.

I like and make "summer" pickles, basically marinated cukes in vinegar/ sugar and a little water. Add any of the following you are in the mood for-- coriander seeds, celery seed, mustard seed, sliced hot pepper, dill or dill seed, a little sesame oil, sliced/minced ginger. you get the idea. Also good in winter when you need to bring a little summer indoors when blizzards keep you locked up. Also good using sliced zukes, cooked carrots or green bean leftovers. Also good when removed from the marinade and a little sour cream is stirred in.

" French" potato salad. Not sure why this is called French. Basically cook sliced skin on red skin potatoes, stir in some sour cream, maybe a little yogurt but no mayo, stir in some sweet onion dice, green onion tops
and maybe some minced dill.

Roasted potato salad. Dice peeled/ or not/ potatoes bite size. Toss in olive oil, snipped rosemary & fresh sage leaves, garlic powder. Into a hot oven until roasty toasty colored. Serve warm or room temp. Travels and keeps safely for picnics where mayo may be an issue.

And if mayo is not a serving issue, make devilled eggs. Lots of them.
 
Just wanted to mention, re: mayonnaise in summer salads: Salads with mayo are no more dangerous than any other food. It was a problem years ago when people made their own mayo from raw eggs, but commercial mayo is now made with pasteurized eggs. FDA food safety guidelines say that cooked foods should be left at room temperature for no more than two hours.
 
Whiskadoodle said:
I must have been living under a rock. I don't recall any discussions regarding Dragon Lady Noodles. I like Asian Noodles. This one's getting "taped" to the top of the recipe box >> e-recipes.

Favorite summer sides I don't see mentioned yet include Texas Caviar, Tabbouleh, Grilled pineapple or peach halves. Fresh Sliced Tomatoes>> don't need to get too fancy when local or home grown tomatoes are first available, Watermelon, corn on the cob.

I like and make "summer" pickles, basically marinated cukes in vinegar/ sugar and a little water. Add any of the following you are in the mood for-- coriander seeds, celery seed, mustard seed, sliced hot pepper, dill or dill seed, a little sesame oil, sliced/minced ginger. you get the idea. Also good in winter when you need to bring a little summer indoors when blizzards keep you locked up. Also good using sliced zukes, cooked carrots or green bean leftovers. Also good when removed from the marinade and a little sour cream is stirred in.

" French" potato salad. Not sure why this is called French. Basically cook sliced skin on red skin potatoes, stir in some sour cream, maybe a little yogurt but no mayo, stir in some sweet onion dice, green onion tops
and maybe some minced dill.

Roasted potato salad. Dice peeled/ or not/ potatoes bite size. Toss in olive oil, snipped rosemary & fresh sage leaves, garlic powder. Into a hot oven until roasty toasty colored. Serve warm or room temp. Travels and keeps safely for picnics where mayo may be an issue.

And if mayo is not a serving issue, make devilled eggs. Lots of them.
Click to expand...

;) Here ya go Wiska....starting back in 2010. https://www.google.com/search?q=Dra...=%A0&sitesearch=discusscooking.com&gws_rd=ssl

Thanks for all the yummy sounding ideas too. :chef:
 
My summer sides are dictated by what's growing/ ready in the garden.

Here are a few:

https://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?language=EN&recipeType=1&action=recipe&recipeID=3833

My best friend's grandma's marinated tomatoes:

Chunks of tomato, red onion, EVOO, white wine vinegar, S&P, fresh basil, fresh oregano, marinate overnight in the fridge.

One of the ways we eat zucchini:

zucchini, tomato, garlic, fresh oregano, green onions, chard sauteed in EVOO and tossed with some fresh basil and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Dump salad:

Baby greens (chard, kale, spinach, arugula, turnip/radish greens) tossed with EVOO and freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice, chives, French tarragon, cherry tomatoes, Chinese pea pods, pea shoots, nasturtium leaves, some lavage leaves or celery leaves, grated raw baby beets, kohlrabi, black raspberries and blue berries. Can't wait!!!

When the beans are ready:

First picked green beans, blanched and tossed with EVOO and curry power and tumeric, S&P, squeeze of lemon juice.

Swedish cucumber salad when the cucumbers and onions are ready:

http://www.food.com/recipe/swedish-cucumber-salad-pressgurka-235063

I add fresh dill instead of the caraway and use white wine vinegar.
 
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Oh no, Dawg! What a disappointment. Do you keep your sesame seeds in the fridge? I have a jar in there that I've had for about 6 months or so and they are still good, once I toast them. Same with fennel seeds...or any nuts or seeds. I just took some chopped pecans out of the freezer and toasted them for a salad and they crunched right back up. :)
 
Duh me. Where was my head? I always keep all my seeds in the fridge, and had bought the sesame seeds just for the DL noodles! Sadly, they spent their short lives in the spice cabinet. They expired in March. No hope for them.
 
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