It's easy to get stuck in a rut with side dishes.......what are some of your favorites???And what do you usually have them with as a main dish???

__________________
Avoid Fruits~N~Nuts....you are what you eat!!!

I suppose we like what most people do, but I know what you mean about sides becoming monotonous after awhile. So, I do try to branch out on occasion.

What I really LOVE is this recipe one of my old boyfriends actually taught me to make - Candied Lemon-Dill Carrots!! (At least that's what I call it, anyways.) I usually only make this around the holidays, but I don't know why!! As cheap as carrots are right now, I just bought two big bunches and was wondering what I'd do with them. Now I think I'll make up a big batch of this and freeze some for later.

(I don't have measurements for all the ingrediants, or even the temp to bake this. It's more of a play-it-by-ear recipe, but it's so easy you can't mess it up. lol)

All you do is...

1. Cut up the carrots (leaving the skins on if you want) and place them in a casserole dish, or 13 X 9 pan. Doesn't matter. Whatever you have.
2. Toss them in a mixture of melted butter, a bit of lemon juice (to taste), and a dash of dill.
3. Spread out evenly in the pan then top with a sprinkling of brown sugar (as much as you want) then bake (at whatever temp. other dishes are baking at is fine) until carrots are tender and brown sugar is melted.

YUMMO!!! Even my picky 6 yr. old will eat these. (IF I put enough brn. sugar on them to make them sweet enough that is...) I suppose you could serve this with just about anything, but with turkey or roast chicken it's really good as a "sweeter side".

I suppose you could make these in the crock pot too, which is what I'm trying to do more of these (100+ degree) days around here!! I think I'm going to try this tomorrow!!

Another side we really like around here is "fried corn":
In a skillet, saute chopped onion, diced green (and/or red) bell peppers (and chopped jalepenos, if you dare!! lol) in olive oil until almost done. Then, add crushed garlic to the pan as well (to taste) and sautee for another few minutes, then dump in two drained cans of corn (and a little more olive oil if needed) and "fry" the corn until it's browned, stirring occasionally. (DH and I like it really browned. Almost burnt.) We serve this with chicken mostly, but it's good with anything you'd serve regular corn with.

HTH

For grilling, we really like to dice up potatoes and steam them in a foil packet with greek seasoning (Cavenders) and butter. They're awesome. We also steam cabbage with butter and onions in foil packets on the grill, and they are also great! I also love grilled green onions and bell peppers, or grilled asparagus tossed in olive oil and parmesan (Can you tell we're grilling a lot now?)

I love asparagus and hollandaise. If I'm turning the oven on, I'll make sweet green beans, I'm obsessed with those now.

__________________
It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

seasoned steamed rice
steamed veggies
corn on the cob
stuffing
flavored noodles

salads: potato, pasta, macaroni, ramen slaw, cole slaw, etc

potatoes: scalloped, fried, baked, on the grill, sweet, mashed

I like anything with corn. My fav right now is

1 can cream style corn
1 can regular corn, drained
8 oz sour cream
2 T butter
1 pk cornbread mix

Mix all and bake at 350 till golden brown, top with shredded cheddar cheese and continue baking till melted.

**************
1 can of mexican corn drained
1 can of regular corn drained
8 oz sour cream
2 cups grated montary jack cheese
Mix all and bake for 30 minutes at 375 till done! Top with more cheese!