Barbecues are a great opportunity to show off your best side dish, but what if you don’t have one?
Maybe you only have one recipe in your repertoire and it’s from one of those index cards in the produce aisle at Safeway, but today you are passing it off as your own creation. This time you will have everyone convinced that you are some sort of master chef, maybe you will even add cumin.
Or maybe you have been invited to a barbecue and you have no idea what to make or you lack any sort of culinary finesse.
Put down the grocery store veggie or fruit platter and don’t bug your mom for her mayo-laden pasta salad recipe you loved when you were eight years old.
There is another way for you to rock that barbecue side dish like a boss.
Most of the time when I go to barbecue, there are about five different green salads and some sort of fruit on a plate (it may or may not be cut up into edible sizes). Next barbecue, razzle dazzle your friends with your own creation or a classic with a twist. Your vegetarian friends will love you because they get to eat, and your other friends will be impressed and want to pick your brain about the complicated measures it took to create that delicious dish.
Eeat up the glory, but don’t worry my friend, you don’t have to be a professional chef to impress. All you need is a little creativity and a knife.
Here are some ideas to get those creative juices flowing.
Potato salad
Forget the standard potato salad recipe with mayo and yellow mustard, get creative and daring by using yogurt, garlic and dill for the dressing. Tired of regular potatoes? Try mixing it up by using sweet potato or yam, the ingredients you already have in your kitchen are endless so are all the recipes of the Internet.
Fruit kabobs
Instead of going for the ol’ reliable fruit platter, get in the zone and impress your friends with this tasty treat! All you need are kabob sticks and fruits of your choosing. Make a fruity yogurt dip for it if you like. These fruity kabobs will be loved by all and are a hit with kids too.
Veggie kabobs
You could go classic with veggie kabobs, but try putting a spin on it by marinating the veggies in a yummy sauce of your creation and saving some to put on top when serving for an extra kick.
Coleslaw
Again, drop the mayo, get real interesting with a vinaigrette dressing instead of a creamy one and your vegan friends will love you. All you need is some cabbage, carrots, radish, maybe some shredded beets? I have even added homemade sauerkraut to mine, it’s pretty awesome.
Roasted Brussels sprouts
This can be a big hit, all you have to do is roast them in the oven with some balsamic vinegar, sea salt and pepper. I personally like to add grapes and walnuts and have recently tried some with Parmesan cheese. It’s seriously a cornucopia of flavour hitting your taste buds. You can even wrap them in tin foil and stick them right in the barbecue.
Corn on the cob
Forget boiling or steam these puppies, add some flavour to it. Either right after grilling or together in tinfoil on the barbecue, add flavours like butter, lemon juice, dill, Parmesan or even blue cheese. You won’t regret it, and neither will your mouth.
Lettuce
Grill it, do it. Get a head of romaine cut in half lengthwise, throw some flavour on it and just go nuts. Do it.
Grilled veggie salad
Roast or grill a bunch of veggies, grab some quinoa and maybe some feta and fresh tomatoes, mix it all together with olive oil and apple cider vinegar and sea salt. It’s a simple and quick way to make friends.
Recipe:
Potato Salad
Ingredients
1 bag of nugget potatoes
2 tbsp fresh chopped dill
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
2 stalks of chopped green onion
1 cups of shredded carrots
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup organic whole milk yogurt
1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves of crushed garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
Directions
• Cook the potatoes and let them cool down.
• Mix cold potatoes with the rest of ingredients in a bowl.
• Let the mixture sit in fridge for at least an hour to all the flavours can mingle together.
