~Five EZ All-Purpose Starchy Weeknight Side-Dishes~
Choose from any number of proteins we American cooks make for dinner via various methods on a busy weeknight. Examples: roasted chicken, grill-panned steaks or pork chops, slow-cooker spareribs, pan-seared ham slices, broiled fish fillets, steamed or poached shellfish, etc. I refer to these as flash-in-the pan meals because they go from oven or cooktop in relatively short order. All you need is a side-dish -- a seriously scrumptious all-purpose side-dish.
Rice is nice & potatoes are great.
Rice is nice and potatoes are great. Rice is nice. That said, looking at the above example-list of proteins we American cooks make for dinner via various methods on a busy weeknight, for me, there's one or two items that, meh, rice doesn't do it for me. Potatoes are great. When it comes to potatoes, I adore them, but, unless it's a microwave-baked potato, potato dishes in general require more machinations than the average person has patience for at the end of a workday. Me? Lazy? No, I'm not, but, after a full day of work and housework, peeling potatoes? Nah.
Pasta is fine, noodles are perfect & couscous is awesome.
Pasta is fine, noodles are perfect, and couscous is awesome. Pasta is fine. That said, once again, looking at the above example-list of proteins we American cooks make for dinner via various methods on a busy weeknight, for me, there's one or two that, meh, pasta doesn't do it for me. Noodles are perfect. They cook and drain in short order, and, a few pats of butter plus a spice or three turns them into a side of go-with-almost-anything comfort food at it's best. Couscous is all-to-often overlooked, but, these tiny little grains of semolina pasta literally go from stovetop to table in five short minutes and are the easiest option for all occasions.
Nice & Easy Basic All-Purpose 30-Minute Rice Pilaf:
EZ Small-Batch Quick-Chill Sheet-Pan Potato Salad:
Better than Store-Bought Stovetop Mac & Cheese:
Egg Noodles & Broccoli in Spicy Garlic-Butter Sauce:
Sweet & Savory Spiced Couscous & Golden Raisins:
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2020)
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