Friday, May 14, 2010

Cookbook winner: Take it on the side

The winner of my copy of Mario Batali's new book "Molto Gusto" is Barbara 4:52 a.m. (you're posting on blogs at 4 in the morning? Get some sleep, Barbara!)

I asked you guys to share your quick go-to ideas for easy side dishes. Barbara contributed a tomato salad with a bit of garlic and lots of basil. Good one for summer.

Some of the other suggestions, if you're looking for side-dish ideas:
- Garlic paste and Greek yogurt dabbed on a platter of roasted beats.
-- Pickled onion and beet salad. (More beet eaters out there than I would have guessed. Excellent.)
-- Buttered pappardelle pasta tossed with chopped cilantro.
-- Carrots dressed up in endless ways.
-- A big green salad with goat cheese and nuts. (I like that one, too, with toasted pine nuts. But you have to watch those little suckers to keep them from burning.)
-- Spaghetti tossed with asparagus, bacon, Parmesan and warm garlicky olive oil, served on the side with a steak or grilled fish.
-- Arugula salad.
-- More salads. An endless variety of salads.
-- Roasted or grilled vegetables.
-- Couscous tossed with all kinds of things.

Grab an idea and see if it lifts up one of your meals this weekend. And Barbara, send your address to me at kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com so I can get the book in the mail.

2 comments:

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  2. I still ???!! Thanks, I'm really lucky!!! P.S. For the time when I wrote ... If I remember correctly, I believe that in Italy we are "ahead" of six hours in your time zone, so when I wrote it was about 10:52 pm :-)))

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