Cooking a special dinner and eating at home is one of our favorite ways to celebrate. One of our New Year’s resolutions is to stop being so selfish about it — it’s time to entertain more and share the wonderful spreads we enjoy creating. Now that Owen’s getting older and most of our friends have kids his age, there’s no excuse.
Last year on New Year’s Eve (which we’re still celebrating just the three of us), Keith and I made rack of lamb with a berry pomegranate balsamic sauce, edamame and fresh basil risotto and roasted Brussels sprouts. This year, we’ve decided to stick with the theme: rack of lamb with lamb sausage crust and fresh grape pan sauce, our favorite drunken risotto, and probably just some mesclun salad or roasted green beans. We’re weird about the rack of lamb. I promise we’ll branch out soon.
The point of this post is actually to give you some ideas of interesting side dishes to serve for your celebrations … I really beat around that bush, didn’t I? Oh, and to give myself a place to remember all of these side dishes I’ve been wanting to try and haven’t yet.
Try the heirloom squash farrotto — yeah, they made risotto with farro … brilliant! With yogurt, chick peas and fresh cilantro, there’s a Middle Eastern vibe combining with the Italian farro and the wholesome squash that is so unique and tempting. This would be the perfect accompaniment to grilled marinated chicken breasts.
It’s easy to class up green beans, and I often do them with shallots, some pancetta or prosciutto and fresh herbs and lemon juice. This recipe for scrumptious green beans has got to be bursting with flavor — ginger, mustard seeds, cumin, fresh cilantro and lemon juice all see to that. I’d love to have these alongside beef tenderloin.
So simple, with only five ingredients, yet so elegant, this roasted beet and feta gratin with fresh mint is spiked with garlic and suggested to be served with lamb. Maybe this recipe should be calling to us lamb-a-philes….
This stuffed pumpkin could really be a vegetarian main dish, as the wild rice, mushrooms, tofu and cubed bread make it hearty. As a side dish, I’m feeling roasted chicken would be the perfect pairing. A bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and you’ve just served a speactacular meal.
These vegetable galettes with millet and tarragon could also be a lovely vegetarian lunch with a mesclun salad, but they’d be wonderful with wild salmon.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Dec 30, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
