# What is the best Side dish?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** food-cooking
**Created:** [December 22, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449 "2021-12-22T02:50:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/21 "2021-12-22T19:24:19Z")
Noodles Romanov with sautéed mushrooms to go with a grilled protein.
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### Author:  [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/22 "2021-12-22T19:40:44Z")
**Grr** - Baked bean recipe, please. I once had baked beans with kielbasa at a bbq, they were awesome but don’t remember what else, if anything was in them.
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/23 "2021-12-22T19:51:42Z")
Rice is great. The two best styles are Persian rice (cooked with a crispy crust) and Colombian rice (made by deeply cooking coconut milk). Most people have no idea how good rice can be.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/24 "2021-12-22T19:56:12Z")
[Everything you could want in recipes.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baked-beans-recipes-wanted/485888)
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/25 "2021-12-22T20:06:25Z")
Right here is where I got it from, I use a mix of hamburger and sausage though.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75KR0f32coY)
Guy in video is a bit of a ham to say the least.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/26 "2021-12-23T00:57:33Z")
Right now I’m freshly gorged on my favorite side for beef tenderloin: Mashed potatoes run thru a ricer, mixed with chevre (the goat cheese), buttermilk, lemon zest, rosemary, and a ton of butter, then covered with beef gravy. 4 people consumed an amount said to serve 10 and looked for more . . .
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### Author:  [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/27 "2021-12-23T02:34:25Z")
> **[Yorkshire pudding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_pudding)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
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>
>
> Yorkshire pudding is a baked pudding made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water. A common British side dish, it is a versatile food that can be served in numerous ways depending on its ingredients, size, and the accompanying components of the meal. As a first course, it can be served with onion gravy. For a main course, it may be served with meat and gravy, and is part of the traditional Sunday roast, but can also be filled with foods...
Yorkshire pudding rules.
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### Author:  [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/28 "2021-12-23T06:27:10Z")
If you’re going for most versatile/universal it’s hard to beat plain white or brown rice. My own personal go-to is a big pile of simple skillet seared asparagus done up in olive oil.
It’s hard to beat a twice baked potato though. Oh man, such a PITA to make but doing up a huge pan of them then eating them for a week is gustatory heaven.
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### Author:  [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/29 "2021-12-23T06:46:02Z")
A Japanese or Korean meal isn’t complete with side dishes of tsukemono (Japanese) or banchan (Korean). Tsukemono is pickled vegetables, the most familiar being takuwan (pickled radish) and banchan can be just about anything, but always includes some type of kim chee.
Combined with rice or by itself, both can be a complete meal with the main entree.
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/30 "2021-12-23T07:00:02Z")
Commenting before I read the thread because I’m curious how unique my choice is:
Rice.
Simple brown rice is pretty kid-friendly. A mix of wild rice and brown rice ups the delish factor and goes well with just about any entrée – vegetables, meat, you name it. Add some gravy to it and it makes a fine substitute for potatoes and even pasta. We often make Swedish meatballs with a sauce served over brown rice.
Mix it with sautéed veggies for a pilaf.
Mix it with lots of sautéed veggies for a stir-fry, and it moves from “side dish” to “entrée.”
So for _best_ as in “yummy” and “versatile,” rice is hard to beat.
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### Author:  [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/31 "2021-12-23T17:35:27Z")
Great! I’ll give it shot in the near future and report back. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/32 "2021-12-23T17:58:50Z")
Too late to edit - having watched the video, I’m thinking some andouille sausage might work. What kind did you use?
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/33 "2021-12-23T18:04:45Z")
I. Just used spicy breakfast sausage. But I like your idea too.
I went half pound ground beef and half pound sausage.
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### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/34 "2021-12-23T18:36:14Z")
I misread the topic as “Sidhe dish” and tought to myself : “none!, never eat what a fae offers you”.
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/35 "2021-12-24T02:15:56Z")
You’ll have to explain that to me?
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2021, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/36 "2021-12-24T03:01:41Z")
The Sidhe (generally pronounced ‘shee’ as in Bain Sidhe / Banshee is a general term for the Feyfolk / Fairies / Elves of the Irish in fiction and folklore. In both traditional stories and most modern interpretations, it is a very poor idea (Persephone bad) to partake of Elven hospitality - at least if you want to continue your life as a mortal in your own time.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/37 "2021-12-24T03:21:35Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Yeah, I went there too. 😋
I thought that was you, but was too shy to introduce myself. I know you carry…
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/38 "2021-12-27T03:27:45Z")
The best way to prepare vegetables such as beets or bitter greens is to mix them with ample amounts of best butter and cream before gently throwing the whole mass into the trash and admitting that some vegetables are barely fit for human consumption.
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### Author:  [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2021, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/39 "2021-12-27T03:52:59Z")
Beans. In particular, beans made according to a certain recipe from a ranch in South Texas.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 4 serrano peppers, finely chopped (w/seeds)
- 1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 cups “Clamato” juice
- 2 cans of Bush’s pinto beans
- 6 strips of bacon
- 1 Tbs oil (or lard)
Instructions
1. Cook the chopped onion in hot oil (lard) until it begins to soften.
2. Add the bacon.
3. When the bacon starts to brown, add the beans and stir in the remaining ingredients.
4. Simmer for 45 minutes.
It’s a very simple recipe. You do not even cook the beans from scratch – start with canned beans.
One problem is that the heat due to the serrano peppers can vary quite a bit. Some batches that I made were so hot that I could not finish them. Some people remove the seeds or use fewer serrano peppers or use some other peppers instead.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [December 27, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-side-dish/956449/40 "2021-12-27T20:28:43Z")
My favorites are couscous, and long grain & wild rice (or, as we call it in our family, “bug rice”).
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