07 July 2021
Spotlights on the Side Dishes
Choosing the best side dishes for the Big Green Egg
The Big Green Egg will soon be fired up again, and the choice for a particular main course has probably already been made. But you’ll probably also want to serve one or more side dishes with it. And that can sometimes involve a fair bit of searching. Do you just go for what you like, do you go for a tried and tested combination or would you rather challenge yourself to make the perfect match? To ensure that your combination of ingredients is a resounding success, here are a few handy tips.
Whatever you prepare on your Big Green Egg, it will all taste equally good. And when you mix and match to create a complete meal, it really helps if the dishes go well together. This will give your meal a real finishing touch. Of course, there are plenty of classic combinations that always work well, such as beef and chimichurri or, for example, fish and antiboise, which also goes really well with lobster and veal. But do you really want to go out of your comfort zone for once, not only thinking about the flavour combination but also making sure your dish has different textures? Then there are some useful tips you can bear in mind. These will enable you to learn how to put together countless surprisingly tasty combinations.
Crunchy & creamy
When you decide to grill a steak or roast a chicken, giving it a deliciously crispy skin, the outside of your main ingredient will be nice and crunchy. You can then make the complete dish more exciting by serving a ‘soft’ side dish with it. For example, creamy or roasted potatoes, spreads like humus and baba ganoush, braised and tender vegetables like a ratatouille or white asparagus. As a rule, you can always combine this type of side dish with grilled or roasted ingredients. The contrast between crunchy and creamy will round off the dish and give your meal a delicious variety of textures.
Choose your cooking techniques
In fact, the same applies the other way round. Will you opt for low and slow cooking, where there’s no crispy crust, or will you let your main ingredient stew deliciously? In that case, pair it with a crispy side dish. Depending on what exactly you’re making, you could decide to serve it with dishes such as crispy potato rösti, roasted hasselback potatoes or, for example, roasted artichoke or grilled vegetables. You can usually be inspired by the cooking techniques and temperatures you use. Generally speaking, the higher the temperature, the crispier the result.
Successful combination
The flavours of the ingredients that you combine is entirely up to you. After all, tastes do vary and you probably know very well what you like. But here too, the chances of a successful combination are greatest if there’s a contrast between those flavours. If your main ingredient is fatty, this can go very well with a side dish that has a slight acidity. Consider, for example, antiboise, spicy apple compote or a delicious fennel salsa.
Mix & match
Are you up to the challenge of putting together your own dish? First, choose a particular main ingredient and the technique you’ll use to prepare it. Then, based on these tips, you can make a delicious side dish to go with it. Of course, you could also flip it around and pick a tasty side dish and then make a main ingredient that compliments it. Below you’ll find a few suggestions for our favourite side dishes!
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