So not everyone can eat meat for every course. I've been collecting good veggies recipes and sides that can also be cooked right on the pit alongside those slabs of ribs and brisket.
This is a very rough recipe from Chez on the BBQ Forum. I've noted it here and will revise recipe as I make it and adjust.
Pictures of process to follow when I make it.
Save half the pickle brine (about a quart of it)
1/2 gallon of strong cherry koolaid (2 packets koolaid and 1 cup sugar
Add the reserved quart of brine, making about 3 quarts of cherry brine
Split dills in half
Pack in jars
Pour the sweet cherry brine over them
Fridge
Fire roasted smokyness on every grain, generously sprinkled with chili powder and cotija cheese. Flex your muscle and squeeze all the juice out of the slices of lime over your corn, trust me, you'll thank me later.
The corn is always sweet, the chili powder slightly spicy, the cheese is starting to melt a lil by now and it's turning creamy, while it's saltyness is brought out by the fresh lime juice. One bite into that baby, and all the senses are brought to life again. Sweet, sour, salty, creamy, hot and smoky, by now my tongue is jumping up and down with joy! And being messy or corn grains getting stuck in my teeth is the last thing on my mind.
My family and I had this dish for the first time when we visited Puerto Rico in the spring of 2009. It was delicious and makes a very interesting starchy vegetable choice for stewed meats.
Ingredients:
3 green plaintains
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 lb. Crisp fried pork rinds
4 cups water
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon olive oil
Optional: fried bacon, lard or vegetable oil
Directions:
1. Peel plaintains. Cut into one inch slices. Soak for 15 minutes in salt and water. Drain well.
2. Heat fat or oil(350 degrees if you are using a deep fryer). Add plaintain slices and fry for 15 minutes but do not brown. Drain on paper towel.
3. In a mortar(for pounding), crush garlic cloves and sprinkle with salt, add olive oil to the mixture and keep pounding.
4. Crush a portion of the fried plaintains slices and the pork. Add some of the garlic and olive oil mixture and keep pounding.
5. Spoon the mixture and shape into two inch balls. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you use all the ingredients.
6.Place in oven pan and keep warm until you are ready to serve.
Suggestions: Prepare chicken broth and pour over mofongo, so it will be juicy.
1 lb. package of cole slaw mix (put it in a bowl and chop it up a little with some kitchen shears cause sometimes the pieces are really long)
1 cup toasted, sliced almonds (sometimes just don't feel like toasting = ok)
1/2 cup chopped, red onion
2 pkgs oriental flavor ramen noodles, uncooked, broken up
mix all that up in a bowl
dressing:
1 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 flavor packets from the oriental noodles
pour the dressing over just before serving cause it gets soggy quick.
Ingredients
1 head cabbage – shredded
1 red onion -- thinly sliced
½ cup chopped red pepper
½ cup chopped gr. Pepper
½ cup sliced stuffed olives
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp mustard seed
Directions:
In a 4 qt. bowl, combine the veggies and olives. In a saucepan, combine remaining ingredients; bring to a boil.
Cook and stir for 1 min. Pour over veggies and stir
gently. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Mix well before serving. 12 - 16 servings.
NOTES: Make this the night before, and the flavors keep getting better!
This recipe has been permanently "borrowed" from Troop 101 and courtesy of Mr. P. So simple, yet so delicious.
1 cup green beans (about 1 lb)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
Steam for 7-8 minutes or until crisp-tender. In a small bowl, combine the butter and
seasonings. Drain beans; add butter mixture and toss to coat.
This recipe is really delicious and inexpensive. Something about having cabbage with your smoked meats that is really delicious. Why do you think coleslaw is so prevalent on BBQ menus?
Here's the ingredients and method, couldn't be much simpler.
2 heads cabbage
1 cup butter
Salt and Pepper
Cut cabbage into fourths place stick of butter in middle close firmly but dont let butter come out of top place heavy alumnum foil around place on smoker for about 4 hours until tender.
About 8 servings