When it comes to making one dish dinners, it is my goal that the entire meal gets cooked in the same pot, slow cooker, skillet, Dutch oven or all on the grill. But I am not an extremist, nor am I a purist when it comes to one dish dinners. I do my best to meet my goal when coming up with one dish dinner recipes, but I don’t stress out if I need to serve it with a slice of bread and butter, or with a slice of watermelon or cantaloupe.
The whole purpose of one dish dinners is to keep the dishes to a minimum, keep the preparation time to a minimum and to use simply cooking methods. In testing and working with new recipes, I generally just use the dish that the meal is being cooked in, along with either a cutting board or a mixing bowl. Not more than that!
Every now and again, I’ll make up a dish and it just would go so perfectly with a side. Like a Black Bean Chili…that really would be perfect if served over a day old slice of bread in the bottom of the bowl.
So here are a couple of quick and easy side dishes that could be paired with a one dish dinner. They aren’t going to take much extra cooking time, or cutting time. (Nothing you couldn’t do while the one dish is in the oven or simmering on the stovetop.)
- Sliced fruit – there’s nothing better than a cool refreshing slice of cantaloupe to go with a warm, spicy chili.
- Fresh fruit salad- If you’ve got some in the fridge, serve it up with a spicy one dish macaroni.
- Dinner rolls, homemade or from the store freezer – perfect with a one dish lasagna.
- Day old French bread- delicious when snuck into the bottom of a bowl of chili.
There you have it…sneaky, no mess ways to round out a one dish dinner meal!
What do you say?! Are you a one dish dinner purist?! Am I being too lenient?!
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