Looking for some "Signature Sides"

[tony76248]

I have gotten some good ideas on new signature sides. Of course I will vary them for the Grilla Signature.

Thanks again!

[tony76248]

I wanted to follow up on the new sides we added to the menu. I do appreciate all of the input that I received on this post and via PM's and emails and I will use the pasta salad Marsha suggested in the future.

I ended up adding a slaw and a corn salad and both were huge hits. Both were inexpensive and easy to make. They also allowed me to add my signature.

SLAW

The slaw i used had an asian flair. I appreciated the simplicity of this recipe, as in I made it up at the super market. I didn't want to use mayo and I wanted something original that I hoped folks would like. Being from TX we normally don't use the vinagar based slaw, so I sort of winged it. Initially I tried to emmulate the KFC slaw(cream and sugar based), but all of the recipes I tried just didn't get me there. Perhaps it was me trying to adjust to make a small sample batch. Anyway, I ended up with the asian flair instead.

10lbs pre-shredded slaw (Sam's $3.29ish for 5lb bag)
1 bunch fresh cilantro ($.33 at wallyworld)
1 -1/2 bottles KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing($1.59 bottle)

Allow to sit in the fridge or cooler for a few hours, really changes the flavor and allows the dressing to absorb into the slaw. I would say this is a requirement.

This made up two nicely filled half pans and I could have used about another 4 pans. I had planned on using more dressing but the amount I used seemed about right to me. Great price at less than $10 for both pans. One thing I may change in the future is to chop the slaw a little finer, don't know why, just a thought.

Corn Salad

I chose a cold corn salad because it was easy and it didn't require cooking. I wanted to offer an alternative to the normally heavy BBQ sides too. I also wanted something for the "I only eat chicken crowd". I liked this side because it was colorful and fresh looking. Again, I sort of made this side up on the fly. The hard part for me was not to add a bunch of cilantro and japs because I like them. I use white pepper because it is basically colorless but still offers a lot of flavor, many folks will say they don't like pepper not knowing that it is in the dish. I normally grind my own in an old coffee grinder.

1 large intitutional can white corn (lt looked yellow to me $4)
1 red onion diced ($1)
1 10oz can rinsed black beans ($1)
Garlic to taste
Fresh Cilantro to taste (included the stems)
2 finely minced japs without seeds (came close to adding more)
1 diced red bell pepper ($1 large)
Lime juice
white pepper and salt to taste (can't say it needed much salt, but I like to add it when I use japs)

Less than $10, but only made one 1/2 pan. I could have added diced tomato as well but basically the ingredients I used all had a good shelf life once prepared. I would imagine that there were a bunch of ingredients I could have added, but I think my idea is to keep it simple. The variations to this could be endless based on the ingredients you have available, your location and the season.