Summer Time Food Favorites-Side Dishes

I am so glad you are joining me for the second of the four part series on Summer Food Favorites. This week's posting is centered around side dishes, so I will feature four of my all-time favorites.  To start with,  I can't even count how many times I have been at my family's picnic table at the cottage and passed around my mother's delicious, smooth and creamy potato salad, especially when it accompanied her juicy rotisserie chicken.  For me nothing says summer picnic food more than some good old-fashioned potato salad with plenty of hard-boiled eggs and aromatic dill.  Since the potato salad has a mayonnaise base, the salad was always placed on a bed of ice if it was to stay out a little longer for consumption.   Most often, it was gone well before the ice had a chance to melt completely.

For the recipe, visit:  https://sites.google.com/site/thelittleyellowcornerstore/side-dishes/mom-s-cool-and-creamy-potato-salad

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Now if you happen to be someone who enjoys pasta as much as potatoes, I have often selected to make pasta dishes which, unlike my mothers, are more nontraditional.  Although mom's pasta salads were excellent, especially her shrimp pasta salad, some recipes which I have collected or altered since my childhood, contain additional herbs and spices such as curry, red cayenne pepper and cilantro, for example.

The following Curry Chicken Pasta Salad has a bit of curry and and for those of us who love the taste and smells of Indian cuisine, this cool and pungent salad awakens the taste buds. With the plenitude of vegetables, it can be served up as the main dish on days which require something filling, healthy but not overly generous in calories.

For this recipe, you can find it at:  https://sites.google.com/site/thelittleyellowcornerstore/side-dishes/curry-chicken-pasta-salad

If there was a perfect side dish that has multiple uses, I would say mom's creamy, crunchy coleslaw pictured below would earn the title.  It could easily accompany summer grilled sausages, meats or seafood for dinner or is perfect with cold chicken or turkey sandwiches for lunch.  It even could top off a spicy, flavorful chipotle chili hamburger.

Add this wonderful coleslaw to your collection by finding the recipe at:  https://sites.google.com/site/thelittleyellowcornerstore/side-dishes/cool-and-crunch-coleslaw

When including a variety of side dishes to an outside summer picnic, I never overlook having a dish or two which includes sweet, luscious fruit that is in season.  I always enjoy the availability of summer time fruits such as watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.  Of course, serving fruit by itself or mixed together for a colorful display is satisfying on its own, but mixing up a coconut lime dip with it takes it to the next pleasurable level.

You can print this recipe by visiting this link:  https://sites.google.com/site/thelittleyellowcornerstore/side-dishes/fruit-boat-with-coconut-lime-dip

Stay tune for next time when I feature Summer Time Food Favorites-Main Dishes.  Summer is not over yet, so keep the picnic basket handy for more good food and fun.