Forget the centrepieces of seafood, poultry, meats and vegan extravaganzas, here are some of The Triangle team’s favourite side dishes that can accompany, or even star in their own right at the festive table.

Tomatoes with fennel and anchovy dressing
Roasted carrots with tahini sauce
Toasted almonds
Bruschetta
Green beans with garlic sauce
Potato salad with fennel and apple
Cucumber salad with smashed garlic and ginger

Tomatoes with toasted fennel and anchovy dressing

Fill a bowl of halved cherry tomatoes, or scatter quartered smallish tomatoes on a platter. Sprinkle with a little vinegar. Gently heat half a cup of olive oil, throw in 2 tablespoons of slightly crushed fennel seeds, and a tin or small jar of anchovies. Gently cook until the anchovies dissolve. Spoon the simple, spicy, salty, savoury and scrumptious toasted fennel-anchovy sauce onto the toms with a few grinds of black pepper. It doesn’t taste fishy at all. Beware of addiction.

Flick

Roasted carrots with tahini sauce

1 kilo of carrots (not too big)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt

½ teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon honey

1 orange

2 tablespoons chopped pistachios (shelled, roasted and salted)

1 tablespoon chopped chives

1/3 cup of plain Greek yoghurt

3 tablespoons of tahini

1 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated

Method:

Heat oven to 180-200º C.

Peel carrots and slice into spears. Toss the carrots with olive oil, salt and cumin. Roast in hot oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until they are soft, with a little bit of charring around the edges. Drizzle with a teaspoon of honey while hot and toss again.

Tahini sauce

Cut orange in half, squeeze 3 tablespoons of juice. Add yoghurt, tahini, garlic and 2 tablespoons of water and whisk together in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Smear the mixture onto a serving platter.

Give the roasted carrots a squeeze of orange juice, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and a grind of black pepper. Toss and add extra seasoning if warranted.

Arrange the carrots on top of the smear of tahini sauce, pour any leftover oil and seasoning on top and sprinkle with chopped pistachios and chives. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Angela

Easy and tasty snacks

Toasted almonds

100 g peeled almonds

1 tablespoon olive oil

Sea salt

Heat olive oil in pan, add the almonds and move around the pan constantly for about 1 minute until golden brown – do not burn! Spread out on kitchen paper, sprinkle with sea salt and serve once cool.

Bruschetta

500 gms ripe tomatoes, any size or variety, chopped

½ red onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

Basil leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 baguette

Mix tomato, onion, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Leave 30 minutes.

Slice baguette diagonally and toast. Rub toast with more olive oil and garlic clove. Top with tomato mix and serve immediately.

Debbie

Green beans with garlic chips

These delicious green beans are for garlic lovers. When you put this dish together, you need to pay attention – be sure not to burn the garlic chips or they will become bitter and you’ll need to start again. And when you toss the beans, the oil should be hot but not smoking. This is a wonderful side dish for Christmas or any time green  beans are in season.

500 grams green beans

6-8 large garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

Squeeze of lemon juice

Handful of finely chopped parsley

Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Peel the garlic cloves and slice them very thinly. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and fry the garlic chips on a medium flame until just turning golden. Remove them to a paper-lined plate.

Top and tail the beans and steam or boil in salted water until al dente (5-7 minutes).

Drain and refresh the green beans in cold water. When you’re ready to serve, reheat the garlic oil to medium high and sear the beans tossing them until they are a bit blistered. Squeeze lemon juice and give a final toss.

Plate the beans, pouring the garlic oil on top. Scatter the garlic chips and parsley, then grind some salt and pepper.

Serve hot.

bhagya

Potato salad with fennel and apple

Cook about a kilogram of potatoes with skin on till tender. Cool and peel skin. Cut into smallish cubes. Dice some fennel into similar sized pieces (probably weighing half the amount of potato). Cube a similar amount of green apple (as the fennel), toss apple in lemon juice to stay white. Toss everything in a mix of ½ cup of mayonnaise (homemade or in a jar), ¼ cup of sour cream, add a spoonful of Dijon mustard, a spoonful of honey, chopped fresh dill and season with salt and pepper. Serves 4-6.

Linda

Cucumber salad with smashed garlic and ginger

3-4 smallish cucumbers peeled and sliced or cut into matchstick size

3 cloves of garlic

2 cm knob of ginger

Small red onion or 3 large spring onions

Grapeseed or rice bran oil

Sesame oil

Brown rice vinegar

Salt

Toasted sesame seeds

Fresh coriander

Slice the onion and marinate in 2 tablespoons of oil, teaspoon of sesame oil and tablespoon of rice vinegar for an hour in a serving bowl large enough to fit all the cucumber.

Smash garlic and ginger with 1 teaspoon of salt in a mortar and pestle.

Place cucumber in the serving bowl, add garlic and ginger, toasted sesame seeds and coriander. Mix well.

Leave to stand for a short while to allow flavours to mingle. Serve and enjoy with other salads.

Stuart