What dish would accompany the one I'm already making? (Details inside...)

some kind of soup?

I’m thinking more of a rice/vegetable side actually…

maybe some white rice.. keep it nice and simple.

Sounds good but what could I flavour it with? I’d hate it to be bland.

Saute some snow peas with garlic and soy sauce?

maybe some garlic and some herbs

Would ginger rice be overkill on the ginger side?

yeah i was thinking rice too. Maybe wild rice?

@Kay: I’m not sure I’ve come across snow peas, sounds good though I’ll have a look.

Are snow peas the same as mange tout?

They’re peas still in the pod and you eat the whole thing. They’re also good raw.

Yep, that sounds the same. Cool, you learn something new every day. Maybe I’ll just put some spices in the rice. I’m liking the look of it in my mind’s eye!

some pilau rice just mix some veg such as carrots and peas to make a nice vegtable rice side dish

I would make coconut rice and stir in chopped scallions and cilantro. Here’s a coconut rice recipe: link

I would probably used unsweetened coconut beacuse there’s already sugar in the recipe.

Thanks you guys! All very good suggestgions. I shall ponder for a while…

Hee, I’m from Hawaii and my first thought was “Where’s the rice?” Other than that I would make just some regular veggie item like green beans, or corn. Perhaps instead of coconut rice some Haupia for dessert. That’s coconut pudding. Let me find the recipe for you. brb

oh hey I found this recipe. I just use coconut oil and all coconut milk. Really ono, and no one can tell the difference.
Butter Mochi
1 pound mochiko (Japanese glutinous rice flour)
3 cups sugar
1–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk
1 can (14.5 ounces) evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch pan or two 8-by-8-inch pans.

Combine mochiko, sugar and baking powder. Add remaining ingredients and mix well with a whisk. Pour into prepared pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes; cool. Serves 24.

Thank you cooksalot. Sounds good.

Here’s the Haupia recipe Changing computers can be a pain when one has to use Vista. grrr…

Haupia
“HawaiiDiet Cookbook,” by Dr. Terry Shintani,
Health Foundation Press, 1997, $15.

2–1/4 cups Rice Dream
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

Combine 1–1/2 cups Rice Dream and syrup in a saucepan. Bring to a small boil. Add coconut milk.

Mix the remaining Rice Dream and cornstarch. Add to mixture in saucepan, together with extract, mixing constantly until thickened and mixture boils.

Pour into square pan or individual serving glasses. Cool and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate. Serves 12.

bullet Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 75 calories, 1.5 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 20 mg sodium*

enjoy!

You could also fry up some noodles too. What I do when I’m making some fried asian noodles is to prepare pasta like I normally would for spaghetti or whatever. Then I throw the drained noodles into a nonstick pan or wok and add some sesame oil. I’ll sizzle em up for a few minutes and then when they’re looking good I’ll add some asian ginger dressing and cook that into them. You could probably add some other things in as well at that point like sesame seeds green onion or whatever. Nothing too gourmet, but it’s pretty damn tasty.

Instead of coconut rice, I think a Thai jasmine rice recipe would go well with your entree. Here is a recipe for a vegetarian one with spring vegetables that would complement your entree’s flavors well.

mmmm, yes that does sound good @marina.

Some sort of grain, maybe couscous or pilaf? Quinoa is also good and hearty.
Mango chutney would be nice.

How about chickpeas sauteed with some tomatoes?

The recipe calls for 2 stalks of Lemon grass but I could only find this in the shop. How much do you suggest I use? I’ve not cooked with either the lemon grass itself or the herb blend thing before and I don’t know how strong the flavours are.

Also I could only find ground ginger, rather than root ginger, the recipe asks for 2 inches of it, how much ground would that be?

Now the lemon grass you will want to go light on. Perhaps a 1/2 tsp to start. Lemon grass can be strong so think of it as a strong flavor. You don’t want the whole dish to taste like lemon grass. The ginger is approximately 1 tbsp ground per an inch, since it can vary depending on how thick the rhizome is that you have.

WAIT! is that dried ground? Or fresh ground from the produce department? My answer could be wrong if I miss understood.

Dried ground, I think. The lemon grass herb mix thing is 40% lemon grass… they say to use as much of it as you would herbs in a dish.

How about couscous made with store bought fish broth (swansons has a very good low fat one). I usually chop onions, and lightly cook in olive oil in a pan then add broth according to the couscous directions. Very yummy.

Dried ground use about 1/2 tsp or less. The taste of dried is very different from fresh. Try looking in the oriental section or with the pre-minced garlic in the produce section. Sometimes it just blends right in with the jars of garlic and you have to look twice.

It was really yummy you guys! Thanks!

Glad it all worked out. Now what was the recipe. All this talk and it sounds really good.

I made the tofu nuggets and used shop-bought sweet chilli dipping sauce and then I just did basmalti rice with saffron. Yum! I didn’t have time to go and get the ingredients for these recipes. I’m definately going to try them soon thouhg. They sound so delicious.