We like to set ourselves some challenges at beijingkids and the thought of hopping to all the different stores for our holiday feast made us tired. With that in mind, we only went to one store to score ingredients for our side dishes this year. Jinkelong has a nice ring to it so we stopped there to see what they have on offer. We were surprised and challenged, but luckily, we got help from our parent board member, Dominica Mejia. We cooked some colorful international sides, desserts, and a luscious hot chocolate to keep you warm this winter. Turkey, roast beef, fish, tofu, or whatever your main protein piece might be, you can be sure that these side dishes make it a feast to remember.
From left to right: Russian salad, green beans, tomato mac and cheese, and Asian coleslaw
Russian salad
Ingredients
4-5 potatoes
2 large carrots
200 grams fresh peas (can be substituted for canned or frozen peas)
1 pickled red onion (originally dill pickles are added)
3 hard-boiled eggs
2 sour apples
1 – 1½ cup mayonnaise
How to cook?
1. Boil peas (if they are fresh or frozen), potatoes and carrots. Try not to overcook them as they will turn into a paste when you start cutting them. We want our vegetables cooked but firm. Once ready, strain and set aside to cool. Also, boil eggs.
2. Cut the onion into tiny pieces and rub it with salt. Add lemon and let sit for 15 minutes.
3. Dice potatoes and carrots, chunkier or small cubes, it all depends on your personal taste. I prefer mine smaller. Peel and dice the eggs.
4. Peel and dice apples. This should be done just before assembling all the ingredients since they turn dark very quickly.
5. Gently mix everything together as we don’t want to break the vegetables. Add mayonnaise.
6. Cover the salad and place in the refrigerator.
Green beans
Ingredients
1 pound of green beans, trimmed
150g bacon, cut into pieces
½ cup toasted pecans, diced
For the dressing
Juice of ½ lemon
Half a spoon of honey
1 clove garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt
How to cook?
1. Blanch the green beans in a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until bright green. They should remain crisp (2 mins). Drain and then quickly stir-fry them in a pan with oil. Set aside.
2. In a pan, place the bacon and ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil and let the bacon cook until water evaporates, then allow to fry until crisp.
3. In the same pan, quickly brown the pecans. You can also do it in the oven (3-5 mins).
4. For the dip, place the lemon juice, olive oil, honey, and minced garlic together. Mix. Add lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
5. Mix the greens with the bacon and pecans. Pour vinaigrette over it.
Tomato mac and cheese
Ingredients
2.5 cups macaroni
3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon flour
2 cups of milk
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 cups cherry tomatoes halved for garnish
2 cups of cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
How to cook?
1. Boil the macaroni al dente
2. Melt the butter in a big saucepan to start the roux.
3. Add the flour and cook until the mixture looks golden and smells nutty
4. Add room temperature milk and stir with a whisk
5. When the sauce is smooth add the cheese
6. After the cheese is melted add the can of tomatoes
7. Season with salt and pepper and toss together with the cooked macaroni.
8. If the mac and cheese is not saucy enough add some more milk and butter
9. Garnish with fresh tomatoes.
Asian coleslaw
Ingredients
Purple cabbage
½ cup mayonnaise
Handful cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 lime juiced
Salt and pepper to taste
Black sesame seeds.
How to do?
1. Cut the whole cabbage in strips; add the rest of ingredients and toss so all the cabbage is covered.
2. Serve with sesame seeds on top
Forest Fruit Trifle
Ingredients
2 cups of yogurt
2 cups of whipped cream
1 pre-made cake cut into small pieces
2 cups of cut strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
How to do?
1. Toss the fruit together with honey and cinnamon, let soak.
2. Whip the cream with sugar till soft peaks.
3. Get four glasses or a bigger glass bowl and start layering, first cake then yogurt, fruit, and cream. Continue till the container is full end with whipped cream and some fruit for decoration.
Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
Ingredients
3 cups milk
1 cup cream
¼ cup sugar
¼ cacao powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup milk chocolate
Bag of marshmallows
How to do?
1. Heat up all the ingredients except the vanilla and the milk chocolate, bring to a simmer.
2. Turn off the fire and add the vanilla and chocolate serve with marshmallows.
Photo: Uni You
This article appeared on p32-34 of beijingkids December 2017 issue.
