Spicin' Up Your Regular Meals with Side Dishes by Similejesu Sonubi

When I first joined the CSA I believed that I would always be learning a new meal and recipe in an effort to get more connected with the vegetables I was being introduced to. This is not reality; it was a nice dream. 

As the eldest daughter in my household, one of the chores I'm tasked with is to prepare the meals for my family, while my mom, the true breadwinner of the family, can concentrate on work and other things (enjoyment, mostly). I work full time (and sometimes overtime). And in regards to meals for the household, I stick to Nigerian staples, like rice and stew and jollof rice. And spaghetti, a means-tested favourite of all households! But truth be told, although those are my favourite foods, my family and I were bored of it. But learning new recipes is a very time-consuming effort, and I get tired. 

Not wanting to waste anything, I just started to think more and more of what I could do to break out of a reliable--yet boring--cycle. I started to think of some other cultures, such as Korean and Japanese cultures, where side dishes seem to have a bigger presence than my own. Instead of trying to "fit" a square something into a very fast-moving wheel (which is a different beast to be tamed), something I have to remind myself is to break things into smaller and manageable pieces rather than all at once. 

So sides dishes are introduced, and to an extent, I'm still learning something, but in a way less overwhelming for me. So thank you to Vaughan for the pesto recipe, still a type of pasta that works for my family, and I was also able to make garlic butter with our scapes. (There were a lot of scapes!) I'm also practicing the art of fermenting items, like some vegetables, because "fermenting is a method to deal with abundance" (thank you to Alica Kennedy and Sandor Katz for the mindset). 

Gratefully, I still have been able to set aside time to make "big meals." But, it has been nice learning to think a bit smaller. 

SB: Would to love to hear side dishes folks like to make or want to learn how to make!