Non-Starch Side Dish for Steak Dinner?
 

Type II diabetics, so the standard potato or rice sides are out. Any ideas? (organic greens and assorted cheese will precede the main course).

creamed spinach :) also have had great reviews for 'faux mashed potatoes' -- steam/drain cauliflower, mash with potato masher, add butter & salt :) also a squash casserole would work... (btw, DH is Type II....so I've had to have creative menus)

Yes, spinach is sort of one of the classic ones. I also do some sauteed mushrooms. How about some onion rings?

I would suggest asparagus. It can be steamed, although I prefer roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

acorn or butternut squash
fauxtatos (mashed cauliflower)
cauliflower "rice"

I have a cookbook with a recipe for Cauliflower roasted with smoked paprika and chile powder. I can go find it if you'd like

Thanks for everyone's suggestions so far, especially for the recipes (missydarlin, I'd love to see that recipe, the spicing sounds delicious).

My usual practice is to throw some portabella mushroom pieces into the grilling pan with the steaks (the only seasonings I use are garlic pepper and a small amount of Worcestershire sauce).

well poo... I loaned that book to my sister and she's out of town for a month. The recipe actually calls for cocoa powder.. not chile powder to go along with the smoked paprika.

Here's the closest I could find on the web.

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized chunks of approximately equal size.
~1 tsp. Spanish smoked paprika (sweet, not hot, though if you wanted to throw in a bit of a hot chile powder, I bet that would be nice.)
~1/2 tsp. ground cumin
olive oil, salt, and pepper

Steps
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Toss the cauliflower in a bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat. Add the spices and salt and pepper to taste, and toss to coat.
Roast in a baking pan in the oven until tender and lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes or so. (My cauliflower took about 25 to 30 minutes).

I think if you tossed in a tsp of cocoa powder into that mix.. you'd be pretty close.

I know of at least 2 other FTers with that cookbook (Gluten-Free Girl) so maybe they'll chime in.

How about another steak:eek:

Grilled veggies are always nice, try some zucchini, or perhaps make some kabobs with onion, zucchini, bell peppers, and garlic.

Corn on the cob is nice too

She's pretty darn close.

I would suggest checking out Shauna's blog and look at the recipes for other suggestions. I know that cauliflower is used by lots of people looking to get that mashed potato consistency without the potatoes.

lala

would roasting some veggies (squashes), drizzling with olive oil, thyme and good balsamic make a good side with a low GI that would work for them. I would also consider a bit of slow roasted tomatoes to punch up the flavor.

Dang, after a week in Greenland I am seriously in need of veggies.

lala

How about spaghetti squash with a low-sugar marinara or even a light pesto?

I'll second the asparagus....if the individual stalks are big enough, I'll saute it on the grill with the steaks, or if not, in a pan with some olive oil. Certainly not to the point where it's super-wilted and limp....I can't stand it when it's mushy.

I'm also a big fan or sauteed or steamed broccoli - that's another favorite in our house.

Last but not least, I had a fantastic side of quick-steamed sugar snap peas this past weekend at a dinner party. They were steamed just enough to warm them up and that's it - they were still nice and crunchy.

Hope this helps....

Lobster tail. Or crablegs. Either one makes a nice non-starch side to a steak dinner! ^ ^

I'll second the creamed spinach. However, if you want to go decadent:

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2005-02-01/recipe.php

This stuff is Heaven on Earth

Adjust the recipe to suit your needs

btw, the recipe suggests the truffle oil is optional...don't believe it.

Creamed spinach is a great test of your prowess. I love it, I suck at making it, but I keep trying.

With asparagus, I crush a few cloves of garlic, add a teaspoon of coarse sea salt, a generous grind of black pepper, and a heap of very verdant, spicy olive oil. Toss, reserve tossing tailings, and grill asparagus. When done, toss back in the bowl, serve immediately.

Cheers,

-Andrew

Actually, sweet potatoes or brown rice should be okay. Diabetics don't have to eliminate carbs, just reduce them. The usual rule of thumb is to try to stay away from "white foods" - potatoes, white bread, white rice. Whole grain items are usually going to work pretty good for you.

By the way, broccoli is a great side with a steak.

How about Fricos, aka cheese crisps: arrange 1-Tbsp mounds of grated cheese (a mixture of Montasio and Parmesan is traditional but all-Parmesan works) in two-inch circles on a parchment- or Silpat-covered baking sheet. bake in a 350F oven for about 8 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool and crisp up before using a spatula to remove wafers to a rack. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

I did not need to know that existed. Now I'm craving it... might be dinner tonight!

Basmati rice is a different variety and is supposed to be OK - you might want to investigate this.

Audrey

Mushrooms!

You'll "die!" I am not even a fan of cooked spinach (like it raw, though) but this stuff is amazing.

Strip House restaurants also have a side dish of potatoes cooked in goose fat that will make "you wanna slap your mama." OMG!!!

Strip House restaurants also have a side dish of potatoes cooked in goose fat that will make "you wanna slap your mama." OMG!!!

Not exactly food for a diabetic, but sounds great.

Noooooo! I refuse to eat fungus!:p

(Only food group I completely and utterly reject)

turnip roots, many ways to make them if you need ideas feel free to ask :)

sounds mole inspired(can't seem to get that accent) not my favorite flavor but some people love it.

I've been to more than one restaurant in SDQ that serves sliced avocados with grilled steak. Excellent.

To those asparagus fans: try them lightly grilled or sauteed with garlic, place onto a serving dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parmesan. Heavenly!
--
13F

Yeah, true...doesn't apply specifically to the topic. However, as a diabetic myself (type 2, non-insulin dependent), I still eat starches/carbs. I just don't sit down and devour a heaping plate of pasta or an entire pint of Haagen Dazs.

My favorite is sauteed spinach with triple garlic ^. Also, roasted tomatoes or sliced tomatoes with balsamic vinegar.

no, whole grain items won't do
 

I wouldn't be so sure. Eat to the meter. Rice does not become safe just because it's brown. Potatoes don't become safe just because they're orange. My husband's readings show that brown rice is particularly bad for him. There is no logical reason why your body would know or care what color your rice or potatoes were, if you stop and think about it. IMHO there are political reasons why the USDA is reluctant to advise people to stay away from the cheap carbs -- and doctors, who are not nutritionists, are just repeating advice that isn't science-based. Nobody wants to be the bad guy who says, "no rice for you" so they mumble that maybe brown rice will work OK and hope for the best. I'd trust the meter rather than the mumble. We've been promoting low fat diets with whole grains since the early 1990s. Result -- the largest epidemic of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes in human history. And no one likes her rice better than I do. I just accept that it should be served in small quantities and considered a treat, not something that regularly appears alongside your steak because it's cheap.

Most of my favorite steakhouse sides have already been mentioned here -- creamed spinach, asparagus with a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar, mushrooms sauteed in butter (I especially like oysters), broccoli. Here is one in a category I don't see mentioned yet: An easy turnip green or collard recipe is to cook down the greens, saute some sweet chopped onion in bacon fat and a little fresh chopped rosemary from my garden, then stir back in the greens. Sprinkle with salt, fresh-ground black pepper, the chopped cooked bacon. If you don't have or don't want to use any bacon, you can use olive oil for the fat and a little more chopped rosemary. A different taste but still flavorful.

Just as a note, a sweet potato is not a potato at all, it is a tube root.
The 'potato' itself is normally not one to impact blood sugars but how it is prepared(so many put gobs of brown sugars and such on them).

Well, we actually pretty much agree. If you look at my post, I used vague words because you are correct, each of us metabolizes food differently. I find I do much better with whole grains, with brown rice, and with sweet potatoes than with the alternatives.

BTW, your body doesn't care what color the rice is; brown rice still has the husks attached - white rice has the husks milled off losing additional nutrients and fiber. The dietary fiber of one cup of white rice is .74 grams - in brown rice it is 3.32 grams.

And I make my decisions based on my meter readings.

I'm lazy, so I really like the "steam in the bag" frozen veggies. Birdseye Steamfresh Asian Medley has 6 gr of carbs/2 gr of fiber per serving and is very tasty:)

Heirloom tomatoes. At least 3 types/colors cut into quarters or eighths or smaller. Season as you need to, but the different varieties create contrast. Or use the same approach with peppers and grill or saute them in olive oil. Just sliced tomatoes and avocado would fit the bill, too.

A classic accompaniment to steak is leeks and beans. This one I think was lifted from a Jamie Oliver book:

http://www.goodfoodsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30