Sides for Lasagna

ils_1231
ils_1231 Posts: 249 Member
in Recipes
Hey all - I have a weekly dinner group with friends, which rotates, and this coming Sunday is my turn. One of the girls is vegetarian so I've decided to do a white, spinach lasagna. I know it's going to be a pretty heavy meal with the lasagna so I was wondering if anyone has any sides in mind :)
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Replies

  • sillyvalentine
    sillyvalentine Posts: 460 Member
    I usually have mashed potatoes and either beans or peas or some green legume.
  • _Tink_
    _Tink_ Posts: 3,845 Member
    Salad and garlic bread.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    To me the beauty of lasagna is it is essentially a meal all on its own. I agree salad and garlic bread are all that is needed.
  • snappyapples
    snappyapples Posts: 76
    I always have a nice salad with lasgana. Greens, nuts, avocado, cucumbet, peppers... YUM!
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
    Soup or salad would work well. Roasted asparagus would be great and it is in season.
  • jenniferchew2012
    jenniferchew2012 Posts: 31 Member
    I usually do a cucumber salad with a bit of lemon juice, olive oil, salt pepper. Oh and can't forget the garlic bread!
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
    Salad. Definitely salad.
  • wow29
    wow29 Posts: 283 Member
    bump
  • OllyReeves
    OllyReeves Posts: 579 Member
    I usually have mashed potatoes and either beans or peas or some green legume.

    mashed potatoes and lasagne? Wow, that's a heavy old meal right there!
  • HeatherBittner
    HeatherBittner Posts: 296 Member
    A salad and maybe some green beans.

    Can I have your lasagna recipe??
  • MizTerry
    MizTerry Posts: 3,763 Member
    Diced Tomato and cucumbers soaked in apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar, whichever is your preference. I love that.
  • TheWorstHorse
    TheWorstHorse Posts: 185
    personally, i consider lasagna a perfect, self-contained unit of food, so i'd just give everyone a big enough hunk to keep them busy for thirty minutes. but if i *had* to have a side i would mix up argula or raddachio with other greens, red onion sliced thin (soak for ten minutes in water and squeeze to take away the burn), a little shaved parm and a balsamic vinegarette. the bitter greens and onion will make the lasagna taste even more intensely rich.

    have fun!
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    Salad and garlic bread.

    Yup... or I will steam green beans or broccoli and/or Cauliflower.
  • LassoOfTruth
    LassoOfTruth Posts: 735 Member
    More lasagna. :P
  • erockem
    erockem Posts: 278 Member
    A smaller slice of lasagna.
  • hopper602
    hopper602 Posts: 204 Member
    eggplant, polenta, mushrooms, grilled zuchinni, and quinoa. Just a few items that could pass as a side.
  • sherisse69
    sherisse69 Posts: 795 Member
    Salad is a must with Lasagna I find. Something fresh to balance the heavy :) Enjoy!
  • Samby_v1
    Samby_v1 Posts: 202 Member
    In for the salad and (small amount of) garlic bread to mop up all the lasagne.

    Buon gusto!
  • Mygsds
    Mygsds Posts: 1,564 Member
    A nice salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, feta and olive oil and vinegar... Drool
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    Hey all - I have a weekly dinner group with friends, which rotates, and this coming Sunday is my turn. One of the girls is vegetarian so I've decided to do a white, spinach lasagna. I know it's going to be a pretty heavy meal with the lasagna so I was wondering if anyone has any sides in mind :)

    Baked squash, especially Japanese pumpkin, really nice seasoned with olive oil and fresh herb, baked for about 30 minutes or until tender.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    To me the beauty of lasagna is it is essentially a meal all on its own. I agree salad and garlic bread are all that is needed.

    Agreed. We usually do lasagna with tons of veggies in it, and no sides at all. I love the idea of salad and garlic bread though. If someone's not inclined to have quite as much pasta/bread they can just eat the salad and lasagna. Win win.
  • ils_1231
    ils_1231 Posts: 249 Member
    To me the beauty of lasagna is it is essentially a meal all on its own. I agree salad and garlic bread are all that is needed.

    LOL i have the tiniest oven known to man... so im sort of hoping to make the lasagna and supplement the meal with some sides. i think i will do a salad and garlic bread like many of you have suggested but i wanted other things to "bulk" up the meal and my lack thereof being able to use a proper pan in my TINY oven. I can only fit a brownie pan in there basically.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    To me the beauty of lasagna is it is essentially a meal all on its own. I agree salad and garlic bread are all that is needed.

    LOL i have the tiniest oven known to man... so im sort of hoping to make the lasagna and supplement the meal with some sides. i think i will do a salad and garlic bread like many of you have suggested but i wanted other things to "bulk" up the meal and my lack thereof being able to use a proper pan in my TINY oven. I can only fit a brownie pan in there basically.

    Given the size of your oven, I understand better. So the portion sizes of the lasagna will be much smaller. Do you have a stove top that you can use while the oven is running? If so, maybe a sauteed vegetable, or even something like sauteed chicken since you were doing a vegetarian lasagna?

    Also, my experience with lasagna is that it needs to rest for at least 10 minutes when it comes out of the oven so that it sets and doesn't fall apart when you dish it up. That will be perfect so that you can serve your salad and put the garlic bread in the oven when the lasagna is resting.

    Also, what time is dinner - sounds great!
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    Salad and garlic bread.
    This.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Whatcha having for dessert?
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
    here's a perfect Salad for Lasagna (I make variations on this all the time) - I'm not a Garlic bread fan but a grilled bruschetta made with Good Olive Oil and Ciabatta and maybe a ripe tomato rubbed on top after grilling

    http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/RCP02206/Tuscan-Kale-Salad.html
  • swissmish
    swissmish Posts: 183 Member
    Definitely a nice green salad to lighten it up and then garlic bread...with cheese of course :)
  • ils_1231
    ils_1231 Posts: 249 Member
    A salad and maybe some green beans.

    Can I have your lasagna recipe??

    I usually make up recipes on the fly, but the plan is :

    layer spinach and white sauce :

    Spinach Layer:
    -raw spinach saute with garlic (put the lid on the pan to wilt the spinach / you want this on pretty low heat) -- after spinach is wilted make sure there isnt too much liquid left in spinach and chop up and mix with a bit of arugula pesto.
    ( you can also use frozen spinach, NEVER CANNED- there is too much of a tinny taste, just make sure that the water is drained from the spinach if using frozen)
    i dont have recipe for pesto-- its just a jar that my dad sent me. if i didnt have the pesto i would just stir in a bit of milk to make it more creamy, as if you were doing creamed spinach

    white sauce
    -infuse milk with some thyme and oregano. (put milk into a sauce pan and simmer on LOW LOW heat. throw in springs of thyme and oregano and let sit for about 20min to half and hour) taste to see if you need to let it go longer, etc.
    -remove herbs

    - in a sauce pan/small pot put equal parts butter and flour to make a roux. (usually do about two tablespoons flour to 2 tablespoons butter). mix until it forms a light coloured paste
    -slowly pour in milk mixture while constantly stirring to dissolve roux. simmer for 5 mins
    - take off heat then add the cheese ( not sure what cheese just yet, most likely some already shredded mix of italian cheese mix bc i cant be bothered)

    start with the spinach layer and just keep layering: spinach, pasta sheets, white sauce, pasta sheets, spinach, etc.

    Cooking:
    Depends on the pasta sheets -- see if you need to cook them first or if you can just use the sheets as is per box instructions
    Cover lasagna and bake for 30 mins at 375 and then uncovered to brown the top -- make sure that the last layer is cheese!

    i love to cook and usually do a meat lasagna where i make a very very wine filled bolognese sauce instead of the spinach layer, and then usually do a standard white cheese sauce for the cheese layer.

    shameless plug-- thinking about starting a foodblog if you have instagram look me up @lala_cooks
  • ils_1231
    ils_1231 Posts: 249 Member
    Whatcha having for dessert?

    always up for debate -- fruit and then cookies that im making for a holiday coming up this saturday :)
  • ils_1231
    ils_1231 Posts: 249 Member
    I usually do a cucumber salad with a bit of lemon juice, olive oil, salt pepper. Oh and can't forget the garlic bread!

    this would be great!

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