Side

We love hash browns for their delicious contradiction—the way the outer crunch of skillet–fried potatoes gives way to an inner creaminess. Throw in some nuggets of spicy Spanish chorizo (left over from Corn–Bread and Chorizo Stuffing ) and things only get better.

This side dish of silky mashed potatoes sweetened with pumpkin (left over from Pumpkin Muffins ), seasoned with fresh sage, and laced with melty strands of Fontina cheese is full of favorite autumnal flavors. But, surprisingly, it's the cider vinegar that really makes this dish sing—just a tablespoon of this stealth ingredient adds a roundness that ties the whole dish together. We love it with pork chops or turkey cutlets.

When I was growing up, my mom would cut up fresh fruit and arrange it on a plate with a shot glass full of toothpicks. She would also toss fresh fruit with some orange or lime juice and sugar. Taking inspiration from her, I came up with my own version: lime, lemon, a little maple syrup, and an herb syrup with rosemary or mint.
Cut your fruit into chunks rather than into small pieces; I find that small pieces of fruit get mealy and mushy. Make the salad the morning you're going to serve it, but if you're determined to make it the night before, cut up the fruit, store it in separate containers, and then toss it together in the morning. Use whatever fruit you'd like (bananas, apples, berries—the possibilities are endless), but unless you're using the ripest, sweetest seasonal fruit, add a little sugar.

It's easy to transform the leftover rice from our Chinese Black Rice recipe into this beautiful and satisfying salad—just add crunchy celery, radishes, and a fresh basil dressing. In supermarkets, black rice (often labeled "Forbidden Rice") is usually found in 15–ounce packages; Asian markets often sell it in larger quantities.

If you think brown rice isn't for you, think again. In particular, think about brown basmati rice, whose slender grains offer an inviting combination of elegance and earthy chew. Now add in some chunks of zucchini, toasted pecans, lots of fresh herbs, and the mellowness of coriander (left over from Lamb Spice Rub ) and cumin, and you have a salad that's practically a meal.

The leftover Savoy cabbage from our <epi:recipelink id="351167"">Winter Minestrone</epi:recipelink> makes a quick and easy side dish when thinly sliced and sautéed with some scallions and garlic. It tastes great with pork chops, chicken, or fish.

In his "A Tuscan Son" menu, Tony Oltranti serves Polenta with Franklin's Teleme as a smooth, soft base for his roast chicken. This recipe takes polenta in a different direction—cooked with sage, rosemary, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, the polenta is then cooled, cut into sticks, and broiled until the outer edges of the "fries" are golden and crisp, a fine contrast to the creamy interior. Serve them with a fried egg and a salad for a vegetarian lunch, or pair them with something saucy like chicken fricassee.

This sweet-tart compote is made up of cooked kumquat and lemon slices and fresh blood orange segments. This recipe is an accompaniment for the Meyer Lemon Shortcakes with Meyer Curd and Mixed Citrus "Marmelade".

These small dumplings come with both a story and a significant history. According to legend, they were born in the imperial kitchen when a cook, making dumplings for the emperor, forgot a batch that was slowly cooking. They were singed brown, slightly burned. With no time to spare, and an impatient, hungry emperor waiting, the cook, a nimble and adaptive fellow, arranged the dumplings on a platter, burned sides up, and presented them to the emperor as a new dish that he called, quotie, which means "stuck bottom." The emperor was delighted. Legend or not, it is a fact that these browned half-moons filled with pork and vegetables were eventually sold daily by the thousands from small streetside stands to satisfy the morning habits of people in Beijing and Tianjin, who called them jiaozi, or "little dumplings." It is a tradition that exists to this day. As popular foods do, these jiaozi migrated to Shanghai, where they became known by their imperial name of quotie, to describe their cooking process. The habit of morning pot stickers swept Shanghai, and to this day they are sold, as in Beijing, from small streetside stands. Over the years, they migrated south to Guangzhou and Hong Kong, carried by Shanghainese fleeing the Japanese invasion of their city, and sold first by refugees on the streets as a way of making a living. They have become part of the accommodating dim sum repertoire, and are referred to in Cantonese as wor tip, or "pot stickers." Serve them with a ginger-vinegar sauce (see note).

A handful of olives are delicious with the bitter greens.

Dried crushed red pepper adds heat to the glazed carrots.

At Ballinalacken Castle Country House & Restaurant, the bread is baked in a rectangular pan.

This riff on the classic frisée salad with lardons is the perfect thing to make with leftover hazelnuts from our 10 Minute Main Hake with Hazelnuts and Capers . It looks delicate, but its vinaigrette is enriched with the nuts and some bacon fat, which not only gives it substance but also balances the bitterness of the frisée and the bite of the radishes.

Rosemary's piney scent is so particular you could never mistake it for any other herb. A handful of sprigs (left over from Beef Sautéed with White Wine and Rosemary ) mingle with garlic to cast a spell over roasted potatoes, resulting in something that's just right on a winter night.

Pineapple helps give this Asian salad a perfect balance of hot, salty, tangy, and sweet.