2 side dishes............

Fennel orange and parsley salad

brussel sprouts with bacon and thyme 

I try to come up with interesting side dishes for my client. Since she has an allergy to garlic and can't tolerate wheat, milk and soy, I have to be creative with seasonings and different flavorings. These are two dishes I made recently for her. The fennel salad went with a turkey lasagna and the brussel sprouts went with a pork dish. I really loved the pork chops with a mustard sage sauce, but client reheated it too long and her pork was tough. They loved the brussel sprouts and I'm glad because it was a long process making them. First, cook 4 strips of chopped bacon, add 1lb of trimmed and quarted brussel sprouts to 2tbls of bacon fat, along with a chopped shallot. Cook until browned, add some chicken stock and braise until cooked thru. Add some maple syrup and fresh thyme and garnish with bacon.

The fennel salad was just chopped fennel, celery, orange segments and parsley. Dressed with some evoo, salt and fresh cracked pepper. Thankfully, they loved both of the dishes.