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on the side grill side dishes  by Yee-Fan Sun | 1 2

Sure, I love the brats, burgers, steaks and chicken that are the main event at summer cookouts. But all that meat does get, well, a trifle boring. There's something kind of sad-looking about a plate with nothing more than a lone grilled sausage rolling around from side to side. Let's face it: no cookout is complete without a good spread of side dishes to add variety to the offerings.

Looking for a good side dish to go along with your grilled goodies? Check out these three recipes…

o o o

broccoli, bacon and red onion Salad
You can make this salad with raw broccoli if you like, but I prefer the sweet flavor of broccoli cooked to the just barely crisp-tender stage.

6 cups broccoli, peeled, stems cut into florets and stems chunked (about 1 big bunch of broccoli)
¼ cup dried currants
¼ cup finely diced red onion
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
¼ cup yogurt
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 slabs o' bacon
salt to taste

serves 6
time 20-30 minutes

1 Peel the tough outer skin of the broccoli (You can skip this step, but the broccoli won't be as tender). Cut broccoli into small, bite-size pieces (you'll want the stalk pieces to be no more than 3/8" or so thick, and 1.5"-2" long). Place in a steamer basket, or on a plate on a steaming rack, in a large pot with ¼" water; bring to a boil, then cover and steam until barely crisp-tender (check after 5 minutes). Run the cooked broccoli under cold water and drain well.
2 Toss the bacon in a skillet and turn the heat on medium-high. Turn the bacon frequently as the fat cooks out and the bacon begins to brown. When the bacon's nice and crisp, remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Chop it up into bits.
3 Combine the onion, currants, mayonnaise, yogurt and red wine vinegar in a big mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Add salt to taste. Toss the dressing and bacon bits with the cooked broccoli. Add more salt to taste.

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