Tis the season for sides: Perfect dishes to accompany your Christmas mains

by Staff Bona

Complete your Christmas lunch with our delicious side dishes selected to add flavour, texture, and festive charm to your holiday celebrations.

Corn Cobletts with Lemon Pepper and Pecorino Butter

Recipe by: MasterChef South Africa judge Zola Nene with sponsor Pick n Pay

PICTURE: SUPPLIED

Make the butter in batches and keep frozen to use on vegetables and steaks anytime.

TOTAL TIME About 45 minutes
SERVES 4

Ingredients

  • 1 punnet (700 g) sweetcorn cobletts
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) lemon pepper
  • ½ cup (125 ml) butter, softened
  • ½ cup (125 ml) grated pecorino
  • Small handful of parsley, finely chopped
  • Micro herbs, for serving

Method

  1. Blanche sweetcorn in a large pot of simmering water until it smells fragrant and is a bright yellow colour. Drain.
  2. Toss in a glug of oil and season with salt.
  3. Chargrill over medium heat.
  4. Mix the lemon pepper with the butter, pecorino and parsley. Season with salt.
  5. Smear corn liberally with the butter mixture as it comes off the braai.
  6. Scatter over some micro herbs and serve.

Nachos with guacamole

Recipe by: Mogau Seshoene (Lazy Makoti) & Zanele van Zyl (Cooking with Zanele)

PICTURE: SUPPLIED

PREP TIME: 20 min
COOK TIME: 6 min
SERVES: 8

Ingredients

For the chicken

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 60 g tomato paste
  • 4 chicken filets, cooked and shredded
  • 1 cup canned tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp chicken spice
  • 185 g packet of nachos
  • 1 cup mozzarella, grated
  • 1 cup Cheddar, grated
  • Handful of spring onion, chopped

For the guacamole

  • 1 ripe avocado
  • 1 drop of lemon
  • 100 ml cream cheese
  • Salt and pepper

Method

For the chicken

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
  2. In a pan, heat the oil. Fry the onion and garlic.
  3. Add tomato paste and chicken and mix together. Now add the canned tomatoes and season with chicken spice.
  4. Let it simmer for 3 minutes and cool down.

For the guacamole

  1. In a bowl, mash avocado, add lemon juice, and cream cheese and season with salt and pepper.

To assemble

  1. In a flat casserole dish, layer the nachos, then the chicken mixture, then a layer of nachos, then the chicken. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Cheddar.
  2. Place in the oven for 6 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
  3. Garnish with spring onion and guacamole.

Originally published for print in BONA Magazine