Sometimes, wolfing down a shred of ham between two slices of wheat bread from your left hand while starting the car with your right hand is all you have time for as you're rushing to your afternoon meeting.But there are times when we take a moment. We use the good china, we "plate" our sandwiches, maybe we light a candle or two, and we sit down and really enjoy our sandwiches. When that's the case, we usally have something alongside our sandwich to round out the meal. Alright, so even if you don't bother with the candles, you're still going to have something on the side, right? Here are eight sandwich sides, some favorite, others not so much:
- Dill Pickle - Simple, both to prepare and to eat.
- Potato chips - This is a no-brainer. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that a huge percentage of sandwiches are eaten as part of a sack lunch, so a bag of potato chips goes right along with it. As far as what kind of potato chips are the best, though? We don't want to get into that whole discussion, now do we? However, I will say that it would be pretty cool to match a non-traditional, slightly more exotic sandwich with some of the global flavors out there, like cilantro-lime potato chips with your banh mi.
3. French fries - Like potato chips, this seems to be the default side when eating a sandwich in a restaurant. In fact, French fries are probably the preferred choice over potato chips in general; it's just that we settle for potato chips when no one is around to make French fries. Heck, some sandwiches, like the Greek gyro, put the sandwiches inside.
4. Potato salad - There must be something about the potato as a side dish. Now, call me crazy, but I actually don't like salads of any sort when I'm eating a sandwich or a burger. It goes against efficiency. If you're eating a sandwich with your hands, why would you want to pick up a fork to eat the salad? Nonetheless, for popularity's sake, potato salad gets a spot in this list.
5. Green salad - Come on, no one really eats the pile of lettuce that comes on the side of a sadnwich plate. People order the green salad because it's the only alternative to French fries, and they already feel guilty about all the mayo and cheese on their tuna melt.
6. Soup - In the same vein as salads, soup requires the use of a utensil, which again, seems high inefficient when you're eating a sandwich with your hands. However, when you're eating a grilled cheese sandwich, can you imagine not having tomato soup? No, I can't either.
7. Carrot and celery sticks - Now this is a tough one. They certainly work because you can pick them up and munch away on them with your hands, and if you're eating a healthy sandwich, carrot and celery sticks definitely match. To me though, they seem like a guilt-ridden replacement for French fries.
8. Weird stuff from our readers- This one is for you. I can't say that I eat enough sandwiches that I stray too far from any of the above seven sides. However, I just know that our readers have interesting sandiwch sides to share! Did I miss something obvious? Is it really Cheetos, not potato chips? Do you have some weird sandwich side that you'd care to share?










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-21-2006 @ 12:24PM
jbd said...
Not weird sides at all, but I prefer pretzels and/or fruit salad to accompany my sandwiches.
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9-21-2006 @ 12:24PM
Rasesh said...
Diam! This makes me soo hungry!
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9-21-2006 @ 12:24PM
Nathan said...
Surely pretzels deserve a place on the list, if only as an also-ran to potato chips. They're lower in fat (if just as high in sodium) and they're just as portable. At work, I eat five sandwiches and five bags of pretzels a week from my little brown bag.
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9-21-2006 @ 12:29PM
Tarrant said...
Cole Slaw BELONGS with some sandwiches and is the obvious one you missed. How can you eat some sandwiches...like barbecue sandwiches...without cole slaw?
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9-21-2006 @ 12:49PM
ben said...
a wierd but aawesome one: kimchee. i know i know, a lot of readers just purely do NOT like it, but, much like cabbage cole slaw, it provides a crunch to compliment/contrast the sandwish. its ALWAYS on Korean tables, but even non-koreans like me can enjoy the spice, crunch and kick of lively kimchee next to certain sandwiches. i admit tho, you DO have it with the efficiency thing. kimchee would, i concede, fall into the highly inefficient category. its too good to pass up tho. especially compliments the pickles in any sandwich, too!
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9-21-2006 @ 12:57PM
Jill said...
Depends on the sandwich...with a burger it's baked beans, fries, onion rings...something hot. With a cold sandwich..pickles, chips, a cold salad, even a deviled egg. Some kind of dipping sauce is good with hot or cold.
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9-25-2006 @ 5:19PM
Jason said...
I'm not a foodie, I just love to eat (and therefore still love this blog. I have to break out the Fiery Hot Cheeto's from time to time, as they make almost any sandwich better.
While not exactly a side, I'll admit that hard salomi sandwiches are excellent with Ritz crackers inside.
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