The only meal I can think of that I make with set sides is sauerbraten. I always like to have it with noodles, red cabbage and German potato salad.

Everything gets switched up or else it gets boring. Flavors, however, can stay the same for the culture. Potatoes with Mexican, can have similar seasonings. Adding new foods really helps. Barely instead of rice, for instance.

What you really need is a fusion cookbook or fusion way of thinking.

Korean tacos - Korean + Mexican- are iconic now.

For me, the only meal that has anything close to 'set sides' is a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. Otherwise, it is whatever sounds good at that particular moment or is in season, on sale or what I have on hand :-) Meals would be overwhelmingly boring to me if I ate the same combination of foods together every time!

I do often make cornbread with beans, that's what Elery and I grew up eating, but I really have no "set sides" for anything. We have whatever sounds good, is currently available in the freezer/storeroom/pantry and fits within my time parameters.

I usually have rice with Asian food, and the grandkids like garlic bread with pasta (which I think is just way too much starch, but whatever), so we do have some things that we pair often depending on who is eating, but nothing is absolute.

I don't even stay within the "flavor profile" sometimes. I know that on one of the "wedding" threads more than one poster said if the food came from a taco truck, the appetizers shouldn't be Mexican flavors, they should be something different, so it's not just me on that either.

Annie

Asparagus with salmon, baked beans, cornbread and potato salad with barbeque ribs...other wise I mix it up.

The only "set sides" I do is boiled potatoes, carrots and onions with corned beef and usually but not always corn bread with bean soup.
Most basic meats...chicken roasted, fried or grilled can be served with baked potatoes, french fries, au gratin, rice pilaf, noodles alfredo...gnocci, spatzel, bulgar wheat, quinioa....and about any vegetable you can think of....same with chops, steaks etc. But roast meats that might yield gravy are best served with mashed potatoes...or baked or oven roasted.

The only set sides I have is the potatoes, carrots and cabbage with corned beef and the "trimmings" with the turkey dinner. Like Annie -- it depends on what we have on hand. And we tend to eat seasonally so we wouldn't always have asparagus hollandaise with a steak because asparagus is only available in the spring and we eat steak 12 months of the year.

Pork loin with escalloped potatoes and green beans with a salad - iceberg/romaine mix - and homemade 'grandma recipe' (scalded milk) parker house rolls …

Pork ribs with baked beans and coleslaw. Italian sausages with bell peppers and onions. Steak with baked potato and broccolini. Ham with sweet potato, pineapple and green beans. Turkey potpie with acorn squash, peas and cranberry sauce.

Asparagus with Salmon unless we've eaten it (asparagus) a bit too often. Some kind of potato side with steak - usually baked - and salad. Carrots, yukon golds, and onions with roasts. Always cabbage and potatoes with corned beef. Is maple syrup a side? If so, maple syrup with pancakes : ) Cornbread with chili unless I think divorce sounds like fun.

I do mix my seasonings depending on mood - curry, Italian, 'southern', Asian, etc.

The only set sides I can think of that we make are spaghetti with salad and garlic bread. Otherwise, the sides are whatever we are in the mood for.

Always have the traditional sides with turkey, even if it's not Thanksgiving. Always have hotdogs, coleslaw & yeast rolls with baked beans and always have cottage cheese & bread of some sort with spaghetti. Other than those three, anything is a go.

I don’t like set anything, but the kids do. I like change, with everything in my life. I secretly get annoyed with friends that insist on always doing things the same. For example, our neighbourhood has an annual horseshoe tournament and barbecue. It has always been the third week of June. The mosquitoes are always terrible and it always rains. As we are hosting this year, I suggested we move the date sooner or later to avoid this. Well, you would think I wanted to change Christmas!