One of the most popular dishes of Russian cuisine is meat and fish cutlets, each housewife has her own recipe and secret of their preparation. Depending on the method of preparation - fried in fat or oil, steamed - they can be either a very satisfying and high-calorie meal, or a dietary meal. Therefore, they can be found in the menu of those who want to lose weight. You can also choose a side dish for them depending on the benefits and calorie content.
Hearty and high-calorie side dishes for cutlets
When preparing a side dish, you should take into account: no matter how tasty your cutlets are, the side dish for them should also be tasty. This is a separate full-fledged dish that not only sets off the taste and aroma of cutlets, but also complements them. A classic side dish that can be served with both minced meat cutlets and those for which fish was used is mashed potatoes. To make it beautiful and tasty, try to achieve an even consistency using a crush. Be sure to add milk and butter to it. Some housewives add a beaten raw egg to mashed potatoes. Serving mashed potatoes with fish or meat patties, put a spoonful of canned green peas in a plate, sprinkle with finely chopped fresh herbs on top. Young boiled potatoes will also be an excellent side dish for cutlets.
Boiled rice also goes well with meat and fish cakes. But you shouldn't cook it like porridge. Prepare rice for a side dish in a skillet. First, fry it in a small amount of vegetable oil, and then cook, stirring constantly and adding 70-100 g of vegetable, fish or meat broth as it is absorbed. Don't forget to add the spices. When the rice is almost cooked and only in the middle it is a little damp, turn off the stove, add more broth, tightly cover the pan with a lid and leave to stand on the stove for another 10 minutes.
Do not serve fried potatoes as a side dish with cutlets - this will be a pretty strong test for your liver.
With meat cutlets, you can serve pasta or noodles by adding butter to this side dish. As a gravy, you can use the juice that remained after frying the cutlets, but you can also make a separate sauce, for example, fry the onions with carrots and fresh tomatoes, and then lightly simmer everything over low heat.
You can serve cutlets with a side dish by adding some pickles to the dish: chopped thinly pickled cucumber, a spoonful of sauerkraut, salted tomato.
Diet side dishes for cutlets
Such side dishes, like cutlets, can be very tasty, and they cook much faster. And for meat and fish cakes, it is best to serve vegetables, the same young boiled potatoes. If it's a frozen vegetable mix, lightly boil the vegetables in boiling water (3-4 minutes), put them in a colander, put them in a frying pan with a little olive oil and just heat them without frying. Add spices and salt a little. If the diet is strict, skip the frying pan step. You can cook both green beans and cauliflower or broccoli this way.
For dietary dishes, fresh vegetables in the form of a salad or simply cut into large pieces are also suitable as a side dish. Green leafy lettuce and a few sprigs of fresh herbs never hurt.
