What to Serve with Chicken

A beautiful new book on produce provides us with seven fresh, colorful sides that will work no matter how you cook your bird.

By Lynn Andriani

The Modern Update to Classic Fried Chicken

Cheryl Sternman Rule, author of Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables, makes a salsa-guacamole hybrid that mixes bracing citrus flavor with a swift chili kick. The result is a saladlike accompaniment that's ideal with crispy fried chicken.

Get the recipe: Avocado Tangerine Salsa

Polenta-Stuffed Chard with Bubbly Parmesan

A Dinner Date for Chicken Marsala

Herbed chicken cloaked in a sauce of Marsala wine and sautéed mushrooms needs something to soak up all those juices, and polenta and greens are perfect. We're taken with Rule's idea of combining the starch and vegetable into one dish and making impressive-looking parcels of chard leaves filled with polenta and marinara sauce.

Get the recipe: Polenta-Stuffed Chard with Bubbly Parmesan

The Cool Complement to Spicy Jerk Chicken

Depending on the peppers or spice mix you use, this Jamaican chicken dish can pack a pretty serious punch. Cool your palate with pineapple skewers that get a concentrated flavor from being tossed on the grill for a few minutes. Chinese five-spice powder—which usually includes Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, cloves, cinnamon and fennel seeds—keeps them from tasting too much like dessert.

Get the recipe: Grilled Five-Spice Pineapple Kabobs

A Perfectly Tousled Side for Coq au Vin

If the braised chicken-and-wine dish coq au vin is a sophisticated Frenchman, think of Rule's luxurious, tangled mess of leeks, apples, Gruyère, wine and cream as Brigitte Bardot. Add a baguette and you've got yourself one magnifique dinner.

Get the recipe: Gruyère-Crusted Leeks and Apples

Barbecued Chicken's New BFF

Chicken slathered in tangy barbecue sauce and cooked on the grill in the backyard might just be the perfect summer supper. Instead of going with the usual coleslaw or fries, though, try this gorgeous green salad, which bursts with the refreshing flavors of honeydew, cucumber, green grapes, lime and mint.

Get the recipe: Honeydew Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

An Amigo for Chicken Parm

We love chicken Parmesan with a simple bowl of penne in tomato sauce. However, in the spirit of fusing global flavors, pasta with Spanish romesco is a bright and unusual substitute. Rule's blend of roasted vegetables and almonds makes a delicious topping for rigatoni (though orecchiette would work too).

Get the recipe: Eggplant Romesco Rigatoni

A Light Sidekick to Cordon Bleu

Salty and rich, the classic French chicken dish, stuffed with ham and cheese, needs a side that won't weigh the meal down. Rule suggests this warm combination of green fava beans, pearly couscous and sweet shallots.

Get the recipe: Warm Fava Shallot Couscous

Next: 11 healthy chicken recipes

Published 05/11/2012