Side Dish Suggestions Needed

Zucchini sauteed with onions and tomatoes go good with that, I'll sometimes serve that in place of rice. If not that maybe some kind of avocado salad?

fruit salad...I always like citrus stuff with mexican...

jicama salad
black bean, corn, cilantro, red pepper salad
corn casserole (so yummy!)
sauteed zucchini and quinoa pilaf

I think a green salad would be perfect. You could make it a basic lettuce salad or go further by adding tomatoes, cilantro, queso fresco, corn, beans, cucumber. There is a delicious cilantro-vinaigrette dressing at www.ourbestbites.com. Or how about slices of pineapple- fresh or grilled?

Hmmm... for no rice/beans/corn... let's drop south east into mesoamerica & the caribbean (and the far east for a bit'o'fusion)

- Fried Bananas (tostones) w/ Guacamole is one of my FAVORITE Costa Rican side my hubby brought back with him from living down there.

- Crispy Won-tons makes a nice fusion thing

- Camote (mayan version of sweet potatoes with honey and butter and cinnamon)

- CUBAN / caribbean sides: pineapple & avacado salad, pan frito, heuvos cubanos (cuban deviled eggs) http://icuban.com/food/ (from 3 guys from miami cook cuban, scroll about halfway down)

- Mayan Ceviche (scallops, rock cod, jalapenos, cilantro, purple onion, lime juice, lemon juice, salt, pepper... optional a little bit of sriachi/cock sauce)

- Artichokes

If you'd just like to avoid RED & YELLOW rice, however, how about some Non-standard / special occasion rice?

(Arroz Verde)
SERVES 4
This Mexican holiday rice is adapted from Aída Gabilondo's Mexican Family Cooking (Fawcett Columbine, 1986).
1 small white onion, peeled and quartered

2 poblano chiles, deveined, seeded, and quartered
 (optional, or substitute chile of choice)
3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup fresh cilantro
1 cup chard (center stalk deveined and chopped into strips)

2 cups Chicken Stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup long-grain white rice

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1. Place onions, chiles, garlic, cilantro, chard, and 1 cup stock in a blender. Blend, strain, and season with salt and pepper.

2. Rinse and drain rice. Heat oil in a  heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add rice and sauté, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add sauce and remaining 1 cup stock. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove pot from heat, but keep covered, allowing rice to cook for another 10 minutes

A mexican salad with black beans, corn, lettuce and avacado sounds good!

A corn and black bean salad goes so well!

-3 ears fresh corn (or 1 can; but it's not as good).
-1 can black beans (drained and rinsed well)
-1 pablano pepper (roasted) or can of chopped green chilies (drained)
-1 large avocado
-1 clove finely chopped fresh garlic
-1/4 c finely chopped fresh cilantro
-juice of 2 limes
-olive oil (maybe 1/8-1/4 cup)
-1/4 c chopped red onion
-grape tomatoes (quartered) *optional
-salt to taste

-Lightly roast the corn over the open flame of your stove top (if you have a gas range). You don't have to cook it other than that. Also roast the pablano the same way until it's black all over. Let it cool then wipe the black stuff. (If you don't have a gas range, you can roast these things in the oven. Just Google it.
-Cut the corn off of the cob with a sharp knife. Cut the pablano open and rinse out the seeds. Chop into small pieces. Add these items to a large bowl.
-Chop avocado into small pieces and add to the bowl with chopped red onion, tomato and chopped cilantro.
-in a small bowl, juice the fresh limes, add chopped garlic and olive oil (as much as you'd like, i don't tend to measure).
-Mix it all together in the large bowl and refrigerate.

This is a delicious, fresh and healthy summer salad.

tortilla chips with Guac or salsa

Look for Chi Chi's corn cake mix in the Latin section. It's so good.

Mexican corn bread. Yum!

roasted red potatoes maybe seasoned with some southwest seasoning
the salad ideas are great too
also roasted veggies like zucchini, summer squash and red and green peppers.

Roasted corn on the cob (this is great wrapped in foil and grilled!)

any veggies sauted' in olive oil with onions, bell peppers and mushrooms, great!

How about refried beans with some cheese on top? They heat up really well. And Guacamole? Sour cream. A taco salad? tomato and red onion and cucumber salad (just add some olive oil and balsamic, salt, oregano and garlic powder).