Steve contributed:

> 8 minutes - Parsly and/or chive egg noodles. Boil noodles until
> al dente, fry in butter with salt, pepper, and parsley or [dried]
> chives.

For a Central European meal, I make something similar, only with poppy seeds
instead of the parsley/chives.

Here are a few other quick sides:

Get one of those bunches of enoki mushrooms and saute it until it just
starts to turn golden. Remove and sprinkle with soy sauce. (I avoid saying
what fat you saute it in; it varies according to what else is in the meal.)

Wash a bunch of spinach and put into a pan over medium-high heat with a bit
of bacon grease and garlic. Cover pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove
cover, toss, and cover again. Cook another 30 seconds. Remove cover again:
If spinach is wilted, it's done. If not, toss again, cover again, and cook
until spinach is wilted. Add salt, pepper, and vinegar of choice to taste.

Put about a quarter-cup of apple jelly into a saucepan over medium heat.
Cook, mashing the jelly until it's melted. Add a can of sauerkraut and stir
until the sweet stuff is mixed throughout. Add caraway seeds or juniper
berries if you feel like it.

If you've got good-quality bread and a toaster oven, bruschetta also make
good side dishes, but that's a huge topic, so I'll just mention it as an
option without giving specifics.

Bob