No Substitutions, Please

Tag: Side Dishes

  • Episode 104: Mashed Potatoes

    After four weeks of (what we assume was) infinite outcry about how we should “stick to food,” we’re back with the homiest, coziest, and perhaps most populist of the Thanksgiving classics: the humble mashed potato, otherwise known as gravy’s favorite surface.

  • Episode 82: Coleslaw

    If you treat it right, it’s a lot more than that green stuff next to your ribs. Join Noah and Louisa on this traipse through the cabbage patch.

  • Episode 79: Baked Potatoes

    No jacket required! Those of you who like episodes where Noah hates the food under discussion, your luck’s in. Ovoids full of perfect fluffy golden potato, or bland and flavorless receptacles in search of toppings? You decide. Follow us:@NoSubsPlease on Twitter.@NoSubsPlease@mastodon.online on Mastodon.@NoSubsPlease on BlueSky. Noah: @elderrumbao on Twitter, @nsmckinnon@laserdisc.party on Mastodon, @nsmckinnon.bsky.social on BlueSky.Louisa:…

  • Episode 78: Deviled Ham

    Good as hell! Noah and Louisa talk about the smooth and savory sandwich spread that gives lunches and party trays the extra piquancy of facing God.

  • Episode 76: Charred Green Beans

    Tired of boiled, olive drab, soft and mushy green beans? Why not perk them up the same way Noah and Louisa like to gild every vegetal lily: artfully burn them in hot oil?

  • Episode 71: Risotto

    Who knew a dish this luxurious could be based on simple rice? Well, not just simple rice. You have to get the right kind, and do things in the exactly right order, and pay a lot of attention to what you’re doing—unless you use this one neat trick Noah recently acquired. He and Louisa will…

  • Episode 70: Roast Broccoli

    Sulfurous and delightful, cruciferous and enjoyable. Noah and Louisa talk about one of the simplest green sides to any dish, and why people keep overcomplicating it. Follow us:@NoSubsPlease on Twitter.@NoSubsPlease@mastodon.online on Mastodon.@NoSubsPlease on Cohost. Noah: @elderrumbao on Twitter, @nsmckinnon@laserdisc.party on Mastodon, @nsmckinnon.bsky.social on BlueSky.Louisa: @louisa@mastodon.xyz Our theme is Street Food, by FASSounds, and is governed…

  • Episode 65: Potatoes Au Gratin

    Nothing screams “comfort food” more than potatoes and dairy in the same dish, and, well, that’s exactly what this is. Noah and Louisa thinly slice a few fools who somehow manage to make it a difficult experience.

  • Episode 59: Peas

    We’re back! After a short hiatus, Noah and Louisa talk about the little green spheres that provide splashes of color and sweetness to so many dishes—assuming you don’t cook them to within an inch of their lives. So kick back, download the episode, and find your inner . . . tranquility.

  • Episode 54: Guacamole

    For their final entry of Hispanic Heritage Month, Noah and Louisa take a look at the green that’s good as gold, the magical vegetal with the avocado base, yet another thing on which every American has a completely unsolicited opinion: guacamole. Brace yourselves.

  • Episode 51: Mofongo

    For our first Hispanic Heritage Month episode, we take on one of Noah’s most beloved exemplars of boricua cuisine: the exquisite combination of plantain fried to its golden peak, sharp garlic oil, and savory pork cracklings that goes with everything—from roast pork or chicken to seafood stews. Follow us:@NoSubsPlease on BlueSky.@NoSubsPlease@mastodon.online on Mastodon. Noah: @nsmckinnon.bsky.social…

  • Episode 49: Falafel

    Back after a two-week hiatus! Among the lordliest of the fried foods, these delicious, simple, crispy balls of ground beans and fresh herbs are some of the best things you can put in a pita. Noah and Louisa track down some tips for especial success.

  • Episode 46: Corn Salad

    Lend us your ears, and in silk-smooth voices, Noah and Louisa will have you in total amaizement as they describe the shuck and awe of the summer salads, all based on those golden pearls of sweet glory.

  • Episode 37: Greek Salad

    If the Sirens had sung of sweet tomatoes, glistening with rich olive oil, paired with refreshing cucumber, and scattered with pearl-white feta, to the illustrious Odysseus, he would have never returned to his rocky island home. Fortunately, it would be several millennia before all of those things came together in a salad bowl—which means it…

  • Episode 32: Roasted Asparagus

    Let’s welcome spring into our lives with a tribute to one of the greenest vegetables around—and, we think you’ll agree, one of the most variegated episodes we’ve ever done. Noah and Louisa discover that there are some people who just shouldn’t be allowed near a produce section. Follow us:@NoSubsPlease on BlueSky.@NoSubsPlease@mastodon.online on Mastodon. Noah: @nsmckinnon.bsky.social…

  • Episode 24: French Fries

    How is this the most sacrilegious episode we’ve done yet? Noah and Louisa discuss that most quintessential of fried-tuber side dishes, that most incorrectly-named of fast-food staples: the French fry.

  • Episode 12: Stuffing

    Right now, a number of you are yelling the word “dressing” at your phones, and people think you’re being weird. Better to listen and find out how Noah and Louisa like this side dish, so often oddly restricted to Thanksgiving despite its many wonderful qualities. Plus: our second mailbag, sent in by another loyal reader,…

  • Episode 10: Mac & Cheese

    As a tenth-episode bonus, they also do two firsts: dunk on a recipe they found on the Internet, and discuss a comment received from a reader!

  • Episode 5: Rice and Beans

    Like all classic comfort food, they’re infinitely customizable in flavor, seasoning, texture, technique . . . and yet Noah and Louisa managed to find the one thing you probably shouldn’t do to them.