Side Dish Recipes

Eggplant with tomatoes is a simple side dish of butter-browned eggplant slices topped with warm canned tomatoes and chopped chives. A quick, low-calorie vegetable dish with just five ingredients.

Hot black bean, avocado, and corn salad with chile, fresh lime, and cilantro. Bright Tex-Mex no-cook salad that works as a main or side. Vegan, fiber-packed, and ready when canned beans are.

Pumpkin and avocado oil soup blends pumpkin, fennel and potato into a silky pureed soup, with buttery avocado oil standing in for butter. A light, velvety vegan starter finished with a drizzle of oil.

Chilled avocado soup blends ripe avocados with a lime-and-serrano-spiked stock into a silky, no-cream base, topped with cilantro cream and crisp julienned radishes. A cool, elegant Mexican-inspired starter.

Pureed broccoli and potato soup with caramelized aromatics and thyme. Velvet-smooth texture without a drop of cream or butter.

Baked chickpeas slow-cook in an earthenware pot with sweet sauteed onions, fresh chile, garlic, and oregano in their own velvety cooking liquid. Greek-style vegan main or side that gets better the longer it bakes.

Brussels sprout and carrot salad marinated in lemon vinaigrette for hours, served chilled. Diabetic-friendly, vegan, high-fiber side dish that gets better as it sits.

Kasha stuffed tomatoes filled with toasted buckwheat groats, mushrooms, celery, pine nuts, and fresh herbs. A hearty Eastern European-inspired vegetarian side, perfect for late summer harvest meals.

Spicy black bean soup built on sautéed onion, garlic, and jalapeño with cumin and chili powder. A 35-minute one-pot vegetarian weeknight dinner, finished with lime and cilantro for a bright Tex-Mex kick.

Israeli salad with diced cucumber, tomatoes, radishes, green pepper, carrots, and lettuce in a fresh lemon juice dressing. A crisp, vegetarian chopped salad ready in 10 minutes.

Sauteed spinach with garlic and a little fresh tomato, cooked down in olive oil into a quick, savory side dish. A simple, healthy way to turn a pound of greens into a flavor-packed plate in minutes.

Vidalia onion risotto with crumbled feta and Parmesan cheese. Sweet onions and tangy feta give this creamy arborio rice dish a Greek-Italian twist.

Steamed zucchini and yellow squash rounds with garlic, oregano, and extra-virgin olive oil. A fast, diabetic-friendly side dish with only 29 calories per serving.

Cumin and garlic pinto beans simmered low and slow with onion, a single slice of bacon, and whole cumin seeds. The classic Tex-Mex side, sturdier and tastier than canned. Quick-soak method skips the overnight wait.

Lemon coleslaw with a creamy Dijon-horseradish dressing, colorful bell pepper matchsticks, red onion, carrot, and fresh lemon zest. Bright, tangy, and crunchy.

Sautéed broccoli with lemon and anchovies quickly blanches broccoli, then tosses it with garlic, melted anchovies, cayenne, and fresh lemon juice. A salty, briny Southern Italian side in 15 minutes.