Side Dish Recipes

Gluten-free potato rice pancakes made with brown rice flour and instant potato flakes. Serve with syrup for breakfast or gravy for a savory side. Light, tender, and wheat-free.

Moroccan-style sliced tomato and onion salad with olive oil, garlic, parsley, sweet paprika, and cumin. A simple no-cook side that captures North African market flavors.

Curried cabbage and arame seaweed sauteed in sesame oil with shoyu. A quick, mineral-rich macrobiotic side dish loaded with umami that's on the table in 20 minutes. Vegan and plant-based.

Low-fat creamed spinach: fresh spinach wilted with shallot and garlic, then folded into a light milk-based bechamel with nutmeg and Parmesan. All the creamy comfort with far less fat.

Strawberry, melon, and avocado salad fans avocado and cantaloupe over baby spinach, tops with berries, and drizzles with honey-sherry-mint dressing. A stunning brunch salad.

Avocado chef salad piled with red leaf lettuce, watercress, mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, Swiss cheese, julienned ham or turkey, cubed avocado, and a tangy vinaigrette. A protein-packed lunch in five minutes.

Apple and endive are tossed with a light yet tasty cranberry vinaigrette, and topped with fresh cranberries, scallions and toasted walnuts.

Citrus dressing gives peppery arugula extra sweetness, a very good balance!

Pea purée can serve as a garnish, a side dish, or as a spread on crackers or vegetable sticks. Use it as a bed upon which the main item in your entrée can rest. For example, sauté some scallops and place them on a pool of the pea purée.

Crisp raw cauliflower florets and fresh spinach ribbons tossed in a garlicky white wine vinaigrette with dry mustard and basil, finished with crunchy slivered almonds. A light, no-cook side salad ready in 20 minutes.

Velvety spinach soup with garlic, cream, and tender pasta ready in just 20 minutes for an elegant weeknight dinner that tastes like it took hours.

Calamari with radicchio, almost perfect couple, I like garlic, so always more garlic, so great!

Avocado, cornichon, and arugula salad: creamy avocado tossed with peppery arugula, tangy cornichons, and chives in a lemon dressing. A bright, sour-edged green salad that comes together fast.

Green beans with shallots, blanched crisp-tender then tossed in butter with sweet shallots and brightened with lemon and parsley. A simple, elegant French side dish that comes together fast.

Indian gazpacho with hot green chiles, garlic, and dry red wine in a chilled tomato-based vegetable soup. The South Asian spin on Spanish gazpacho with a slow-burn heat.

Cream of carrot soup made the classic way: onions sweated in butter, a quick roux for body, then carrots simmered in stock, blended and strained silky-smooth, and finished with cream. Velvety, elegant, and simple.