Great vegetable side dishes?

[Bastelmutti]

Anyone have good, easy vegetable side dish recipes? I need some inspiration! Usually I make kale sauteed with garlic, steamed broccoli with garlic and lemon (seeing a pattern here), coleslaw with lime vinaigrette, green salad or plain cut-up vegetables.

[Rosemary]

Spinach sauteed just enough to wilt, add a touch of salt & toasted sesame oil.
steamed green beans with a little lemon
roasted brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, or cauliflower
sauteed zucchini & tomato with rosemary
mix up the salad: add sliced brussels sprouts, leftover steamed veggies, sliced red cabbage

[mtnlaurel]

Roasted cauliflower is on our rotation now.
Cauli, Garlic, Carrots, Sliced onions,
toss with olive oil, salt, pepper in a pyrex
High oven - 425 I think
I cover with aluminum foil first 15 minutes, then take off foil for last 10
Sprinkle with a little parm cheese at end if you like

If I'm pushed for time I'll put a damp paper towel on top and jumpstart in microwave for 2 minutes then take to oven to finish off (not as good this way, but we are often pushed for time in evenings)

There was a thread recently about roasted veggies lately with lots of good ideas in it.

[mtnlaurel]

Zucchini on the grill

Broiled tomatoes with parm - or if you have time mix insides with spinach a little egg

[Miss Cellane]

I like roasted vegetables, especially in the winter.

4 potatoes, cut into eighths
1 red bell pepper, cut into 2" chunks
1 green bell pepper, ditto
1 onion, quartered
4 carrots, cut into thirds
2 zucchini, sliced

Toss all vegetables except zucchini with olive oil. Put in baking pan into 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Add zucchini and cook 20 minutes more.

You can add/subtract whatever vegetables you like.

My favorite green bean recipe:

Toss whole green beans in olive oil. Cook on a grill for 6 minutes or until slightly tender but still a tiny bit crisp. Sprinkle on some sea salt. You can stop there or you can add some crumbled feta.

My SIL is Turkish and she has turned me on to Turkish cooking--lots of vegetables. I've found the recipes at this site to be clear and easy to follow, as well as tasting good: http://english.turkishcookbook.com/2005/03/turkish-vegetable-recipes.html I made the fried vegetables in tomato sauce yesterday and it was good. The author has a yogurt and garlic sauce that works great on just about any sauted vegetable or combination of sauted veggies.

[Bastelmutti]

Thx! I haven't made roasted vegetables in a long time (except potatoes) and all of those sound good. Mmmmm, Turkish food - miss that from Germany. Will have to check out that link!

[redfox]

Blasted Brussels Sprouts. Cut in half, and sautee face down, in olive oil & garlic, in a skillet that can go into the oven. After the lil ones have popped over & are browned, put them into a hot, 400 degree oven for 5-10 mins. They will come out buttery soft, and roasted to a crispy n the outside perfection. Sooo yummy!

[HappyHiker]

Our family loves grated fresh carrots mixed with raisins (golden or dark) and walnuts, with a dressing of apple cider vinegar mixed with just a bit of honey. Chopped fresh apples can be added if you'd like, too.

[bae]

Whiskey carrots:

- peel and cut carrots into rounds
- cook carrots on medium-low in pan in butter until they caramelize and are getting softish
- splash on some whiskey, cover pan with lid while whiskey evaporates/steams carrots

Ginger carrots:

- same as above, except use a bit more butter, no whiskey (use a small splash of water near end and cover), and some fresh ginger

[kally]

something i learned about roasted veg is to get the baking pan or tray hot hot hot in the oven, then throw on your oiled veg. Less sticking all around.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yea I'm basically like you, simple stuff, I'm not really bored of it :). Kale, brocoli rabe, and chard (possibly others) can always be given the saute in olive oil and garlic, top with briefly sauted raisins and nuts treatment (kale and brocoli rabe usually need to be boiled first). I have a recipe for chard and green onions sauted in olive oil, then add vinegar, pepper (quite a bit), and black olives. I suppose the principle with bitter greens is bitter with sweet (raisins or currants or vinegar - which is kind of sweet). Zuchini and summer squash is great whenever you can find it (not now though - out of season), just olive oil works, tomato sauce obviously works, I have a roasted red pepper salad dressing that works.

[Bastelmutti]

something i learned about roasted veg is to get the baking pan or tray hot hot hot in the oven, then throw on your oiled veg. Less sticking all around.

Oiled veg, but not oiled pan?

Good ideas! Keep em coming! :-)

[Blackdog Lin]

Awesome thread for me, as we are not eating enough veggies through the winter. I tend to go with "pickled-type" salads from frozen and canned veggies. But y'all have some great ideas for us to try!

"Chinese Cabbage" is my one actual cooked and go-to winter side dish: stir-fried cabbage, garlic and ginger in a little olive oil, then tossed with a dressing of tiny bits of sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar. It's terrific.

We live in the small-town midwest and the winter grocery store veggie pickings are either slim or too high-priced to consider for anything but a special occasion. So I've been working for a couple of years on cabbage side dishes, as cabbage is always available and affordable in the winter. I would love to get better at branching out using winter veggies.....

[Bastelmutti]

Lin,

You might like the coleslaw I make. Can you get limes or lime juice in the winter? (bottled is OK) Just shred up a large bowl of green/red cabbage and maybe a carrot for more color. Dressing: oil, lime juice, a little honey, chopped garlic & S&P. Mmmmmm... Also good with lemon juice.

What kinds of pickled salads do you make? That sounds good, too.

[JaneV2.0]

I just got the latest Penzey's catalog, and it has a recipe for cole slaw (red and green cabbage) with dried cranberries and celery seed.

[Blackdog Lin]

Bastelmutti: would you post your cole slaw dressing recipe? I would love to try it.

"Pickled-type" salads I fix are bean salad (a can of drained white beans, a can of drained diced tomatoes, some onion and a little Italian dressing); and corn salad (a couple cans of drained corn with red and green pepper dices and Italian dressing); and classic 3-Bean salad with celery; and Spaghetti salad (cooked spaghetti tossed with zucchini and canned tomatoes and Italian dressing); and Calico Salad, which is very pretty and very good, and is dressed with a cooked homemade dressing.

We're so bad on winter veggie eating that last night DH plopped two (homemade) dill pickle spears on my plate and THAT was our veggie course. :)

[Merski]

Steamed cauliflower or broccoli or green or yellow beans, while still hot melt a little butter on them stirring to coat, add lemon juice and bread crumbs also stirring to coat. Very Polish vegetable treatment and is very yummy & simple.

[treehugger]

Good thread. I also get in a vegetable rut. So much so that I am considering joining a CSA. I have loved the idea for many years (ever since I heard of it, actually), but couldn't fit it into the budget. I think we can now, and boy, am I tired of eating the 2 or 3 crappy grocery store vegetables that happen to go on sale each week. Here (http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/index.php?cmd=howitworks)is the one I am considering.

Thanks for that Turkish recipe site, Miss Cellane. Wow, I love Turkish food, but I've never cooked it. No reason why not.

Kara

[Bastelmutti]

Steamed cauliflower or broccoli or green or yellow beans, while still hot melt a little butter on them stirring to coat, add lemon juice and bread crumbs also stirring to coat. Very Polish vegetable treatment and is very yummy & simple.

Yum! My Eastern European grandma's defaults for veggies were "melt a stick of butter over it" or "mix it with sour cream" - too bad DH doesn't like sour cream LOL

Lin, I don't use a recipe for that lime vinaigrette, just mix those ingredients (oil, lime juice, a little honey, chopped garlic & S&P) until it tastes good.

[puglogic]

Green beans sauteed in a tiny bit of butter with minced garlic 'til tender-crisp, then top with a handful of sliced almonds and a squeeze of lemon juice, s&p.

Broccoli steamed, with a sweet/hot dipping sauce of soy sauce, chili sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup.

Roasted beets. Literally could eat those every day (especially the golden ones) and never get tired of them.

Caramelized onions tossed in the skillet with kale 'til it wilts, then a sprinkling of blue cheese.

THough far from simple, I made this recipe a few nights ago and just about swooned: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/sweet-and-spicy-brussels-sprouts-with-tofu-and-mushrooms-recipe.html

[Bastelmutti]

That Serious Eats recipe looks great! I haven't been on the lookout for Brussels sprouts or beets lately, but am hitting the Eastern European market tomorrow, so I should strike paydirt there.

[Mrs-M]

This thread is unbelievable!

[leslieann]

Pug, thanks for the seriouseats link. I didn't know that was out there! What a great resource for when you want to really cook..and it looks like they have great directions as well as incredibly varied recipes.

[puglogic]

I'm a big fan of SeriousEats.com, though I find it does frustrate me that I have neither the budget nor the time to try everything. There was a recent thread on great sandwiches that I remember being really good...but their unique vegetable recipes really get me going. I don't eat enough veggies, so any incentive is great! (like this thread)

[leslieann]

Okay, last night I mucked around with some bacon and brussels sprouts, sort of following some directions on that Serious Eats website. WOW! Who knew that brussels sprouts could taste like that? And the house doesn't have that sulphury smell. There were some leftovers and I am hoping they are just as good for lunch today.

Thanks for this thread...I would NEVER have even tried to do this. Also roasted the World's Largest Beet and it was delicious. Last night I had the supper of a nutritionist's dreams; chicken and rice soup with vegetables, home made with my own stock from real chicken bones, roasted beets, baked sweet potatoes, and those brussels sprouts. Okay, there WAS bacon but it sure made a colourful presentation.

(Note how the "low carb" thread has died....beets, sweets, and rice in my soup...oh, well. But I feel HEALTHIER just not thinner.)

[Rosemary]

I personally never give a second thought to carbs in veggies like beets, carrots, peas. They are loaded with good stuff and it is far better to eat those than so many other foods. Even rice is better than eating anything made with flour, and rice in soup isn't the same as eating a huge pile of rice as a side dish - usually it's a much smaller quantity.

[puglogic]

Sounds fabulous, Leslie Ann! I experimented last night (I'm a huge experimenter) with no-dairy mashed potatoes. They were pretty-good-not-great, you kind of got used to them as you ate. I tried a different method to see if it really does change the texture, using Cooks Illustrated's technique of steaming the potatoes first rather than boiling, then putting them through a ricer. I was really amazed...they were like clouds. I'll use the same method to make gnocchi from now on.

[leslieann]

Rosemary, thanks for the vegetable support. I suspect that the root veggies are not really a problem, so maybe I'll just assume that's true. Sugar, now, sugar is another matter....

I haven't really explored no dairy mashed...have just eaten the little fellers boiled in chunks since leaving dairy behind. And have never even considered gnocchi....I need a good ethnic community here to help me with the food! We do have our local stuff like fiddleheads, but not this time of year.

[iris lily]

Oh, I think that you can over-do it with carbs when eating peas and corn, but the rest of them--naw. Beets are super low calorie. Carrots are so good for you that a little extra carb (a little more than the average vegetable) is just fine. Orange is good. Green is good. red is good. If you can get all of those colors in one day--that's very good.

I"ve been eating slivered, sauteed cabbage as noodles the past few weeks and that works very well.

Yesterday when we went to the grocery store, it was out of cabbage. Can you imagine!??? No cabbage. That was weird.

I cooked cauliflower and man, does that stink up the house! It makes DH gag. Oh well, more for me.

I love vegetables, it's fruits that I avoid. There is a big orange in the 'fridge right now that I've been thinking about eating but can't really bring myself to it. I'll make an orange and cranberry salad this week and use it up.

[jennipurrr]

Thanks for this thread. I love new veggie ideas. Definitely want to try some of the cabbage ones. I rarely buy cabbage and only use it in coleslaw (with mayo, not particularly healthy!) but I like the sound of some of the suggestions here.

Recently, on a coworkers suggestion I tried roasting asparagus in the oven and it turned out delicious. Lightly brush with olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and I used Asiago cheese but what I read called for Parmesan.

I love steamed broccoli with a little apple cider vinegar - easier and healthier than a cheese sauce.

[puglogic]

I haven't really explored no dairy mashed...have just eaten the little fellers boiled in chunks since leaving dairy behind. And have never even considered gnocchi....I need a good ethnic community here to help me with the food! We do have our local stuff like fiddleheads, but not this time of year.

I wish we could get fiddleheads here...I need to explore and see if anyone ever gets them at the farmer's market in Boulder, where most everything can be procured! :)
The non-dairy masheds were good. I used oat milk, which gave an element of creaminess, and a touch of granulated onion & garlic. Hard to beat spuds mashed with cream and butter, but my arteries would disagree...at least if I made a habit of it.

[Blackdog Lin]

Y'all on this thread did indeed inspire me to work more on our veggie eating. Today for our "meal 1" (we both only eat two meals a day) I tried garlic brussels sprouts from the All Recipes site. I've only cooked brussels sprouts a few times over the years, as both DH and I knew we didn't like them (except with cheese sauce, and of course I can't be trying to improve our veggie eating with cheese slathered over everything!) :)

Well, I have a new veggie side dish. Saute'd garlic in margarine and olive oil, then the sprouts are added with a bit of chicken broth, and finished with a splash of margarine. I liked them very much, and DH LOVED them. We ate the entire 3/4 lb. I'd cooked. He raved about my meal. And for our type of cooking, healthy enough.

He doesn't know it, but Thursday (we're out of town for a fun jaunt next two days), he's getting either orange-glazed or dijon-glazed cooked carrots (I can't decide which one to try out on him first). He doesn't like cooked carrots. But he didn't like brussels sprouts either.

Thank y'all for this thread - I can see that it's going to do us a lot of healthy good.....

[Packratona!]

Stir fried fresh green beans with sliced onions. When almost done, add some garlic and a little soy sauce and a tsp. of crushed red chile pepper sauce (if desired). Make sure to not overcook, you want them to be crunchy!

[Tiam]

Stir fried fresh green beans with sliced onions. When almost done, add some garlic and a little soy sauce and a tsp. of crushed red chile pepper sauce (if desired). Make sure to not overcook, you want them to be crunchy!

Green beans are one of the few veggies I actually like fully cooked through. There is something about their flavor that comes through when they are fully cooked, that doesn't come out when they are crunchy. One of the things I love, love, love with bacon.