Side Dish
4106 recipes found
Roasted Broccoli With Vinegar-Mustard Glaze
On its own, roasted broccoli is a treat: caramelized and crisp-tender, with frizzled florets and sweet stems. To prevent overcooking, roast at a high heat and on one side the whole time. Flipping the broccoli to brown on both sides increases the chance that it will dry out or turn to mush before the outsides are as caramelized as you like. To give the broccoli a little pizzazz, this recipe takes inspiration from a classic mustard pan sauce, which makes chicken breasts or steaks sparkle. Toss the broccoli with butter, vinegar and Dijon mustard right out of the oven, and the heat from the sheet pan will meld them into a silky, bright sauce.
Mushroom Caponata
Broccoli Toasts With Melty Provolone
A beautifully assembled toast can make a lovely light dinner. In this version, blanched broccoli is cooked in olive oil that's been infused with garlic and anchovies (always optional) until it’s very tender, then it’s piled onto toasted bread. Grated extra-sharp provolone, which is a nice complement to the mildly sweet broccoli, is sprinkled on top, then the toasts are broiled until the cheese is melted and golden brown. You can use cauliflower, broccoli rabe or thickly sliced sweet peppers in place of the broccoli, but be sure to cook your vegetables until they are velvety soft — it provides a nice contrast to the crunchy bread. While these toasts work well on their own, they make an equally good accompaniment to roast chicken or grilled fish.
Collard Greens and Cornmeal Dumplings
Collard greens are a common dish in many African American households, and are especially important during New Year’s celebrations. In folklore, the greens represent dollar bills, and the more you eat, the more money you’ll have in the new year. In this version, adapted from “Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking,” by Toni Tipton-Martin, cornmeal dumplings simmer with the greens in a smoky stock. The dough is made using that rich potlikker and then added towards the end of cooking so the dumplings don’t become soggy. This combination of greens and dumplings parallels the West African pairing of soups and stews with fufu, an accompaniment traditionally made from pounded yam, cassava or other starch. This is delicious on its own, but even better with black-eyed peas and rice.
Braised Greens
Chicken stock, white wine and red pepper flakes add flavor to this side dish that can be made with whatever hearty green is in season.
B.J. Dennis’s Okra Stir-Fry With Rice
Limpin’ Susan is often called the wife of Hoppin’ John, the pilau of peas and rice that Gullah cooks have made for generations in the South Carolina Sea Islands and Lowcountry, and that is also common in the Caribbean. Like Hoppin' John, the dish takes many forms depending on whose kitchen you grew up in. Some recipes start with fried bacon and end with washed long-grain rice, onions and okra steaming over simmering water for 45 minutes. Others call for simmering everything in chicken stock, or mixing chicken broth and cornstarch, then mixing the broth into cooked rice. B.J. Dennis, a Charleston chef, likes his Limpin’ Susan more like a dry stir-fry, akin to what one might eat in Trinidad. The rice is cooked ahead of time, so liquid is fully absorbed and the grains remain distinct. This recipe is vegetarian, although Mr. Dennis likes to toss in a handful of chopped shrimp when the onions are softening.
Tongbaechu Kimchi (Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi)
This tongbaechu kimchi, made with whole napa cabbage, is a wonderful way to witness firsthand the magic of preservation by salting. Though the first step — salting quartered cabbages to drain excess liquid — may require an afternoon, that time is entirely inactive. The bundles of sauced cabbage are jarred and left at room temperature for the first couple of days to jump-start the fermentation process, then refrigerated to continue souring slowly for weeks and even months. Fermenting bundled quarters — versus chopped pieces — results in a crisper, more flavorful cabbage kimchi. This recipe is pared down to its essentials, though you could supplement the funky, savory-sweet flavors here with traditional additions like a sprinkle of raw pine nuts, a palmful of Korean radish cut in matchsticks or a spoonful of saeujeot, salted fermented shrimp.
Smashed and Fried Potatoes
As enjoyable as pounding the lights out of an innocent garlic clove or olive may be, probably the most satisfying flat food to prepare are these smashed and fried potatoes from Susan Spungen, which draw in part from a technique used to make tostones. You steam baby potatoes until they’re just tender, let them cool enough to be handled, then press them between your palms until they flatten a bit and you hear their skins begin to snap. Next, you heat up some oil in a skillet and fry the potatoes until they’re nice and brown on their flat sides. Each potato is then crisp and caramelized but still moist inside.
Rice With Pine Nuts
Seared Grapefruit With Ginger Maple Syrup
I call these seared ruby red grapefruit rounds “pancakes,” not because there is any batter involved, but because I serve them warm, with maple syrup that I spike with fresh ginger juice.
Garlic-Braised Greens and Potatoes
Winter greens take well to braising, transforming from hearty and sturdy to tender and sweet as they mellow in a garlic-infused olive oil bath. This dish makes use of both the leafy greens and the stems, cooking them alongside potatoes, which add creamy bites. Use your favorite greens or any combination of collard greens, kale, Swiss chard and escarole. The dish is finished with mild shallots, tangy lemon juice and fresh parsley to create a bright sauce. Serve these garlic-braised vegetables with crusty bread or over a bowl of grains or pasta.
Dosa
Many diners in the United States know dosas as the crisp, oversize folds served at South Indian restaurants. But those dosas have a large extended family: dosas from Karnataka made with grated cucumber; dosas from Tamil Nadu made with pearl millet flour; and dosas from Kerala made with jaggery. There are lacy-edged dosas and cakelike dosas, delicate dosas that crumple like hankies, and fat, deeply pocked dosas that break where they’re creased. If you’ve never made dosas at home, a good place to start is this simple rice and urad dal batter. Traditionally, the batter relies on a wild fermentation that flourishes in warm kitchens, but many cooks hack this, reaching for packets of dosa mix or adding yeast to ensure that the fermentation kicks off properly. A powerful blender is crucial to getting a fine, smooth batter. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s very foamy and smells a little sour.
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Cornbread dressing is an intensely personal thing. In the American South, at least, everybody’s grandmother had a recipe, and everyone knows just how it should be made. This is a base model with a few variations. It’s nice to let it chill overnight before baking so the flavors meld. But you don’t have to. The key is really good stock, though plenty of cooks over the years have made it with whatever was on hand — even water in a pinch. This is food for sustenance. But it pays to use the best ingredients possible. Be sure to leave enough time — the cornbread needs to sit out overnight to harden slightly before you make the dressing.
Stir-Fried Collards
Recipes sometimes tell a much larger story about migration and place, as traditional ingredients step aside for what may be more readily available. Such is the case with this dish from Yung Chow, published in The Times in 2003 with an article about the history of Chinese American families who settled in the Mississippi Delta. When Ms. Chow couldn’t find Chinese broccoli or bok choy in her local markets, she turned to collard greens, which she stir-fried with garlic and flavored with oyster sauce. Amanda Hesser, who included this recipe in “The Essential New York Times Cookbook,” said that the wok “really brings out the minerality of collards, and this goes so well with the sweetness of oyster sauce.”
Broccoli au Gratin
Tostones
A staple dish throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, tostones are crisp, flattened plantains that are often served as appetizers and side dishes. Unlike sweet maduros, which are made with very ripe, almost black, yellow plantains, savory tostones are made with unripe green plantains. Tostones are fried twice: The first fry sears the cut sides of the plantains, establishing a base layer of color; the second fry ensures that every edge is golden and crunchy. Tostoneras, wooden tools designed to create the perfect tostone shape, come in handy here, but a flat-bottomed cup will do just fine in its place.
Creamed Braising Greens
Everyone knows creamed spinach, but not everyone knows that the luxe preparation works equally well with heartier greens like collards, kale, chard and mustard. Eating your greens never felt so decadent.
Miso Soup
In the United States, especially in Japanese American restaurants, the standard version of miso soup usually involves little more than soft tofu, seaweed and a lily-pad suspension of scallions. Think of this recipe as your blank canvas: You could add thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms at the end, or replace the katsuobushi entirely with dried shiitakes for a vegan version. Fried tofu, clams and even chicken are all fair game when cooking miso soup at home. The chef Seiji Ando, of Benkay restaurant in Portland, Maine, adds sake and mirin for balance, and says even a tiny bit of butter can be delicious.
Cabbage With Prosciutto
Honey-Glazed Carrots
These sweet, citrusy carrots are an ideal accompaniment to savory, hearty main dishes, like Ebony’s stewed chicken and dumplings from the magazine’s first food editor, Freda DeKnight. This adaptation streamlines the usage of a pot and baking dish in the original and requires only a single ovenproof skillet. The dish tastes just the same and reflects Ms. DeKnight’s commitment to fresh ingredients and vibrants flavors in her cooking.
Skillet Fried Plantains
Exceptionally ripe plantains are key in this recipe from Ricky Moore, the chef at Saltbox Seafood Joint in Durham, N.C. The chief indicator of a plantain’s ripeness is its color and texture; the darker and softer the fruit, the sweeter its meat. For this recipe, which is not unlike maduros or dodo, opt for fruit that are as black and as soft to the touch as possible. This will likely require some in-home ripening, as most store-bought plantains are sold firm and unripened, in shades that run the gamut from dark green to pale yellow. To ripen them at home, store plantains in a loosely closed paper bag in a warm, dry place. The inclusion of fresh lime juice to the finished dish adds a bracing zing of citrus, which pairs wonderfully if you enjoy the plantains with Brown Stew Pork Shoulder, as the chef does.
Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad With Pear and Halloumi
Salty, fried halloumi cubes are the star of this bright, lemony kale and brussels sprouts salad. Crispy, melty and squidgy all at once, they are delightfully textural. Though the kale and brussels sprouts mix can sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving, for best results, you should fry the halloumi just before you plan to eat.
Vegan Braised Collard Greens With Mushrooms
When you remove the ham from collard greens, you’ll have to find that smoky savoriness elsewhere. This recipe makes up for the lost ham with four critical ingredients: Mushroom stock that comes together in 30 minutes, rehydrated shiitakes, smoked paprika and soy sauce. The bitter, sour collard greens are sweetened with just a smidge of maple syrup at the end. If you don’t have any on hand, add 1 teaspoon of white or brown sugar when you add the onions. And if you like your greens extra sour, serve the bowls with lemon wedges.
Wedge Salad
Wedge salads are essential steakhouse fare and have been for decades – “iceberg wedges, blue cheese, bacon” was Roger Sterling’s order on “Mad Men” when he and Don Draper saved the Madison Square Garden account in Season 3, set in 1963. But there is no reason not to bring them home: Pale green-white triangles of commodity iceberg drizzled in pale white-blue dressing, with crumbles of bacon and bright red pops of cherry tomato, and pricks of green chive strewn across the top. Serve a wedge and a steak, or a wedge and a hamburger, or a wedge and a roast chicken, or just a wedge and a lot of warm bread and cold red wine, and it’s a pleasant evening you’re having, a retro delight. Wedge is a salad for pleasure.