Side Dish
4106 recipes found
Pan-Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad
You can take a corn and tomato salad in a number of directions, but at the end of the day it shouldn’t be much more than a dish you can make perfectly only in mid- to late summer, and one that showcases its primary ingredients. My version here marries corn and tomatoes with chile, avocado, cilantro and lime. It is just plain good. At the end, you’ve got meaty smokiness from bacon; that incredible sweetness of corn; the fruity acidity of tomato; the tender, smooth fattiness of avocado, and the sharpness of chile. It’s a summer winner, one that you shouldn’t even try after the first frost.
Cauliflower Adobo
Chicken adobo, the national dish of the Philippines, is made by braising chicken in a salty, sour and sweet mixture of mostly soy sauce and vinegar. In this vegetarian version, cauliflower, rather than chicken, is caramelized on one side, then simmered in the pungent but not prickly sauce until toothsome yet tender. The simmer mellows the vinegar and soy sauce into a sauce interlaced with pepper, garlic and something herbal but not immediately traceable — that’s the bay leaves. Serve the cauliflower and sauce over rice or another grain with something green on the side.
Cauliflower Popcorn
Small florets of cauliflower look a lot like popcorn, and when coated with classic popcorn seasonings, they can be just as snackable. Roast pieces the size of popped kernels until deeply tender and frizzled, shower with panko bread crumbs seasoned with nutritional yeast, then return to the oven to toast. The panko mimics the airy crispness of popcorn, while nutritional yeast adds a cheesy, salty flavor. Adjust seasonings based on what you like: Add wet ingredients, like hot sauce or soy sauce, to the cauliflower before roasting, and dry ingredients, like Old Bay, furikake or Tajín, when you add the panko.
Rice Salad With Currants, Almonds and Pistachios
Summer buffets often feature potato salad and pasta salad, but rice salad, quite popular throughout the Mediterranean, is another terrific option to keep in mind. This simple one, which takes inspiration from Middle Eastern cuisine, uses pantry ingredients. It is delicious on its own with a bit of salad or with grilled chicken or fish. To keep the rice grains separate, boil the rice in a large pot of water as for pasta.
Grilled Broccoli
This grilled broccoli is dressed simply in tamari, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It results in crisp-tender florets that are beautifully sweet and salty beneath the smoke.
Steamed or Roasted Beets and Beet Greens With Tahini Sauce
I usually roast beets, but I decided to steam them for this dish. I then added some water to the steamer and blanched the greens – though you could also steam them. Beets take about the same time to steam as they do to roast, and it’s a good option if you don’t want to heat up your kitchen with the oven. But I find that roasted beets have a richer flavor. Here, the flavor of the tahini sauce is so pungent that it doesn’t matter if the beets are muted.
Spicy Watermelon Salad With Pineapple and Lime
Refreshing, sweet and spicy, this salad is the edible equivalent of a crisp beer on a hot summer’s day. It pushes the watermelon-feta-mint combination to new heights with a Mexican-inspired flavor profile of lime, jalapeño and cilantro. It’s also easy to prepare, requiring little more than a knife, a bowl and a whisk. Enjoy it as soon as it’s assembled, as the salty dressing draws the juice out of the fruit fairly quickly and the salad can lose its fresh crunch. A sprinkle of Tajín, a chile-lime Mexican spice blend, is optional, but adds a touch of smoke.
Apple-Potato Latkes With Cinnamon Sour Cream
These latkes are golden, crunchy, salty-sweet and very satisfying, with applesauce and without. The secret here is squeezing the liquid out of the grated apple and potato mixture before frying; otherwise the latkes end up on the soft side rather than truly crisp. This is because apples are juicier than potatoes, so a firm squeeze in a clean dish towel brings down the moisture content considerably.
Juicy Tomatoes With Parmesan-Olive Bread Crumbs
This mouthwatering salad of ripe, juicy tomatoes is dressed with a quick, vinegary dressing and finished with cheesy, garlicky bread crumbs, which bring pizza flavors to this summery dish. The tomatoes are salted for seasoning, but also to make their sweet juices pool out, creating a saucy base. Made with a combination of Parmesan, olives, garlic, spices and citrus zest, the bread crumbs can be prepared one week in advance. (Store in an airtight container and “refresh” them by warming them in the oven or on a stove-top until crisp and fragrant. Make extra to go on caramelized zucchini pasta or even lemony shrimp and white bean stew) Serve the tomatoes as a grand appetizer, or as a light supper with grilled chicken or steak.
Turkish Shepherd’s Salad
What distinguishes this summer salad are all the fresh herbs and the sumac and red pepper used to season it. You can buy these spices at Middle Eastern markets or from online retailers like Penzey’s. The recipe is adapted from one in “The Little Foods of the Mediterranean,” by Clifford A. Wright.
Radish Salad
Radish salad is something you see in places around the world (in the last couple of years, I have been served it in similar guises in both Mexico and Turkey), but almost never in this country. Salting the radishes first reduces their harshness while accenting their crispness. At that point, they can be dressed with a traditional vinaigrette or the more tropical (and oil-less) version here. The only trick is to slice the radishes thinly. For this, a mandoline is best.
Herby Three-Bean Salad
Ready for picnics and potlucks, this zippy take on a classically American three-bean salad features crunchy green beans, creamy chickpeas and cannellini beans (and is vegan, too). The marinated vegetables (fennel, celery and onions) add texture and a vinegary kick, while a mix of herbs lend complexity and freshness. Feel free to use whatever combination of canned beans you like; kidney beans are classic, black beans velvety, black-eyed peas earthy. You can prepare this salad up to four hours ahead and keep it at room temperature, or you can make it the day before and refrigerate it. Toss well and add more salt and vinegar, if needed, just before serving.
Spring Vegetable Japchae (Korean Glass Noodles)
Japchae is a savory Korean stir-fry with mixed vegetables, beef and sweet potato noodles. Also known as glass noodles, sweet potato noodles can be found in Asian markets; once cooked, the noodles turn translucent, light and chewy. (They are also wheat-free, so they are a great option for those avoiding gluten.) The noodles are cooked first, then sit in the sauce, absorbing all of the garlicky sesame and soy flavors like a sponge. This springtime japchae celebrates crisp asparagus and snap peas. Japchae can be made a few hours ahead and served at room temperature, making it the perfect dish for potlucks and picnics.
Vegan Mashed Potatoes
If you think cream and butter are required to make amazing mashed potatoes, then this recipe might surprise you. It calls for Yukon Gold potatoes, which are naturally creamier than russets and need only to be mashed with a little of their cooking water to become rich and fluffy. Sizzling shallots in a generous amount of olive oil infuses the oil with flavor before it’s swirled into the potatoes. The finished mash is topped with the crispy shallots for a delightful, savory crunch. You could also fry a rosemary sprig in the same oil, or skip it and just add several pats of vegan butter. Whatever you do, remember to season the mashed potatoes generously. Mashed potatoes need lots of salt, especially those without dairy.
Celeriac, Celery and Carrot Remoulade
When I lived in France I discovered céleri rémoulade, the creamy grated salad made with celery root, mayonnaise or crème fraîche, or both, and mustard. It was a dish I always ordered when I saw it on café menus, and brought home from French delis on a regular basis. This is inspired by the French salad, but it is not quite as creamy (or gloppy). However you can make it more so if you wish just by adding more crème fraîche, yogurt (healthier), or mayonnaise.
Buffalo Cauliflower
Cauliflower is a blank canvas that can take on flavors that pack a punch, like Buffalo sauce. It also has lots of craggy edges that the sauce can cling to for maximum flavor. For crisp-edged buffalo cauliflower without a fryer, turn on the broiler. Once the tender florets are roasted, broil them a few minutes so the silky, spicy sauce caramelizes and chars in spots. (A finish under the broiler can also elevate chicken wings coated in Buffalo sauce.) Stir together a quick Ranch-style yogurt sauce for dipping, and get on with the game (or lunch).
Creamed Corn Without Cream
When you grate corn on the large holes of a box grater, you get a lot of creamy milk from the corn, so no dairy cream is necessary for this version of what is usually a very rich dish. If the corn is sweet, as corn should be, I prefer to let the dish stand alone with no additional flavorings; that’s why I’ve made the shallot or onion and the herbs optional.
Cheesy Pizza Stuffing
Imagine Thanksgiving stuffing, but with the red-sauce flavors of cheese pizza. Tomato paste and dried oregano, bloomed in buttery onions, do the heavy lifting in this comforting dish, as does an ivory shower of shredded mozzarella, which melts and gets gooey in spots. Stale bread works best, so dry out the bread the night before you plan to make this, or bake the torn pieces in a 250-degree oven until they’re brittle. You can also assemble the stuffing the night before Thanksgiving; just keep it covered in the refrigerator and bake it the next day while the turkey is resting. Serve this warm, while the cheese is still molten.
Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad
Persimmons and pomegranate are colorful fall and winter treats. Be sure to use squat Fuyu persimmons, which are delicious raw. (The pointy Hachiya type must be fully ripe, or they are unpalatable.) To serve this salad as a first course, you may add arugula or radicchio leaves. Or just garnish with mint leaves if you are serving it as an accompaniment.
Watermelon and Feta Salad
A take on the Mediterranean combination of watermelon and feta, this refreshing zinger of a salad couldn’t be more perfect. Unassumingly simple, the sweet melon, salty cheese and fragrant basil reach their peak when doused with white balsamic vinegar and dribbled with fruity olive oil. Rather than building tall, this salad builds wide — so use a large platter for the most dramatic presentation. Vinegared watermelon does not keep its crisp, juicy texture well, so be sure to dress it (and eat it) the moment the last basil leaf falls.
Mushroom Omelet With Chives
Mushrooms are the most versatile of ingredients, with a meaty texture and a rich, deep flavor ideal for vegetarian dishes. When raw, they’re elegant and delicious; when cooked, they become substantial. They are as welcome in a classic French omelet as they are in an Asian stir-fry. Mushrooms also are a nutritional bargain. Two ounces of sliced white mushrooms — about a cup — contain only 15 calories, and they are among the best dietary sources of B vitamins. Best of all, there are just so many mushroom dishes to try. This savory omelet is great for dinner or for brunch. If I’m making it for two, I make one large omelet in a 10-inch pan. It’s just as easy as making two individual omelets, and both servings are ready at the same time.
Tricolor Salad Alla Splendido
An Italian restaurant standard is kicked up a few notches in this recipe from Mario Carbone, the chef at Carbone restaurant in New York. If you find it hard to track down Italian frisée or various types of radicchio, you can substitute the usual trio of arugula, endive and radicchio. A helping of poached tuna adds richness and a hint of a salade niçiose.
Grapefruit Vinaigrette With Greens or Broccoli
I came across a grapefruit vinaigrette, served with stuffed beet greens, in Anya von Bremzen’s "The New Spanish Table" and have adapted it. I loved the idea of this vinaigrette as an accompaniment to greens, such as chard or beet greens, but my favorite is broccoli.
Farro and Green Bean Salad With Walnuts and Dill
Farro is a perfect vehicle to showcase summer produce. With its nutty flavor and toothsome texture, the whole grain is a great counterbalance to snappy, sweet green beans. The farro cooks while you prepare the rest of the salad, allowing for an easy-to-assemble meal. Dill and walnuts, a nod to Middle Eastern flavors, are used in the gremolata, but pistachios and mint or hazelnuts and parsley would also work. Feta cheese or ricotta salata tossed in at the end would also be a nice addition. This hearty salad works well on its own, but would also be a fine companion to grilled fish or any other protein. Add the acid just before serving; it makes every ingredient sing.