Side Dish
4106 recipes found
Caramelized Tomato and Shallot Soup
Fresh tomato soup is a treat best enjoyed with juicy, end-of-season tomatoes, but this versatile recipe is delicious all year long. Both the shallots and tomatoes are caramelized along with tomato paste, which gives the soup deeper flavor. Take your time and let the tomatoes reduce, because the more they caramelize, the more delicious the soup will be. While this recipe does take a little bit of time, it’s mostly hands-off simmering. Make it when the weather turns cool and a big pot of soup simmering on the stove sounds just right.
Roasted Squash and Spinach Salad
An ideal salad for chillier nights, this hearty, dinner-friendly salad comes together in the time it takes for the spiced butternut squash to roast. To reduce prep work, the squash is simply halved then roasted, so you can easily scoop out pieces after cooking rather than chopping the firm vegetable beforehand. Cumin and coriander season the sweet squash, adding an earthy, warming flavor to the dish. While the squash roasts, you’ll prepare a simple feta-yogurt dressing that draws on the sweet acidity of freshly squeezed orange juice. The scooped squash and sweet, tender onions are tossed with the dressing and spinach, plus a sprinkle of crunchy sunflower seeds, for a bright and satisfying meal.
Microwave Corn on the Cob
In a microwave, corn steams to juicy sweetness in minutes without heating up the kitchen. The husks trap the vegetable’s natural moisture, and the silks slip off easily after being zapped. (In fact, this method is great for shucking corn quickly. You can microwave the corn for just a minute or so, until the husks and silks come off easily, then finish cooking the ears on the grill.) Microwaving corn is ideal when you’re preparing just an ear or two, but you can microwave as many as can fit in a single layer in your machine at one time. You’ll just have to cook them longer, about 4 minutes for two ears and 5 minutes for three.
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Roasted Lemony Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts
For a satisfying side dish, dress your roast butternut squash and brussels sprouts in a sweet, tangy dressing of fresh herbs, lemon juice, and spices.
Microwave Bacon
Sometimes, you just want a slice of bacon (or two) for yourself. Maybe for someone you love, too. And if you want — need? — that bacon now, there’s no faster way to cook it than in the microwave. The strips brown on a plate while a paper towel laid over them soaks up grease and prevents splatters inside your machine. Once you try this technique, you’ll have a better sense of how long your microwave takes to cook a strip or two.
Spicy Cucumbers With Mint, Scallions and Crushed Peanuts
This fine accompaniment to any number of dishes is an (admittedly inauthentic) take on a Southeast Asian favorite, moderately spicy in Vietnam and far more fiery in Thailand. Choose chiles accordingly to match your preference: Thai chiles pack a lot of heat; serrano chiles are strong, but less so; red Fresno chiles have sweet undertones and are the mildest. Also, try to get the best cucumbers you can, with thin skins. The better the cucumber, the better the salad.
Riso al Forno alla Pizzaiola (Pizza Rice)
In Italian, pizzaiolo refers to a person who makes pizza. When a dish is alla pizzaiola, it incorporates the flavors of a typical tomato sauce found on pizza. For this simple preparation, arborio rice is simmered in a tomato sauce and cooked until just al dente. The mixture is then topped with cheese and baked until the cheese is soft and gooey. The result — a riff on pizza in rice form — is hearty comfort food that’s an easy enough lift for a weeknight.
Spiced Vegetable Medley With Almonds and Raisins
This delightful Moroccan dish, often served on Rosh Hashana, incorporates an abundance of traditional harvest foods and is warm with spices (cinnamon, cardamom and coriander). This version is served in Marina Pinto Kaufman's family, from Tangiers and Tetouen as well as Martha’s Vineyard, where she now lives. Traditionally served with chicken couscous, it is somewhat like the Moroccan version of tsimmes, an Eastern European dish incorporating both carrots and sweet potatoes. In Ms. Kaufman's recipe, the vegetables are scooped into long piles, giving children — often picky when it comes to such delicacies — the choice of what they like, while adults can stir them all together to enjoy the spices and the caramelized onions. Great for entertaining, this dish can be prepared the day before serving, so all you have to do is heat it, but you can roll straight through the recipe, enjoying it the day you prepare it, with wonderful results.
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Creamy Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms
These vegetarian stuffed mushrooms tick all the boxes: They have cream cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano for richness, chopped mushroom stems for a meaty bite, and sun-dried tomatoes that bring a touch of sweetness.
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
With a focus on fast flavor, this pantry pasta recipe transforms a whole jar of sun-dried tomatoes into the perfect easy pasta sauce. To make the most of the sun-dried tomatoes, the majority of the tomato oil from the jar is used to sizzle the shallots until sweet and translucent. The lively sun-dried tomato tartness is balanced by the addition of heavy cream, savory Parmesan and perfectly mild spice. Al dente cooked linguine is tossed in the vibrant orange sauce, which is strongly reminiscent of a brighter, more complex vodka sauce. A big splash of starchy pasta water ties everything together for a glossy weeknight pasta.
Mayo Corn Fried Rice
This fried rice tastes and smells like movie-theater popcorn and is a celebration of summer corn. Fried rice without oil is not only possible, it’s delicious. In this recipe, a smidge of mayonnaise stirred into cold, day-old white rice results in separate grains. When fried, this lubricated rice toasts and browns beautifully with zero oil splatter and not using oil lets the corn shine. What you’re left with is pure-tasting fried rice, where the rice and vegetables are the stars, not the cooking fat. This smart trick comes from the chef Brendan Liew, as documented in his cookbooks “Konbini” and “Tokyo Up Late” (Smith Street Books, 2024 and 2022).
Zha Jiang Mian
A budget, weeknight meal that is classic to the Chinese diaspora, zha jiang mian is a noodle dish traditionally made with a mixture of diced pork belly and lean pork, plus a rich sauce made from Chinese soybean paste and sweet bean paste, both of which can be likened to a rich, deeper miso. The recipe is likely to vary from family to family, but this version uses ground pork, a speedier alternative that gives the sauce a nice richness. Chinese soybean pastes vary in saltiness, so make sure to season lightly with salt in the beginning to help build flavor. (You can always adjust the seasoning at the end if you need more salt.)
Vegan Zha Jiang Mian
Zha jiang mian is a popular Chinese noodle dish that is the quintessential pantry meal: Staples in many Chinese households, the fermented soybean pastes are like richer, deeper misos, and add significant depth to this quick dish. Traditionally, zha jiang mian is made with pork belly, but this vegan version captures a similar texture with sautéed eggplant, which cooks down to become soft and creamy, adding to the body of the sauce. Crumbled tofu helps the sauce coat the noodles when mixed. Chinese soybean pastes vary in saltiness, so season lightly with salt in the beginning to help build flavor without overdoing it. (You can always adjust the seasoning at the end if you need more salt.) These noodles are typically served with mung beans and slivered cucumber, but a variety of fresh vegetables could step in; shredded romaine lettuce or carrots would also be delicious.
Sweet Corn Tamales
Tamales are a traditional Mesoamerican food enjoyed for millennia across the Americas and the Caribbean. The practice of wrapping food in leaves for cooking is found worldwide for good reason: It’s both convenient and delicious. While tamales have a reputation for being labor-intensive, these four-ingredient sweet corn tamales simplify the process, employing every part of the ear — husk, kernel, cob and silk — and don't require a separate filling. Instead, the flavor of sweet corn stands on its own, making these tamales achievable on a lazy weekend morning. Inspired by Michoacan's uchepo, which can have as few as two ingredients, not including salt (sweet corn and baking powder), these tamales are versatile. Serve them with savory toppings like Mexican crema, salsa macha and/or roasted peppers. Or, lean into their sweetness and top with Greek yogurt, berries and a drizzle of honey. If wrapping and steaming tamales feels daunting, try the oven method.
Baked Sweet Corn Tamal
This baked tamal uses the husks, silks and kernels from fresh corn to infuse maximum corn flavor into a golden, butter-rich loaf. Out of the oven, the inside of this tamal is custardy soft, gradually firming up into a delicious, sliceable delicacy as it sits. Inspired by Michoacan's uchepo, which can have as few as two ingredients, not including salt (sweet corn and baking powder), this recipe celebrates the pure, unadulterated taste of farm-fresh corn that can be served with either sweet or savory toppings. Prepare a spread with Mexican crema, crunchy salt, salsa macha and/or roasted poblano chiles. Or for a sweeter option, top with Greek yogurt, fresh berries and a drizzle of honey. Leftovers can be cubed and fried in butter or olive oil for croutons, or used as a base for a sundae topped with vanilla ice cream and crunchy sea salt. If you want to try your hand at wrapping tamales, try Sweet Corn Tamales which use the same masa and fresh corn husks. These are steamed instead of baked, employing a cooking method that has stood the test of time across cultures and continents.
Little Gem Salad With Tamarind Dressing
While this sweet-and-sour tamarind-date dressing can be made year-round, it feels meant for the abundant produce of summer and early fall. Developed with turmeric in mind — an ingredient many Somalis add to salads — this recipe balances heirloom tomatoes with the tang of tamarind; it offsets the pungent sharpness of onions and radishes with the caramel-like flavor of dates and maple syrup. This colorful Little Gem salad maintains a glossy coat of dressing, but you can opt for heartier vegetables such as brussels sprouts or kale, depending on the time of year. Pair this salad with a bowl of maraq misir (red lentil soup) for a lovely vegan meal, or eat it alongside a plate of white rice and malaay qumbe (coconut fish curry).
Blueberry Corn Muffins
There are corn muffins, and then there are blueberry corn muffins. The simple addition of fruit transforms the bread basket staple into a glorious, slightly tart treat equally suitable for dinner or breakfast (or anything in between). Don’t skip the ten-minute rest in step 2 — it allows the batter to hydrate and creates an A+ dome — but make sure to stir in the blueberries after that, so the juices don’t seep and create a grayish tint. Serve these muffins as a grab-and-go breakfast, alongside a bowl of chili or slathered in honey butter to accompany a barbecue spread.
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Chilled Carrot Soup
This chilled carrot soup is smooth and creamy, even though it has no dairy in the soup base. Fresh mint adds a bright herbal note, while a creamy dollop of spiced yogurt finishes it off.
Mayo-Grilled Broccoli
Broccoli is delicious with a little char from the grill, but often that high, direct heat can render the vegetable tough and dry. Enter mayonnaise: The silky emulsion of eggs and oil sticks to the nubby florets and insulates them, ensuring that the broccoli gets tender, rich and sweet while also developing deep charred flavor and crispy bits. Plus the mayonnaise acts as a nonstick coating and seasoning, all in one. (It also works beautifully on grilled proteins.) Be sure to cut the head of broccoli into large, long florets, including the stem, and lay them perpendicularly across the grill grates so they don’t fall into the fire.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts Caesar With Tahini
This wintery twist on Caesar salad upholds the beloved creamy, crunchy and punchy characteristics while opting for a new set of greens — and a flavorful vegetarian alternative to anchovies. Tahini acts as both the thickening agent for the dressing, binding it together, and the flavor maker: Its sesame seed nuttiness and creamy texture balance the bitter undertones of the roasted brussels sprouts, which form the base of this salad. Quartering the sprouts decreases the cooking time and their size, so you can eat them by the forkful.
Pastina al Pomodoro
Pastina al pomodoro is a classic Italian dish of small pasta that is cooked in the style of risotto until creamy and comforting. Orzo is the traditional pasta of choice for this dish, as its shape resembles a grain of rice, but pastina (small pasta) can be made with several different shapes of pasta. The pasta is cooked using the risottata method: It gets toasted with aromatics in olive oil, stirred to coat in tomato sauce and then simmered until tender, gradually moistened with hot water as you would with a risotto. This process releases the starch from the pasta, giving the sauce an incredibly creamy texture and mellowing the acidity in the tomato sauce. Sauce and pasta cook simultaneously in this one-pot pastina, creating a perfect weeknight meal with little effort.
Milk Bread Pull-Apart Rolls
Asian milk bread, also known as Japanese milk bread or Hokkaido bread, is pillowy soft and buttery with a hint of sweetness. Tangzhong, the traditional Chinese technique of cooking flour and liquid (milk, water or a combination) into a paste and adding it to the dough when cooled, is the key to full, airy-soft, squishy buns that stay fresh longer. (You can also use this technique for cinnamon buns or hot cross buns.) These pull-apart rolls are a version of milk bread popular at Asian bakeries. The dough, with the addition of tangzhong, is supple and easy to work with. You can shape the rolls into balls or, for a little flair, twist them into knots. Use a round 9-inch cake pan, or similar pan, to bake the bread.
Quick Roasted Eggplant
Of all the ways to cook eggplant, roasting it in large cubes is one of the easiest and most delicious. Eggplant browns beautifully in a hot oven, becoming crisp and golden at the edges, and tender and soft in the center. Because it will absorb the olive oil quickly, giving the eggplant a good toss with your hands is the best way to make sure it’s evenly coated before it goes into the oven. And don’t skip the parchment paper: It makes for easy cleanup and prevents any crispy eggplant bits from sticking to the pan. Serve roasted eggplant with a scattering of fresh herbs, or dress it up with a drizzle of tahini sauce or herb salsa.
Lemony Steamed Broccoli
It doesn’t get any easier than steamed broccoli; here it’s tossed with a hint of creamy sweetness from butter and a squeeze of lemon to add some fresh brightness. Quick and easy to prepare any night of the week, dress it up or down however you like: Serve it as a side to a protein, like chicken breasts or fish, or add it to a grain bowl, along with other vegetables.