I love a single main dish that provides all of the nutritional value needed in a well-rounded meal. But sometimes you need a side. These side dishes make regular appearances in my meal plans, because they are simple and tasty.
Bantu’s Kale
We had the pleasure of being the host family for an international soccer coach, and he spoiled us by cooking an absolutely delicious dinner. My heart soars in memory of it! His family owns a restaurant in Kenya, and the chefs taught him his way around the kitchen. It’s going to take me a while to figure out the spice balance for the chicken, but the kale is straightforward.
Heat a pan over medium heat. Add finely chopped onion to pan. When the onions are translucent, add can of diced tomatoes and half a can of coconut milk. Add 1 bunch of finely chopped kale (rinsed with stems removed). Once the kale is tender, add the remaining coconut milk and salt to taste.
Snap Pea–Radish Salad with Herbed Yogurt
Simple summer-cooking at its absolute best is Snap Pea–Radish Salad with Herbed Yogurt by Food & Wine. I loved the crisp texture from the raw vegetables, and the tangy yogurt sauce serves as a nice backdrop.
Not only does this dish plate beautifully, it is simple to prepare and incredibly versatile. As long as the vegetable is delicious raw, you could throw-in any at its peak. Mix-up the flavors by changing the herbs you have on-hand. Create additional depth in texture or flavor with a topping. Here, we opted for toasted pine nuts, rather than poppy seeds.
Looking for a new way to prepare leafy greens? Expand your palate with Ethiopian cuisine. The dishes are richly flavored and vegetable-forward with a healthy dose of heat. Traditionally, the dishes take the form of a thick stew, wat, and are served atop injera, a sour-fermented, flatbread with a sponge-like consistency.
If you prepare these dishes at home, you can control the level of heat. If you find you’ve made the dish too hot, try adding a bit of heavy cream or white vinegar to the dish. If these ingredients do not temper the heat to your liking, accompany the dish with a large glass of milk to neutralize the heat. If you’re avoiding dairy, try something high in acidity, like orange juice.
Gomen imparts packs flavor into otherwise bland greens. Gomen is traditionally made with collard greens, but kale works equally well. Chop the greens so they are easy to scoop. Expand the recipe by adding a chopped yellow pepper and sautéing it with the onion.
Everything Bagel Panzanella Salad
If you’re looking to add variety to your salad game, Everything Bagel Panzanella Salad from Valerie Bertinelli for Food Network is a great choice.
With the exception of using french bread, instead of an everything bagel, the recipe was followed as prescribed. Next time, I will reduce or eliminate the croutons and double the vegetables. You might consider tripling the fennel, depending on the size of your bulb.
This once common recipe now seems relegated to the side dish offerings at a steak house. Creamed Kale is a fresh take on the once ubiquitous creamed spinach, and I encourage you to add it to your vegetable repertoire.
To create a creamy texture without curdling allow your heavy cream to come to room temperature before adding it to the kale. If you often avoid heavy cream due to the high fat and calorie content, I encourage you to consider consuming it in moderation. Heavy cream introduces a lush, rich texture to your dishes and contains fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, E, and K.
Grilled Sweet Corn with Coconut Glaze
Eating corn is a messy endeavor. Turmeric is notorious for staining everything it touches. These attributes do not make these two ingredients a natural pairing, but I am so grateful that a brilliant mind brought them together. This elevates a summer staple.
I am fairly certain Big ate at least two ears by himself.
We’ve made this recipe multiple times already, and it is a bit of work but worth the effort.
Spinach-Sprout Salad with Coconut Ranch
We are just starting to experiment with salads with Big and Little. This was a winner. We substituted baby kale* for the spinach. The leaves in this salad are tender, and sometimes I like a bit of crunch, so I think romaine could also be a nice substitution.
The dressing doesn’t keep particularly well, so I recommend dressing only the salad that you’ll eat.
*If you choose to substitute standard kale, I highly recommend you dress the salad several hours in advance of serving. The dressing will soak into the leaves and remove some of the toughness.
Perfect Asian-Inspired Rice (PAIR)
Do you want to level-up your rice game? This is the perfect accompaniment to any dish with Asian-inspired flavors. Cook 2 cups of your preferred rice, and then gently fold Soybean Paste Dipping Sauce (Ssamjang) into the rice while still hot.
This recipe yields a very thick paste. I always use more sesame oil than what is required to thin the texture a bit. I recommend a very small clove of garlic, and instead of sugar, I sometimes substitute honey.
Do you need to use leftover grains? Cook 1 cup of your preferred rice. Fold in the leftover grain and sauce into the cooked rice.
Roasted Cauliflower & Hazelnut Salad
This recipe, courtesy of Yotam Ottolenghi, is one of my absolute favorite cauliflower dishes. I found it on NYT Cooking, and it is featured in Food & Wine’s Best of the Best Vol 16.
It is worth the effort required to de-seed a pomegranate. We use two celery stalks and substitute celery leaf for the italian parsley.
I also remove the hazelnut skins after toasting by vigorously rubbing the hazelnuts inside a kitchen towel.
Check-out my own super fast, super easy recipe for roasted tomatoes! These gems burst with flavor.
Consistently delicious!
Check-out my own super fast, super easy recipe for roasted broccoli!
Consistently delicious!
Check-out my own super fast, super easy recipe for roasted cauliflower!
Consistently delicious!
Want to kick it up a notch? Try this mixture … mirepoix, cauliflower, and kale. Yessssssss!
Need more ideas?
Fast & Easy | Simple | Worth the Effort | Soups & Stews | Pasta | Slow Cooker Dishes | Side Dishes | Desserts
