Side

You can vary this recipe by using half olive oil and half walnut oil and topping the beets with toasted walnuts. For the most visually appealing presentation, use a mixture of beets such as Chioggia, golden, and red.

High-protein lentils are enlivened here by coriander, ginger, mint, and cilantro. For the best flavor, toast whole coriander seeds, then grind them to a fine powder. In a pinch, you can substitute a teaspoon of ground coriander instead of grinding your own. Beets add heart-healthy iron, potassium, and folate.

Aside from supporting your eyes, immune system, and heart, Swiss chard helps maintain bones and may protect against osteoporosis, thanks to high doses of vitamin K and magnesium as well as a healthy dose of calcium. Don’t worry if your pan seems overcrowded with the chard; it will quickly wilt and lose most of its volume as it cooks. Cooking the stems a bit longer than the leaves will ensure they become perfectly tender.

Lentils are a particularly robust source of protein, folate, and iron. Red, orange, and yellow bell peppers provide more vitamin C and carotenoids than green ones; these powerful antioxidants support eye health, boost immunity, and fight heart disease. This nutritious make-ahead salad is perfect for a packable lunch, picnic, or barbecue.

These two members of the cabbage family deliver an interesting twist to standard coleslaw. Both kohlrabi and turnips offer fiber, iron, and vitamin C, and the thick kohlrabi leaves boast a high dose of cancer-fighting phytochemicals.

Kale makes for a surprising alternative to cabbage in this sweet-sharp slaw. Curly kale, the most widely available, is used here; remove the tough stems and center ribs before slicing the leaves.

The peaches and cherries in this quickly prepared dessert are a great source of vitamins A and C. Vanilla beans are available in many large supermarkets and most specialty food shops; you can substitute one teaspoon pure vanilla extract for the one-half bean used below (don’t use imitation vanilla, which contains artificial ingredients).

Wheat berries, the whole unprocessed wheat kernels, are most often ground to make whole-wheat flour. Like other grains, these kernels can also be cooked—as in this recipe—until they are tender yet pleasantly chewy. An excellent accompaniment to meat or fish, this dish is also substantial enough to serve as a meatless main course.

Stuffed with brown rice, shallots, and fresh herbs, these tomatoes make a hearty and well-seasoned side dish for chicken or fish. They are also substantial enough to be the main course of a vegetarian lunch or light supper, served with a mixed-green salad. Here, the rice is boiled for ten minutes before being combined with the stuffing ingredients, to ensure it will be tender after baking. (Soaking the rice in water overnight would serve the same purpose.)

This version of pasta salad ditches the mayonnaise-based dressing for a lighter and brighter vinaigrette of flaxseed oil, lemon juice, and vinegar. It also incorporates ample fresh herbs, a variety of vegetables, and kamut pasta—a protein-rich whole-wheat pasta that contains healthy amounts of the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium. Other types of whole-wheat pasta can be used instead. The salad makes a great side for a potluck, but it works as a main course, too.

French green lentils, sometimes called lentilles du Puy, hold their shape well once cooked, making them particularly suited to salads and pasta dishes. Like other legumes, lentils are low in fat and are exceptional sources of folate, iron, and protein, plus other vitamins and minerals. Here, the lentils are combined with whole-wheat pasta shapes called chiocciole (snails), but you can substitute penne or any other short tubular shapes. If you like, grate or shave parmesan over the pasta just before serving.

A snappy almond-and-herb pesto is a fresh departure from the classic pine-nut-and-basil version. For an even more nutritious variation, add three tablespoons ground flaxseed to the pesto.

Rice salads make nice gluten-free alternatives to pasta salads; like the latter, they can be served at room temperature or chilled. This fresh-flavored side uses three types of rice—wild, brown, and brown basmati—but any combination of rices would work well.

If you’d like to use fresh peas (you’ll need about a pound for one cup shelled), add them along with the mushrooms.

This nutrient-dense salad capitalizes on fall and winter’s best produce, while delivering ample health benefits. The squash and cranberry beans (also called borlotti or Roman beans) provide fiber, which helps lower cholesterol; the kale prompts the liver to release enzymes that may fight cancer. Other types of winter squash, such as butternut or acorn, would also work in this recipe, as would cannellini or navy beans.

Roasted garlic serves as the base of the salad dressing. The allium not only adds depth of flavor but can also help lower cholesterol. Pumpkin is rich in potassium, fiber, and vitamin C.

For convenience, you can cook the corn and beans early in the day, toss them with olive oil and smashed garlic, and keep them (covered) in the refrigerator. To remove corn kernels from the cob, stand the ear upright on its flat end; with a sharp knife, cut along the length of the cob, turning as you go.

One of the preparations that make Thai cuisine so fresh and refreshing in the tropical heat is its raw vegetable salads that serve as backdrops to fish or meat. The sauce used on these salads is typically a blend of chiles, fish sauce, fresh lime juice, and herbs, with fresh cabbage as one of the side dishes. This Thai slaw is inspired by those classic recipes. Use it as a base for Thai Shrimp tacos (page 59) or for other shrimp or seafood fillings.

Refritos—refried beans—are one of the most common side dishes in Mexican and Southwestern restaurants. Finding a good rendition, though, is rare. Most places use flavorless canned beans for a base—already a poor start. And they don’t take the time to slowly cook and stir them to infuse the mixture with flavor and texture. The best refritos are made from beans cooked from scratch with many different seasonings so the beans absorb the flavors and the cooking liquid is intense and balanced. Here are two recipes for refritos. The first is for black beans cooked from a dried state, which takes several hours to prepare. The second requires just forty minutes and uses canned black beans that are already cooked as a base.

If you don’t have time to cook your beans for refritos, for a better base, buy a Mexican brand of canned black beans like La Casteño, which have more flavor, or the Ranch brand, which have been cooked with jalapeños.