Side

This classic recipe is a good way to highlight this nourishing green vegetable. The rich flavor of pine nuts and sweetness of raisins are surprising yet compatible in tandem with the spinach.

You may not feel like dealing with a big mess o’ greens when you’re in a huge hurry to eat, but if your main dish is a breeze and you have a few minutes to spare, it’s a great investment of time. Recently, I fell in love with kale, so preparing a batch in this manner no longer seems like a big deal. Greens—especially kale and collards—provide a reliable source of calcium for vegans. This is a good way to prepare Swiss chard, kale, or collard greens.

Here’s my favorite way to dress up frozen corn kernels. Not surprising, it’s even better with fresh corn, as described in the variation. Serve this as a side dish to Southwestern-style specialties and bean dishes.

This dish is almost embarrassingly easy, but such a crowd-pleaser that I just had to share it. Use a flavorful prepared marinara—smoked tomato, mushroom, or chunky vegetable.

Summer is the prefect time to make the luscious Spanish classic, piperade, when peppers of all colors are abundant and, for a short time, relatively inexpensive. This is a great partner for almost any sort of pasta or grain dish, hot or cold, or to serve alongside a summertime sandwich. Use leftovers in wraps.

Broccoli is given a spark of heat in this speedy preparation. This is a good way to complement Asian-style rice, noodle, or tofu dishes.

This wonderful salad is a perfect accompaniment to classic Middle Eastern dishes. You can also build a meal around it in the summertime; serve with store-bought or homemade hummus, fresh pita bread, and stuffed grape leaves. See the menu with Tofu Shakshouka (page 45) for another menu idea. Make sure to use an organic, unwaxed cucumber, as it’s best unpeeled in this salad.

Here’s a quick and clever way to make potato fries without a lot of peeling and cutting. Fingerling potatoes, if you are not familiar with them, are small potatoes with a long, narrow shape—hence their name. They come in several varieties; I like to use organic golden fingerlings like Russian Banana. These are ready, from start to finish, in about 20 minutes.

You can almost build a meal around this simple, delicious side dish. Once you’ve got the potatoes in the oven you have plenty of time to make a bountiful salad. You can also put Teriyaki Tofu Steaks (page 62) or store-bought veggie burgers in the oven at the same time for a no-fuss “meat and potatoes” kind of meal.

This adaptation of a traditional Middle Eastern salad is filled with vigorous flavors and textures. I especially like it with Middle Eastern-or Spanish-themed meals. For a light summer meal, serve this with Sweet and White Potato Salad with Mixed Greens (page 188).

Here’s a salad with plenty of personality. I like to make this as part of a meal of cool dishes in the summer, either with a cold soup or with two additional interesting salads.

This flavorful warm salad can be made any time of year, its seasonal personality lent by either rosemary (for cooler months) or basil (for warmer weather). It’s a fairly substantial salad, so it’s good served with a straightforward protein dish like Tempeh Fries (page 78), Cornmeal-Crusted Seitan (page 63), or BBQ-Flavored Skillet Tofu (page 62).

Inspired by the house salad I’ve enjoyed at Thai restaurants, this is the perfect companion to several of the Thai-style dishes in this book. A bigger portion of this can almost be the centerpiece of a meal, served with a simple tofu or tempeh dish.

In my part of the world (the Northeastern United States), we get the best mangos and avocados in mid-to late winter, just when our winter-weary palates need them most. This relishlike salad is not only scrumptious but also lovely to look at. It’s especially welcome with Southwestern-style tortilla dishes.

One of the most fun things about traveling is finding food inspiration and ideas. I’m most drawn to simple preparations with creative twists. In Israel, I loved the myriad varieties of salads, which are served morning, noon, and night. I could spend a month in Israel just studying the salads. On a recent trip, my family’s last lunch before heading to the airport was at a lovely little café in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. One of the dishes we enjoyed was a mixture of sweet and white potatoes on a bed of greens. Nothing fancy, but it looked great and tasted even better. Once home, I made my copycat version of the salad, with two additions: a diced avocado mixed into the greens, and a topping of pumpkin seeds. It may look fancy, but it’s very easy to make. The pleasing presentation makes it a good salad to impress company, as well as to bring to potlucks.

This appetizing bean salad adds color and crunch to a meal. Make it to bolster grain dishes and pastas.