Side Dishes, Easy Side Dish Recipes & Ideas

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Side Dishes

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Most polenta recipes require nearly an hour of patient stirring; this streamlined version comes together off the heat, with a final whisk just before serving. The result is an almost effortless, exquisitely creamy polenta that’s the perfect base for slow-roasted pork and vegetables.

Our Stuffings, Our Selves

A person's preference for a particular stuffing, dressing, or filling might tell you something about where they've been.

Sweet Potato Pavé

Super-thin slices of sweet potato are key to the finished texture and shape of these crispy bites. Use a mandoline for the best results, stabbing the last bit of potato with a fork to keep fingers safe.

Speck-Wrapped Haricots Verts with Date Molasses

Wrapped in salty speck and glazed with date molasses, these bundles of crisp, tender haricots verts are the perfect pairing for beef or duck. Date molasses is thinner than standard molasses, so it needs to be cooked down to reach a glaze consistency; if it sets up too much, gently reheat it.

Fried Wild Rice with Mustard Greens and Mushrooms

Properly cooked wild rice retains a pleasant crunch that adds satisfying texture to this fried rice. Paired with lightly spicy mustard greens, sweet celery, and tender, meaty mushrooms, it’s an earthy, savory side dish that could be a meal on its own.

Roasted Citrus with Crunchy Three-Seed Brittle

The star of this effortless side is the sweet and savory brittle spiked with chile oil and studded with sesame, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, it’s the perfect crunchy counterpoint to quick-roasted winter citrus. This salad is equally delicious served warm or at room temperature.

Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Yogurt

Whipping boiled sweet potatoes in a food processor incorporates tons of air, resulting in a lighter-than-ever texture. These ultra-silky, three-ingredient potatoes are lightly sweet and extra creamy thanks to vegan coconut yogurt, which can be found in the yogurt section of most grocery stores. If you can’t find the vegan version, you can substitute canned coconut cream (not coconut milk).

Creamed Corn Grits

With no cream or butter to dull the flavor, this dish showcases the sweetness and versatility of corn. The creaminess comes from the corn itself. The creamed corn may seem a little loose at first, but it will continue to thicken as it sits while the polenta cooks.

Matsutake Rice

Bacony Fingerling Potato and Spring Onion Salad

Dashimaki Tamago

Ohitashi

Santa Maria–Style Pinquito Beans

Stewed pinquito beans enriched with bacon and ham are a classic element of Santa Maria–style barbecue, traditionally served alongside grilled tri-tip and a fresh salsa. This recipe, from The Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in Solvang, California, has layers of smoky heat from ancho chile powder and Anaheim chile. Perfectly tender and seasoned all the way through, these Santa Maria–Style Pinquito Beans are the perfect partner for Oak-Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri or oaky, wood-grilled Traditional “Santa Maria BBQ” Tri-Tip and Mild Tomato Salsa. Pinquito beans, a small pink bean that’s native to California, are the classic bean for this dish; you can order dried dried pinquitos grown near Alisal Ranch from lompocbeans.com, or substitute small white beans, such as navy beans.