12 Simple Vegetable Side Dishes
Vegetable side dishes are as delicious as the main course when created with fresh ingredients, earthy seasonings, and a bit of olive oil. Whether you're looking for a simple vegetable dish or something unconventional, we've got you covered. We have rounded up 13 vegetable side dishes perfect for any season including smashed cucumber salad, crispy potatoes, braised radishes and mustard greens.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Peanuts and Fish Sauce
Julia Turshen dresses up simple roasted brussels spouts with a combination of olive oil, fish sauce and vinegar. It gives the sprouts great punchy flavor, while chopped peanuts on top add crunch.
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Steamed Leeks with Mustard-Shallot Vinaigrette
Leeks are low in calories and rich in phytochemicals. They're also among the sweetest members of the onion family, making them a perfect match for this tangy mustard vinaigrette.
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Smashed Cucumber Salad with Butter Beans and Tarragon
Gently crushing the cucumbers for this salad releases their aroma and creates nooks and crannies for soaking up the dressing. They still retain plenty of crunch, a great contrast to the rich, creamy butter beans. Don't skip the tarragon here; its fragrance and delicate anise flavor give the dish an herbaceous pop.
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Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Parmesan
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Broccolini with Crispy Lemon Crumbs
What Top Chef fan could forget CJ Jacobson's soggy, brown Broccolini from Season 3? When challenged to prepare the dish for an airplane meal, CJ overcooked his vegetables so badly that they were unrecognizable—and he got kicked off the show for it. Gail Simmons reinvents the recipe by blanching Broccolini quickly, then sautéing it on the stove with a shallot and adding spicy, lemony, homemade bread crumbs at the very end.
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Mixed Onion Agrodolce
The combination of shallots, cipollini onions, and pearl onions delivers a lovely contrast of shapes and texture; feel free to simplify by using just one type of onion. Dried plums add a jammy sweetness and make this dish a perfect pairing for rib roast or turkey.
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Green Bean Slaw
In this salad, tender haricots verts get tossed with crunchy strips of carrot, red pepper and parsnip. When TV personality Rachael Ray (who is originally from upstate New York) visited the Beekman farm, Lee Woolver made a version of this salad with bacon, but it's just as delicious without.
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Braised Root Vegetables and Cabbage with Fall Fruit
Chef Alain Ducasse uses six pots to cook each type of vegetable on its own, then layers them in a baking dish. For the simplified version of Ducasse's fruit-and-root-vegetable stew, everything cooks in one big pot.
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Broccoli, Shiitake and Red Onion Roast
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Lemony Seared Endives
This three-ingredient side dish from chef Eli Dahlin has a surprising abundance of flavor. Cook your endives until they are golden brown on the outside but still retain some of their crisp texture.
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Honey-Mustard-Braised Radishes and Mustard Greens
Chef Grant Achatz features pungent mustard three ways in this surprisingly easy side dish, including the nose-tingling condiment, the greens and the seeds.
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Crispy Potatoes with Avocado Salsa
Papas are traditionally deep-fried, but roasting smashed potatoes at a high temperature (with plenty of olive oil) yields a similar result with a fraction of the mess. Make the avocado salsa while the potatoes are roasting; it's the perfect creamy, cooling complement to the salty, crispy potatoes and bright, spicy jalapeños.