Fast Christmas Side Dishes

Natasha Phan of L.A.'s Kogi restaurant empire craves this crisp, fresh salad during the holidays, when there's always an abundance of rich dishes at the table.

“Blood oranges are part of my Sicily fascination,” Renato Poliafito says. He uses the segments to add color and tang to green beans and reduces the juice with balsamic vinegar to make the dressing.

New York chef Gerry Hayden, a friend of Michael Mina, was staying with the family one Christmas and contributed this side dish to the holiday meal. Everybody fell for the combination of creamy pureed potato and fragrant vanilla.

Scott Conant makes his crisp-tender beans with ground ginger, since freshly grated ginger invariably creates unappealing little chunks.

There’s so much richness on the holiday table that a few tart and spicy things are necessary for balance, like this raw beet slaw.

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.

This luscious side dish can be prepared up to three days ahead. The duo of sweet parsnip and creamy spinach is unbeatable.

This classic is updated with deep-flavored cheddar and a crunchy topping of crumbled crackers and toasted almonds.

Boiling kale before sautéing it is key to making it tender. If the stems and center veins are very tough, Marcia Kiesel advises removing them: Fold the kale leaves in half with the vein side out, then pull up on the stems.

"I like the clean flavors in this dish," says Sam Mogannam of this incredibly simple side, which is as good with turkey as it is with steamed fish, roast chicken or pork.

To maintain crispness, toss the salad just before setting it out on the buffet.

For ultrafluffy potatoes, Grace Parisi presses them through a ricer. To achieve a similar texture, pass the potatoes through a food mill or a fine-mesh sieve. If you choose to mash them by hand, be gentle; otherwise, the potatoes will turn gluey. Grace offers other creative ideas for fluffy mashed potatoes like Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese and Fresh Thyme and Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Shallots.

Chef Way Andrew Carmellini prepares this dish with homemade bread crumbs and hard-to-find Sicilian oregano.

Easy Way Top spicy greens with crispy panko (packaged Japanese bread crumbs) and a touch of supermarket oregano.

To make this refreshingly lemony slaw, start with firm brussels sprouts and shred them in a food processor. Roasted sunflower seeds are the perfect finish.

For his simple side dish, Dean Fearing sautes crisp green beans with caramelized salsify, toasted pecans and strips of intense country ham. At home, he jokingly calls them "all-day" green beans--in fact, they take about half an hour to prepare.

"This is a salad you can keep in your refrigerator until you're ready to serve; just like your summer slaw, but for winter," says Jenn Louis. The crisp vegetables mixed with the creamy yogurt dressing would also be excellent as a filling in tacos.

F&W's Kay Chun tops sweet roasted winter squash with crispy pan-fried bulgur seasoned with coriander seeds.

Cooked with less water and in a wide skillet, tart cranberries get candied in the sugar syrup and remain almost whole in this delicious cranberry sauce.

New York chef Gerry Hayden, a friend of Michael Mina, was staying with the family one Christmas and contributed this side dish to the holiday meal. Everybody fell for the combination of creamy pureed potato and fragrant vanilla.

Crunchy toffee stands in for the usual marshmallow topping on these sweet potatoes, which Shawn McClain glazes with brown sugar and spice-scented butter.

Fragrant vanilla-bean butter does double duty here—it both flavors the squash and softens the skin during roasting. The greater the variety of winter squash you use, the more interesting the dish will be.