Who is ready to do away with the classic holiday side dishes? Before we offend anyone, you do not have to get rid of grandma’s recipes or anything like that. Instead, maybe you can include different sides at your holiday meals or parties this year. Too often do vegetables take a back seat at the holiday spread. If you see veggies on the table, they are most likely stripped of nutrients and prepared in an unhealthy way. This recipe departs from a dish of boring steamed carrots and pivots to change peoples’ minds about carrots. They will be an instant classic at your table!

It is very easy to roast vegetables that have a lot of flavor. The tricky part of roasting vegetables is cooking them evenly. The easiest way to get an even cook is to cut them uniformly. Thicker pieces will obviously take a lot longer to cook than thinner pieces. For this carrot recipe, you cook the carrots whole after peeling them. If the carrots you purchase are thick, feel free to cut them in even sticks to ensure an even roast. By the time the carrots are done, you want them to be fork-tender and caramelized, but not mushy. That is why the roasting time depends on the size of the carrots.

Now, tarragon is an underutilized herb in most households, but a lot of people don’t know how to use it. You only see fresh tarragon in teh spring and summer, but you can purchase dried tarragon any time of year. Tarragon has a subtle taste and is popular for flavoring, its medicinal properties, and for its fragrance. It pairs well with asparagus and carrots and goes great in soups and stocks. It is also rich in manganese, which is an essential nutrient that reduces oxidative stress in the body and plays several roles relating to metabolism, growth, and brain health.

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Finally, a potato side dish that does not have dairy! Potatoes are a staple ingredient in many kitchens around the world. There are Yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, Russet potatoes, red skin potatoes, and purple sweet potatoes. You can use potatoes in myriad ways, roasting them, boiling them for a mash, frying them, etc. We think, and although this recipe is a bit more tedious, that Hasselback potatoes are top tier. Do they contend with your favorite potato side dish? You’ll have to be the judge of that.

We love these Hasselbacks because they are visually exciting and taste incredible. Load them up with spices and feel free to add your own set of herbs to enhance the dish. As far as cooking goes, the process is very easy. You roast the potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes and that’s that. The tedious element is how you cut the potatoes. The first thing you have to do is make sure that your knife is sharp. If your knife isn’t sharp, the preparation will be a lot more difficult. Once you have a sharp knife, take two wooden spoons and lay them flat on a cutting board.

One by one, place your potatoes between the handles of the spoons, ensuring that the potato is elevated about the cutting surface. Slice eighth-inch thick slices along each potato, making sure that you hit the spoon handles, not the cutting surface. Once your potatoes are successfully cut, toss them in a bowl with the olive oil and seasonings. Make sure you coat them liberally! Bake in the oven until soft (about 20 minutes) and then enjoy immediately.

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Sometimes, folks, we have to make salads a little heartier and less cleanse-approved. That’s exactly what we’ve done for this roasted chickpea fall salad. Besides the stunning and vibrant colors, this salad offers a variety of textures from the kale, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, and roasted chickpeas. Top it with creamy avocado and chewy dried cranberries and this salad is next level. It is perfect as a vegan entree or festive fall side dish. It is fully of autumnal flavors that everyone will want more of after the first bite.

The great thing about a hearty salad like this is that they hold up for several hours, making it a great potluck salad. Kale is very sturdy, but make sure to chop it finely to help break down the fibrous texture. Additionally, remove the thick kale stems, or you’ll end up with bitter bites in every forkful of salad. If you prefer arugula or cabbage, then you can use those greens instead. With your base prepped, you can build your salad with the other featured ingredients. You’ll have to roast the chickpeas first, but if you are short on time, you can cook them in the pan. Just make sure to season them liberally, because that way they end up tasting like croutons, only more delicious.

There are a lot of savory flavors in this fall salad, but the pomegranates and dried cranberries offer freshness and tartness. Pomegranates also offer lots of antioxidants, which work to fight free radicals in the body. The subtle tartness of the pomegranate arils go great with the apple cider vinaigrette, which brings a little life and vibrance to the creamy avocado cubes. You also have the freedom add walnuts if you want, but the pumpkin seeds offer healthy fats, texture, and protein.

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This isn’t your ordinary vegetable soup because this soup is made with roasted vegetables, which offer deeper, richer flavors and a subtle smokiness. Once you roast your vegetables, blend them together to make a creamy, addictive soup. Although there are many adjectives that can accurately describe this soup, it is simply delicious. Blending all of the ingredients together helps create a rich, creamy consistency. And the great thing about this soup is that is is great for all culinary skill levels. It is very beginner-friendly!

Why should you roast vegetables instead of steaming or sautéing them? While steaming is a great way to cook vegetables, you miss out on the caramelized flavor and delightful smokiness that comes from roasting them. But not all vegetables roast equally, as some take longer to cook than others. For example, it takes longer to roast tomatoes and bell peppers than it does to roast beets and parsnips. Because this recipe contains bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes, make sure to cut them appropriately to ensure even roasting. It is more important to cut the sweet potatoes and carrots thinly and the rest of the ingredients can be roughly the same size.

This recipe includes various vegetables, but you can make this soup with a few adaptations. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand and incorporate different spices. Do you like a little spice? Throw some cayenne or chili powder into the mix. Consider adding beans for more protein. Opt out of the oat milk if you want a soup made strictly of vegetables. Don’t be afraid to put your own creative spin on this!

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You have to love a sheet pan meal or side dish. Much like a one pot meal, a sheet pan meal is convenient, easy, and doesn’t require many dishes. No need for separate pots and pans! Ain’t nobody got time to do all of those dishes! So…we are pulling off this trusty side dish that requires minimal prep time and very few dishes. Unsurprisingly, it tastes pretty amazing straight off the pan!

This side dish features tender roasted baby potatoes, a flavorful and zesty lemon dressing, and soft asparagus that have a slight crunch. The addition of fresh lemon wedges on the sheet pan helps impart more lemon flavor into the potatoes and asparagus. It’s a great entree or side dish for anyone following a vegan or vegetarian diet. Should you want to add different vegetables to this pan, you can do so, but make sure not to overcrowd the pan. If you find that your pan is too crowded, divide the vegetable mixture across two separate sheet pans.

The only thing to keep in mind with this recipe is that you may want to cut the vegetables so that they are uniform in size. If the baby potatoes are small enough, you may want to halve or quarter them so they cook evenly with the asparagus. Otherwise, you can boil the baby potatoes for about five minutes before baking them. Cutting them into smaller pieces means no boiling and fewer dishes for you to wash. Choose wisely and enjoy the recipe!

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Isn’t it interesting that Brussels sprouts used to be the vegetable that everyone loved to hate? Grandmothers steamed them in the kitchen and the house smelled terrible, making you detest this nutrient-dense cruciferous vegetable. In recent years, though, Brussels sprouts have risen to popularity. It’s difficult to go to a restaurant and not find some version of Brussels sprouts on the menu. More often than not, they are usually an appetizer dish served with a creamy dressing of sorts.

One factor that deters people from making Brussels sprouts at home is that they never seem to be the same as they are in restaurants. How do you achieve the perfect combination of being perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside? Some people steam or boil them prior to roasting them, which cooks the Brussels and then all you have to do is broil them for optimum char. This is a multi-step process that can be a hassle, which brings us to the beautiful invention that is the air fryer.

Roasting Brussels sprouts in the air fryer is a much faster cook than roasting them in the oven. The same magic from the oven happens in the air fryer as well, in a fraction of the time! Because balsamic vinegar and Brussels sprouts are a match made in heaven, we’ve done our best to create an appetizer or side to remember. They are crispy and have a classic sweet tang that your taste buds will love. If you enjoy this vegan recipe, let us know in the comment section!

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What a great side dish for the upcoming holiday season! These roasted rainbow carrots with maple tahini dressing boast big time flavors!

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We want to make a claim right out of the gate: there is nothing wrong with existing holiday side dishes. We simply want to help you take your side dish game to the next level with these roasted rainbow carrots. Not only do they provide an assortment of colors, but they also provide a new set of flavors that are quite autumnal. With each bite, you get notes of sweetness, nuttiness, tanginess, and aromatic herbs.

Do multi-colored carrots taste different than the orange ones you are familiar with? Some people say that all of the colors taste the same, while others argue against that notion. Typically, yellow carrots have a sweeter flavor with a slightly earthy undertone. White carrots are quite mild, while purple carrots may have a peppery flavor, but they can also be quite sweet. The contrasting flavors makes each bite a unique experience, especially when you have the maple tahini drizzle, fresh parsley, and pomegranate arils on top.

You roast the carrots on their own, seasoning them with sea salt, black pepper, and a little olive oil. Once they are soft and browned, you can remove them from the oven. When it comes time to plate the carrots, drizzle the maple tahini sauce over them, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, and optional pomegranate arils. The parsley adds an herbaceous flavor, while the pomegranate complements the sweet carrots with a slightly tart flavor. It is visually stunning and the perfect side dish for your holiday meals.

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Roasted root vegetables can be an incredible side dish. It’s often a colorful medley ingredients, including squash, potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, turnips, parsnips, or beets. While this soup doesn’t use all of those ingredients, it does use a few winter staples, some of which exhibit impressive antioxidant properties. In fact, three of the ingredients in this soup are excellent sources of beta-carotene!

Although we have a list of ingredients, you can take a little creative liberty with your root veggies. We don’t recommend using beets because they will turn your soup red quickly. The combination of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, and parsnips is quite tasty and the ingredients complement one another. If you want your soup to be more peppery, swap out the parsnips for some turnips. Just make sure that you always include red onion in the roasting pan, in addition to the onion you’ll sauté for the the soup base.

After the vegetables are nicely charred and fork tender, you’ll need to transfer them to a blender, along with your soup base. Now, if you have an immersion blender, you can pour the roasted vegetables into the large pot with your soup base and blend that way. Choose your own destiny, but make sure to savor the flavors along the way!

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Nutrition labels or facts don’t always give you the whole story. The preparation tends to dictate the nutritional value of a certain food. In the case of vegetables, many nutrients become lost or more available in regards to preparation. Choosing the right method for your vegetables may help you preserve more nutrients, which only benefits your health. 

How do you choose the right cooking method for your vegetables? This comes down to the vegetables that you want to cook, as certain vegetables have more nutrients available after specific preparations. A vegetable that is water-soluble may need a different cooking method than a vegetable that is fat-soluble. Below, we detail the most nutritious ways to prepare your vegetables, according to dietitians. 

Keep It Raw

Raw preparations are very popular for vegetables, especially the ones in the Brassica family. These vegetables include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, and more. They exhibit potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer compounds called glucosinolates. Some vegetables in this family also contain myrosinase, an enzyme that offers protection against bacteria and other harmful organisms. These compounds are released when you chew, chop, or crush them, and cooking actually destroys those beneficial enzymes. If you cook these vegetables, the body struggles to use glucosinolates.

Steaming

If you want to preserve the maximum amount of nutrients in your vegetables, steaming is the best cooking method. According to a 2013 study, steaming is the best way to preserve the most vitamin C in vegetables. When you steam your vegetables, the nutrients are retained to a larger degree because the food doesn’t contain water or other cooking liquids. As a note, steaming is not the same thing as boiling, which we will cover later in this article. 

Sautéing

When you sauté vegetables in a pan, it is best to do so gently over a lower heat. When you cook over a lower flame, you decrease the likelihood of losing some of the water-soluble vitamins in your veggies. Use a flavorful oil or neutral oil with a smoke point of 350º F or above when you sauté vegetables. The best oil for sautéing vegetables is extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. These oils may increase the bioavailability of certain nutrients, especially fat-soluble vitamins. 

Roasting

Roasting is a dry-heat cooking method that doesn’t require water or oil. If you want your vegetables to retain B vitamins and vitamin C, roasting is your best cooking option. Because you don’t need liquid for roasting, there is no significant water-induced loss. Roasting and baking are common cooking methods for zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, bell peppers, squash, and parsnips. 

Microwaving

This may seem like an odd preparation method, but dietitians say that microwaving is a nutritious way to cook vegetables. Microwaving does, however, result in lower vitamin C levels in the food, but this is no fault of the microwave. Vitamin C breaks down under heat, of which microwaves produce a great deal. Microwaving doesn’t destroy as many nutrients as other cooking methods because it is a fast way to cook food. 

Boiling

Fat-free and fast, boiling is a method of cooking vegetables, but it ranks lower than other methods in regards to nutrient retention. Boiling is actually one of the worst cooking methods if you want your vegetables to retain water-soluble nutrients. If you consume the water or liquid in which you cook your vegetables, you may increase your nutrient intake. Boiling results in the greatest loss of vitamin C, according to a 2018 study. This is because water-soluble vitamins are often lost in water-based cooking methods.

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