Healthy Side Dishes???....Help!

Sweet potatoes!! Stab 'em with a fork, pop 'em in the microwave for ~8-10 minutes. Get some I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray and BAM. Delectable. Sweet potato fries from the freezer section are another option if you're making, say, black bean burgers and want something that goes with "burgers".

Roasted brussel sprouts with carrots. Toss halved sprouts and carrots with olive oil and a little salt a pepper - put on a baking dish and set your oven on broil and let them cook. They take about 20 minutes or so depending on the size of the carrots and sprouts.

Roasted peppers with olive oil. So good! You can stuff them as well, if you'd like.

Zucchini topped with a little parmesan cheese and baked/broiled. Delicious!

For ideas, I like to browse - http://www.skinnytaste.com/ The key to success (at least that I have found) is to make sustainable changes to your diet. You're not dieting, you're in a healthy way that you can maintain for the rest of your life (otherwise you risk getting to the end and then gaining it back). The recipes at skinnytaste are delicious and filling and something I can see making far into the future, even after I reach my goal weight


The other simple thing is that now that fall is coming, mixed roasted vegetables are a big favorite. Pick a variety of root vegetables - sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin, carrots, parsnips, beets, potatoes, turnips, kohlrabi, etc - and maybe add a non root vegetable or 2, like tomatoes or brussel sprouts. Chop them up into bite sized pieces. Toss with olive oil (make sure to measure the amount and not just glug it all on. A little bit can cover a lot of vegetables). Add some herbs or spices (whatever you want, can be different every time). Maybe some garlic and onions. Roast at 400 degrees, stirring occasionally, until they reach whatever softness level you want. Yum!

We roast or grill vegetables rather than boiling or steaming (as much as possible anyway). This works great for potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and lots of others. I personally like to sprinkle them with a little curry powder or garam masala for added flavour.

A friend of mine got me hooked on a side dish his family always made: chop onion, garlic and cabbage and 1-2 slices of bacon, fry the bacon in a large pot, then throw in the rest and cook until softened. With the bacon in there, you don't need added cooking oil and I usually get 4 side servings out of 1/4- 1/2 a cabbage (depending on the size of the cabbage), so each serving only consists of 1/2 a slice of bacon...enough for flavour, not too high in calories.

I'm big on curries (you can load them up with vegetables, buy a pre-made sauce that is reasonable in calories or mix curry powder with yogurt and cook with the vegetables on low heat so the yogurt doesn't separate). I also do a lot of grilled skewers (meat of choice, onion, mushroom, green peppers, zucchini, etc.), spray lightly with oil and sprinkle on spicing of choice or make/buy a barbeque sauce that isn't too high in calories.

If you are big on grains, you can do a stir fry, curry or skewers and serve on top of bulgur wheat, brown rice, basmati rice or quinoa for a little added bulk.

brussel sprouts sauteed in olive oil and chopped garlic
Yams (the orange potatoes) cut into fries, drizzled with olive oil and baked
sweet potatoes cut into fries with a bit of olive oil and cinnamon
summer sqash boiled (or roasted) with butter
cucumbers n onions in vinegar water with black pepper
roasted asparagus drizzled with olive oil n bit of salt n cracked pepper
peas sauteed with onions, garlic n dill n a tiny bit of vinegar
green beans sauteed with onions, garlic n dill n a tiny bit of vinegar
new poatoes (the tiny ones) boiled till done then add them to a cookie sheet n give them a smush lol add olive oil n bake till browned

i picked up one of those vegsketti cutters and it's been one of the best kitchen gadgets i own. you can use it to turn a zucchini (or really, any other cylindrical, firm veggie) into long noodly-shapes. i will usually either just warm the "noodles" in a very lightly oiled, hot pan, or mix them into whatever sauce i'm serving.

i'll offer another vote for roasted brussels sprouts. you can also toss them with a drizzle of GOOD balsamic vinegar (good = something that costs more than $30 a bottle).

once in a while, i like to steam cauliflower till it's really soft, then mash it with roasted garlic, a little sour cream, and a little bit of cheese. it ends up with a consistency somewhere between risotto and mashed potatoes.

if you like mushrooms, pick up a couple of portobella caps, clean them (scrape out the ribs), brush with pesto, stuff with roasted red peppers or chopped sundried tomatoes, a sprinkle of cheese, and bake.

I second the sweet potato fries idea. One potato (per 2 people) chopped up into fries, sprayed with oil and herbs & baked for 45 mins is filling and delicious as a side to burgers, steak, or roast chicken.

We also portion out normal potatoes (they are healthy too, in the right quantity) for side dishes, or make a potato/veggie patty, or hash it up with red peppers, onions & spinach (or your fav veggies). Onion gravy is relatively low in calories (if you have it thinner) and does wonders for mashed potatoes that are bland because you can't add as much butter/salt as you'd like lol.

I also make a mean spanish rice, which is rice cooked in tomato paste/chicken stock (or simply a can of diced tomatoes), and seasoned with parsley, paprika, garlic, onion, turmeric, a dash of cumin and chili powder for a kick. You can add carrots, roasted red peppers, fresh tomatoes, etc. to kick up the veggie count.

Make your own refried beans which is just cooking beans (canned is faster, dry will need 24 hours to soak) in stock, seasoning, and mashing.

We are big carb eaters lol, but we enjoy making home-made, healthier, filling versions of food we've always enjoyed.

What's the recipe for the coleslaw pancakes?

My husband and I are very new to dieting. We've only been trying for about 2 weeks. We have both lost weight and are happy about our progress; however, we are running out of healthy food ideas. We eat a lot of broccoli, salads, green beans, carrots, and vegetable medleys, but all of these are getting old. We need some new ideas.

Can you list some of your favorite side dishes and maybe even how you cook or prepare them? You can even list good main dish recipes if you want...any and all is helpful!!

Thanks in advance everyone!

Follow me on instagram for meal ideas if you want it's in my bio on my profile.

I honestly only ever have veggies, I primarily BBQ them since it's that time of year... in the winter I break out the George Foreman at least a few times a week to get the same thing.

One of my favorite things is veggie skewers, (I use minced garlic and S&P w/ EVO for everything...that is it) on the BBQ... soooOOOOoo good!!! I use allot of mustard when cooking also!

My only advice is to do whatever the hell you want to do with the food. Take a look at how they eat in other countries and bits and pieces that you like. Want some egg in that rice dish? Toss it in!

Never be afraid to make yourself something weird or that nobody else would ever eat. If it tastes good to you, that's all that matters. So what if other people would never eat it?

Mix stuff up, see how it turns out.

Try roasting squash and zucchini. Also try sweet potato fries you can bake these in the oven.

Spaghetti squash w/ mushroom gravy (mushrooms, a little olive oil and flour, stock or water. This squash, or thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash, are also really good with pesto, or tomatoes and garlic sauteed in olive oil or butter.

Roasted veggies - works well with most non-leafy vegetables (brussel sprouts, root vegetables, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.) Just toss is a little oil (or mist it, if you really want it low cal) and a mix of your favorite spices (we like garlic powder, black pepper and ceyenne), then roast in a hot oven just till it starts to brown.

Instead of roasting - cook them on the grill! Even small vegetables work if you make a foil packet or invest in a veggie grill basket or put them on skewers.

And often we cook the meat and veggies together for a stew, soup, chili or stir fry. Shrimp or chicken and broccoli make a great stir fry (add a few peanuts!). Orange veggies such as butternut squash, sweet potatoes or carrots are great stewed with pork or beef. You can throw almost anything in soup and it's good. Add beans and chopped veggies to chili.

Lasagna is a great way to eat vegetables. Use less noodles and more veggies, meat and sauce. Or, if you want a low carb dish, skip the noodles and use thinly sliced zucchini or eggplant.