Creamed spinach is my current favorite.

Oh, and I recently discovered that if I slice brussels sprouts in half down the middle and then fry them a little in a pan with butter, they are so much better! Although I like them just steamed too.

Spinach & butter alongside BBQ ribs.

I like any green veggie, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, etc roasted with sea salt and pepper coated with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, I cook it till its a little crispy and have to stop myself from eating all of it, its soooooo good

For stir fry I add pb2 and soy sauce

It gives a cool different restaurant flavor

Bok Choy with shaved carrots for color

Adding fresh cilantro to other traditional veggies to make them have a bit of pop

Don't forget mushrooms. Fried with garlic and butter.

Add sauces to your veges to mix it up a little. Cream sauces, alfredo sauces, cheese sauces. All very simple and lots of recipes on the net. French sauces are all high fat and low carb.

AngInCanada wrote: »

Roasted cauliflower. Mmmmmmm. Cut into bite size pieces, drizzle with olive oil and whatever spices, and throw in the oven at 425 for 20ish minutes. So good! Same a sbrussel sprouts sliced in half and roasted in the oven. My favorites.

I discovered Brussel sprouts recently

I cut in half and pan fry with some Pam till they brown

Yummy!!

A little coconut oil brings out the natural sweetness too!

Sauteed zucchini and summer squash with onions and red/orange/yellow sweet pepper. Butter, garlic pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Tried Brussels sprouts for first time on the recommendations in this thread. Am so glad I did! I did them in the over with olive oil, salt and pepper, 425 degrees. Took about 20 minutes and were amazing! Family approves too!

mycatbutters wrote: »

I'm starting to lose the taste for a lot of the low carb side dishes and could really spruce up my meal plan. Do you have any good side recipes for lower middle carb levels? I'm really looking for something without bacon and not just another use for cauli.

I'll give you my top five favorites. Hope you try them and love them as much as I do.

1. Frozen or steamed green beans sautéed in bacon drippings. Don't overcook the beans. Then add leftover crumbled bacon and a sprinkle of curry powder. The green/yellow nuclear glow means you did it right. SO YUMMY.
2. Cut summer squash or zucchini into rings. If it's the real giant squash, peel the skin off, too. Then boil it the same way you would pasta: ten minutes in boiling water or until tender. Drain it well and add butter, nutmeg and salt and pepper. The nutmeg and the squash does something together and it's lovely.
3. (My lunch today) Wash greens (I used spicy mustard greens and spinach leaves), and add to melted butter and minced garlic in a fry pan. Sauté a bit until the greens start to wilt down. I used two cups greens, a bit of minced garlic and a lug of butter. Then I added three eggs, and folded a few times into the pan as they cooked. Remove from heat and stir in some grated cheese (I used Italian fontina and it was stellar!) My mom used to make this a lot when I was a kid but she always used mozzarella.
4. Slice a head of cabbage into "steaks" and roast in a hot oven (400) after brushing them with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast till tender and the edges start to brown. I love these. You can also toss Brussels sprouts with the oil and s+p and roast in a similar way.
5. My favorite for last: steam fresh asparagus for a few minutes (depending on thickness) till tender. Serve with a low carb bearnaise sauce. Sometimes I make it from scratch and sometimes I use a packaged mix, making it with HWC and water instead of milk to further cut carbs. I adore this side, especially with a nice thick steak!

Oh, that reminded me of another side I like.

6. Marinate a halved avocado cut side down in (either or a mix of) balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Peel it right before serving and slice it. It's amazing with crockpot slow cooked beef. A bite of the fatty salty avocado on the same fork as a chuck of fall apart meat is amazing.

On a side note to make a roast I just add the large hunk of meat, a sliced onion and a few TBSP of liquid (water, Italian dressing, balsamic vinegar or whatever) and cook on low 6-8 hrs depending on size, in the covered crock pot till it's fall apart tender.