Meet my go-to side salad recipe. I hope it becomes yours, too. This simple salad features fresh arugula and the world’s easiest homemade balsamic salad dressing.

This salad truly could not be more easy to make. In fact, it’s so easy that I’ve hesitated to share it with you. It’s hardly a recipe, but one that I make constantly. It’s about time that I bring this method to your attention, you say?

Side salads should be easy to prepare, and this one is so delicious that it doesn’t taste like an afterthought. It goes with just about everything—think Italian entrées like lasagna, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, and even holiday meals.

You can use this salad formula with any type of leafy green, but arugula is my favorite. You’ll eat more healthy greens if you keep this recipe in your back pocket. Here we go!

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This cream of broccoli soup is perfect for a rainy day. It’s creamy and satisfying, yet light and nutritious at the same time. This soup is a lovely side dish for your favorite sandwiches and hearty salads.

You might be intrigued by some of the elements in this cream of broccoli soup recipe. For starters, it’s lusciously creamy with minimal cream—we’ll primarily use butter and just finish the soup with a drizzle of optional cream.

Secondly, this recipe makes use of the broccoli stems and crowns, which is a fun way to maximize broccoli flavor and minimize waste. You’ve seen me use this trick in my Broccoli Cheese Soup. If you’ve enjoyed that soup, you’ll definitely appreciate this one.

This cream of broccoli soup is not a superstar meal on its own, but is a really, really nice component in a springtime meal. I hope you’ll try it!

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Ever roasted cabbage? If not, meet your new favorite side dish! If you enjoy roasted Brussels sprouts, you’ll surely love roasted cabbage, which offers similarly irresistible crispy-caramelized-tender bits.

Roasted cabbage has a lot going for it, and it’s about time I shared my go-to roasting method. Cabbage is easy to prepare for roasting (much easier than Brussels), very inexpensive, and lasts quite a while in the fridge.

Plus, roasted red cabbage adds an eye-catching purple hue to the dinner table. It’s fun, right? This dish would be a vibrant addition to your Easter meal.

Keep cabbage on hand in the vegetable drawer and you can turn it into a simple and nutritious side dish in twenty minutes. I’ll show you how!

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Have you tried cauliflower rice? It’s a perfectly versatile, light side dish. I was skeptical of the concept at first, but now I’ll admit that it can be awesome. I’ll share all my tricks with you today.

If you, like me, are craving lighter meals as the weather warms up, try serving cauliflower rice instead of white or brown rice. It’s similar in texture, with a nice savory flavor, and it’s pure vegetables! I’ve been trying to fill half of my plate with veggies lately, so cauliflower rice is just the ticket.

There is an art to cauliflower rice. If you haven’t enjoyed it in the past, it probably wasn’t prepared optimally. In fact, I just ordered the new cauliflower rice option at my favorite chain burrito place (you probably know it), and I was  disappointed. It was far too salty and way too watery. It can be so much better.

Here is a basic primer on how to prepare cauliflower rice. This recipe is simple and yields perfectly fluffy, lightly seared cauliflower rice. You’ll also learn how to adjust the recipe to suit many different meals. Off we go!

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These roasted beets are for everyone! If you already love beetroots, I think you’ll be a big fan of this foil-free, no-peeling-required roasted beet recipe. If you don’t enjoy beets (yet), this roasting method just might change your mind.

These roasted beets feature lightly caramelized, tender-but-not-quite-crisp exteriors and deep, condensed flavor. I don’t love beets in all applications, but these? I have to stop myself from devouring the whole pan before dinner.

With this method, simply scrub the beets well before baking. No need to peel before or after baking. The skin, which is perfectly edible, just seems to disappear during the baking process.

The trick to pan-roasted beets is to drop the temperature a bit. I always roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and pretty much all the other veggies at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

For beets, since we don’t want crispy outsides (tender is nicer), we’ll roast at 375 degrees. Easy!

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Let’s talk about farro! Have you tried it? Farro is a whole grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years. In fact, it may be the world’s oldest cultivated grain. We’ve even found it in Egyptian tombs.

I love farro for its reasonably quick cooking time, nutty flavor and satisfying chewy texture. Farro is a hearty addition to salads and soups. It’s especially wonderful with some garlic and olive oil stirred in while it’s still warm.

Farro is a nice alternative to wild rice, brown rice, quinoa and other whole grains. It’s a healthy plant-based source of protein, iron and fiber. As a bonus, it freezes and defrosts well. So, you can make a big batch to enjoy over the next few months.

Today, I’m clearing up some common farro misconceptions and sharing my go-to farro cooking method. Keep on reading for more about farro!

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Well hello, golden potatoes. You are exactly what I crave with dinner after a long day. More redeeming than French fries, yet just as nice.

I’ll admit that it took me quite a few tries to perfect this roasted potatoes recipe. So, I have a few tricks to share today. This method yields substantial hunks of potatoes that are beautifully golden on the outside and pillowy-tender on the inside.

These roasted potatoes are lovely on weeknights and perfect for the holidays, especially when you add the optional rosemary. Sometimes, I load them up with some sour cream, chives, dill, flaky salt and pepper for a variation we could call ranch potatoes. They’re also great with a drizzle of Easy Green Goddess Dressing.

Bottom line, you can’t go wrong with these roasted potatoes. Serve them up!

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I’m so excited to share these crispy baked tostones with you! I discovered tostones a few years ago when I visited Costa Rica with my grandmother. Traditional tostones are fried green plantains, flattened and fried again until they’re golden and crispy. You could almost call them Caribbean French fries, and I couldn’t get enough on that trip.

I got a hankering for some tostones a few months ago and decided to learn how to make them. As I was typing up my perfected skillet-fried tostones technique to share with you, a little voice in my head asked, “Why didn’t you try baking them?”

I hit pause on my post and fired up the oven. As it turns out, baked tostones are great. Compared to fried tostones, they’re easier to make, use less oil, and yield a crisp result that tastes more like plantains and less like oil. Hooray!

These baked tostones are a fun little project. Make them for game days, afternoon snacks, or of course, serve them as a side dish with Caribbean meals. They’re especially wonderful with a bold and creamy dipping sauce, like this Aji Verde. Please try them and let me know what you think.

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This sweet potato casserole is for everyone, even the people who don’t like sweet potato casserole. I’m serious! If you enjoy sweet potato casserole, I’m confident you’ll love this marshmallow-free version.

If you don’t like sweet potato casserole, this recipe will change your mind. I know it will, because it changed mine. I’ve sworn for years that I only like savory sweet potatoes, but I’m officially eating my words. I love this recipe.

This sweet potato casserole features an ultra creamy, pillowy interior with deep sweet potato flavor. The buttery pecan topping is crunchy-tender and lightly sweet, with optional fresh rosemary.

Overall, this dish is entirely irresistible. I hope it’s a big hit at your Thanksgiving table.

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Honestly, I didn’t know green beans could be this good. Inspired by a classic French recipe (haricots verts amandine), this green bean recipe features buttery toasted almonds, tender shallot and a squeeze of lemon.

I hope this recipe title caught your attention, because these green beans will be the standout on any plate. I have to stop myself from eating the whole pan myself, and I never thought I’d say that. Give me the choice between this dish and green bean casserole, and there’s no contest. Green beans amandine for the win.

This side dish is simple enough for weeknight dinners, but fancy enough for the holidays. I wrote the recipe to yield enough for about four people. You can very easily double the recipe for a crowd as long as you use a Dutch oven to contain the beans.

Haricots verts amandine translates to “almond green beans.” It’s often anglicized to “green beans amandine,” which then mistakenly turns into “green beans almondine.” I can see why, but I attended too many years of French class not to point this out!

I can’t say I remember eating these green beans during my semester in Bordeaux, France. Just one more excuse to go back when we can. I’ve tested these ingredients and techniques over and over again so you can enjoy this dish at home.

You won’t need to bother blanching the green beans—this dish magically comes together in one skillet. The recipe requires a bit of patience and some stirring, but it’s 100 percent worth the effort. Keep this recipe handy, because it goes with just about everything!

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