From the category archives:

Side Dishes

Chestnut Stuffing

November 22, 2011

Thanksgiving is almost here and I’ve got one more terrific recipe to submit for your consideration as you finalize your menu for the big feast: Chestnut Stuffing.This stuffing turned out to be even better than I’d hoped. I like a really homey, traditional, herby, moist-on-the-bottom-crispy-and-golden-on-top kind of stuffing and this recipe (from the back of [...]

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Creamed Spinach with Bacon

November 14, 2011

Spinach doesn’t need cream or bacon to make it a good side dish. It’s fine on its own, simply steamed or sauteed with a little lemon. That’s how I typically make it. But… If you do happen to mix cream and bacon in with spinach – and maybe some aromatic onions and garlic too for [...]

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Slow Cooker Garlic Artichokes

May 26, 2011

It came as a surprise to many of my friends that I had never cooked artichokes until a few weeks ago. Here in California artichokes are kind of a staple, like avocados. In fact, nearly all artichokes in the U.S. are grown in this state (I just learned that). However, my parents were raised in [...]

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Balsamic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

April 27, 2011

I’ll try almost any recipe that has “balsamic” in the name. Balsamic vinegar is like this magical elixir that dials up the flavor of anything it touches. I’ll never forget the first time I tried strawberries with balsamic vinegar – how in the world did it make them so sweet? And, of course, you can’t [...]

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Zucchini with Walnuts & Chives

August 25, 2010

Yes, it’s unofficially “Zucchini Week” on Cooking On the Side. The other day I brought you a sweet treat – Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Bread. Today we’ll step over to the savory side, with Zucchini with Walnuts & Chives. Evidently when you plant zucchini in your garden it grows like crazy (you have to see the [...]

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Chilled Dill Carrot Salad

January 19, 2010

Do unusual fruits or vegetables catch your eye in your produce section and leave you wondering what they’re like? For me, it’s been the multicolor carrots lately. Despite the fact that I’m not the biggest carrot fan in the world I couldn’t resist the opportunity to put those beautiful colors in a dish. I finally [...]

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon Pecan Crunch

November 18, 2009

Despite being almost two years old, my daughter still prefers her sweet potatoes in the form of baby food purées with nothing else added. I suspect this has as much to do with the appeal of the natural sweet potato flavor as it does with the entertainment value of practicing the transfer of bright-orange mush [...]

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Herb Stuffing Muffins

November 16, 2009

When I mentioned to my mother that I was planning to make a traditional herb stuffing this weekend, she replied, “You should bake it in muffin tins!” She had just read an article in The New York Times in which the author was extremely pleased with the results of her efforts to concoct stuffing muffins [...]

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Bacon, Sour Cream & Chive Mashed Potatoes

November 5, 2009

I’ve struggled in the past to make mashed potatoes with the texture I really like – the really fluffy, smooth, creamy kind. Maybe I’d been using the wrong kind of potatoes or I wasn’t cooking the potatoes for long enough or I could have benefited from a tool like a potato ricer…but I think the [...]

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Green Bean Casserole

November 4, 2009

I previously said that it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving at my house without classic pumpkin pie. Well, I guess I’d also add Green Bean Casserole to that list. To be fair, is it the best vegetable side dish I’ve ever had? No, not really. But it’s loaded with tradition and nostalgia – and on Thanksgiving, that [...]