Oven-Roasted Herbed Redskin Potatoes

I think any kind of potatoes can be cooked this way, however red skin ones are the best here. You can take big potatoes and slice them in smaller wedges or smaller ones and cook them whole or sliced in halves.

Vary amount of herbs as well as herbs themselves to your taste, in additional to rosemary, thyme, oregano you can use parsley, dill, black pepper, etc; I would just advise to keep rosemary in - it goes great with potatoes.

Over-roasted herbed redskin potatoes can be a no-meat dish on itself or you can accompany a meat entry with it as a side dish.

Russian Zucchini Paste

This is recipe of zucchini paste from my mom: easy to cook, contains only vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes and onions) and is very-very tasty.

I usually eat this paste on bread toast, for breakfast or as a snack; however it is also a nice side dish to help increase vegetable servings in your daily diet.

Zucchini paste can be served warm or cooled down.

Roast Brussels Sprouts

Roast brussels sprouts are great as a side dish or a snack. They don’t require much of attention while cooking: just clean sprouts, put them to a baking pan, toss with oil, salt and pepper and roast until ready.

You can cook them to your liking: increase temperature a bit and you get crunchy outside and soft inside, decrease temperature and increase cooking time - get softer sprouts.

Hope you like them!

String Beans Fried with Eggs

Yet another recipe for fried green string beans, now accompanied by scrambled eggs.

Any kind of string beans will work good for this one: green or yellow, thin or thick, whole or cut - just adjust boiling time so they are cooked enough but not too soft when done.

I don’t think there can be too much eggs used when cooking string beans. Even though there are only 2 on the picture and I ended up using 3, but actually think 4 would be even better, so just cook to your taste!

Eggplants with Tomato Basil Sauce and Parmesan

Eggplants fried in flour and egg coating are good on their own as a no-meat main course, appetizer or snack. But they can also be served as a side dish.

Tomato sauce with basil and garlic is a good addition to fried eggplants; it adds a bit of spiciness to plain taste of eggplants.

And parmesan goes great with that combination too.

Boiled Cauliflower with White Sauce

Adding a sauce will make almost any food more interesting, that is why sauces were invented after all, and they are good not only with meats. Vegetables may use some sauce help as well.

So here it goes: cook boiled (yes simply like this!) cauliflower and pour white sauce over it – you will get delicious dish, not a boring vegetables.

I came by this simple recipe while looking though old cook book released probably even before I was born (ironical enough its title translated from russian is “Modern homemade cuisine”) and I liked it. I think, you will find some more recipes adopted from this book later in this blog.

Braised White Cabbage

Braised cabbage can be a nice meat-free dish on its own, however it also makes a good side dish for various meats, especially pork and sausages.

You can braise fresh white cabbage alone or mix of white cabbage with sauerkraut (1:1 proportion) to your taste. If you choose to use sauerkraut, rinse it with water before adding to the skillet.

Fresh tomatoes in this recipe can be replaced with tomato paste, if you don't want to spend time blanching and de-seeding tomatoes.

Boiled Potato with Sour Cream and Garlic

There is no easiest way to cook potato than boiling. You get tasty and nutritious dish fast and with literally no hassle: just clean it, put to the cooking pot, bring to boil and wait.

Young potato boiled skin on tastes especially good when dressed with several spoons of sour cream, seasoned with chopped dill and minced garlic.

If you don't have young small potatoes, use red skin ones, or any others. Clean potatoes before boiling, for young potatoes washing will be enough, old potato may need to be peeled.

Fried Cauliflower Florets

According to Wikipedia, cauliflower is low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate and vitamin C. And I think that positions cauliflower as a nutritional vegetable and important part of the daily diet.

My mom boils florets first and then fries with flour and eggs. I like taste of cauliflower fried this way more than just boiled, it is less watery, also eggs and flour bring up a nice addition to taste.

By the way, flour can be replaced with finely ground breadcrumbs, tastes good this way as well. I prefer using bread breading I prepare myself, rather than breading mixtures.

Potato Roast with Vegetables

Summer is here and summer is a perfect time to enjoy vegetables it brings along.

Bell peppers, eggplants, potatoes roast together with olive oil based dressing with garlic and herbs can be a perfect dish on their own as well as a side dish to meats or poultry.

Once veggies are all sliced and mixed with dressing (can be prepared in advance), it takes about an hour to roast them in the oven.

Roasting doesn't require much of attention, just stirring from time to time. So I consider this dish easy to prepare.

Green Beans Fried with Butter

This recipe is one of the simplest ways of cooking green beans: just boil them, then drain and fry until ready; and then you have nutritious side dish which will be nice addition to your main dish course.

Preparation of this dish takes less than 20 mins and can be split in 2 parts to help you save some time: boil beans in advance and them fry right before serving to keep them warm and fresh.

Fried green beans go well with fried or grilled meats: steaks, cutlets, schnitzels, chops, etc. However they can be also served as separate no-meat dish.

Boiled Buckwheat

I think buckwheat grain is one of the most nutritious and healthy foods one can ever eat: it is very rich on iron, zink, other minerals and vitamins which makes it perfect food for kids and women during pregnancy.

It is also low on carbohydrates comparing to other grains (and for those which it does have body needs long time to digest);for me that makes boiled buckwheat (straight or with a bit of milk) perfect food for days when I want to eat a bit less and exercise a bit more: it makes you feel full longer without eating too much.

Boiled buckwheat is a perfect side for any kind of beef dishes: I personally prefer to serve it with beef stroganoff or minced beef cutlets; however it can be served as a stand alone dish. Boiled buckwheat grain with milk is very popular breakfast food for children and adults in countries of East Europe.

Eggplant Paste Appetizer

Here is an eggplant paste recipe how my grandma used to do it: all full of vegetable goodness, and I love its taste (still a bit hard to get it taste exactly the way how grandma's is but I am working on it).

Baked eggplant paste makes a perfect side dish for meat or vegetable entrees, as well as it can be a great appetizer - just pour a bit on a whole wheat cracker, or spread it over a piece of bread and get a healthy snack.

Prepared eggplant paste can be stored in a fridge for several days and it tastes good cooled.

Zucchini Pancakes

I prepared pancakes from zucchini, but they are also good prepared of any other kind of summer squash or even mix of them.

Soft and tender vegetable pancakes, they are easy and very fast to do. Perfect dish for breakfast or lunch, or for any other “hunger feeding” quick food break.

Odds are your kids will love them (even though they consist of pure vegetables)!

Fried Zucchini With Garlic

Zucchini itself is low in calories and contains useful amounts of folate, potassium, manganese and vitamin A. Garlic is also very health-giving ingredient. And they both are combined in this fast to do and easy to do recipe.

Fried Zucchini with Garlic is very good on its own as a snack or an appetizer, however it is also perfect for poultry and meat entrees as a side dish.

Reduce amount of garlic if you are worried about a breath, but I really advice to keep garlic in, this dish isn't so tasty without it.

Fried Potatoes Side Dish

I think fried potatoes is one of the first dishes I learned how to do myself when I was a kid, well besides sandwiches of course. So believe me it is easy to do.

Fried potato is great side for any kind of fried main dishes: meat, poultry, fish or even vegetables. And unlike the french-fries (which is kind of similar food) fried potato use much smaller amount of salt and oil, so I believe it is a bit more healthy.

Boiled Rice

Boiled rice is a perfect side dish for any kind main dish, especially for spicy food.

Boil rice till it is half-ready and then steam it with a butter. Rice grains become soft and crumbly, but not overcooked.

Potato Puree (Mashed Potatoes)

Potato puree, or you may also call it mashed potatoes, is a perfect side dish for any meat or fish or poultry entree.

It is perfect choice before fried potatoes especially for those whose digestive system needs a bit of support.

Fried Broccoli

You may want to try Fried Broccoli Side if you find taste of boiled ones not that exciting. It is not much harder to prepare but you get more rich taste.

Consult the step-by-step photo recipe for that great side dish.