Holiday meals are so much about connecting with family and friends. Everyone has their favorite dish, from green bean casserole to mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.
We are all about easy gourmet cooking for holiday meals. Here, we offer here some of the standout side dish recipes from the Serious Foodie chefs, as well as from other experts – old standards, along with a number of dishes inspired from our favorite international regional cuisines. These dishes can also serve as vegetarian main dishes.
Spice Up Your Veggies
We love our veggies at the Serious Foodie – especially when we can use one our very interesting international sauces. This picture shows a very simple, but elegant acorn squash with mango butter. Like many of our veggie recipes, this one can also be used as a vegetarian main dish.
The Serious Foodie Peruvian Blood Orange Sauce is only slightly spicy, but oh so interesting. The imported Peruvian peppers (aji Amarillo and aji panca) give some sweet, hot, smoky flavors. It’s also got the interesting flavor of blood orange (which mimics the sour orange flavor of a lot of the South American cuisines). The Peruvian Blood Orange sauce is a great complement to most any vegetable dish, but especially butternut squash (click HERE) and roasted vegetables (click HERE). Or just have a spicy sauce condiment along the side (check out some of our favorites HERE).
Grill Your Veggies
It might be too cold in some areas to grill, but you can simply broil vegetables on a skewer, and finish with some seasoning salt (for instance, try one of the Serious Foodie spice rubs, such as Asian Fusion or TexMex rub on any vegetable dish). We provide a full recipe on grilled vegetables HERE.
Braise Your Veggies
Pan Roasted Kale and Veggies
Braised Swiss Chard
We love green leafy vegetables – especially kale and Swiss chard. There is no need to be boring about these great vegetables – you just need a few extra ingredients to turn a dish from average to amazing. Here are two very simple recipes for delicious healthy side dishes that are amazing.
Roast Your Veggies
Tal Ronnen – Courtesy Food Republic website
A casserole dish of seasonal roasted vegetables is so easy to prepare, and will have the added benefit of wonderful aromas lingering in your kitchen. We have a number of easy healthy recipes that work any time of the year – but these are especially impressive for the holidays.
We came across a series of Moroccan carrot recipes, which can be served warm or in salads. These recipes are so easy & delicious, and slightly exotic – they will be sure to please and impress your guests. Click HERE to see our four favorite roasted carrot recipes.
One of our favorite ways of serving roasted vegetables is with the Serious Foodie Peruvian Blood Orange sauce. Why? Because it’s just a perfect flavor match for any vegetable. We’ve been so inspired by the local Peruvian community to share some of these simple but elegant recipes:
- Roasted vegetable salad with Peruvian Blood Orange Sauce
- Peruvian Roasted Vegetables
- Roasted Corn and Quinoa Salad
Also take a look at our wonderful recipe for Roasted Rosemary Potatoes with West African Seasoning.
To see more of the Serious Foodie holiday gift suggestions, check out:
- A Serious Foodie Guide to Unique Holiday Gifts
- A Serious Foodie Holiday Gift Guide: Sparkling Wines
- A Serious Foodie Guide to Unique Holiday Gifts: Chocolates
- Serious Foodie Holiday Gift Suggestions: At the Movies
