Healthy Summer Side Dish Recipes

When corn stands are full of fresh, tasty corn in late summer, grab a few extra ears for this 35-minute corn cake recipe. Loaded with fresh corn, carrot and green pepper, each patty is cooked until crispy and golden-brown and served with a cilantro-lime yogurt dip.

Try this fun honey-mustard zucchini-wrapped corn on the cob side dish at your next barbeque.

Soaking the corn in its husk in water for up to two hours before grilling is definitely a new approach to cooking corn on the cob, but give it a try! The addition of salt, spices and cheese takes this side dish to new levels.

Rainbow Fruit Skewers are a fun and beautiful way to get in those nutritious fruits. Plus, kids can help string fruit on skewers and drizzle Greek yogurt. Bonus! This snack is an excellent source of vitamin C.

Next time you're preparing meat or fish on the grill, try this grilled salad recipe. Romaine lettuce is a perfect choice for grilling and it's ready in just a few minutes. Slightly charred and wilted, the taste is enhanced with a simple lemon dressing and a sprinkling of feta cheese.

Sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with just a touch of salt and pepper, this nutritious Swiss chard vegetable side dish pairs wonderfully with any protein you're serving.

Whole-wheat couscous is a simple side dish, yet by adding garlic and peppery mustard greens to the cooking liquid, it feels much more sophisticated.

This simple rice is a perfect side dish for meat, poultry or fish. Fresh mint, cilantro, green onions and lemon peel add to the delicious nutty flavor of the basmati rice.

The lively combination of ginger and apricot nectar creates a noteworthy vinaigrette that tastes incredible on fresh asparagus.

Fresh zucchini slices are battered in crispy panko and pan-fried until golden brown and crunchy. You can eat them with a fork, but popping these zucchini chips by the slice is perfectly acceptable. Serve with a dollop of creamy dressing for a simple summer vegetable side.

Serve this simple vegetarian side dish warm or room temperature alongside grilled meats and a stacked summer salad. A flash under the broiler leaves these slices of corn-studded polenta golden on the outside and soft on the inside; an herby, smoky tomato-pepper salad acts like a salsa to be spooned over the top.

This vegan side dish is traditionally served at room temperature with grilled meat or fish, but feel free to double your portion and eat it as a vegan entree with crusty bread for dipping in that garlicky, flavor-packed olive oil. The name for this combination of roasted vegetables comes from the Catalan escalivar, meaning to cook in ashes, though most folks these days use an oven or grill to put some char on their veggies.

This pretty vegan layered casserole is so simple to make. Its only seasonings are salt and garlic-infused olive oil, which you make by sizzling a clove of garlic in olive oil for about a minute. This dish is lovely warm or room temperature. Serve with crusty bread as a vegetarian entree or alongside roasted meats as a side dish--don't forget a glass of chilled rosé.

In this vegetable side dish, the Italian sauce agrodolce translates to sour ("agro") and sweet ("dolce"). Pro tip: It's as delicious on grilled summer vegetables as it is on bitter greens and roasted winter squash. Here, grilled eggplant acts like a sponge, soaking in that addictive sweet-sour sauce as it rests. No baby eggplant? No problem. Cut large eggplant into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Our go-to trick for this crunchy, mustardy vegan side dish: Use a grill basket--it lets you cook all the things that would ordinarily fall through the grill grates, no skewering required. Pick one up from the hardware store or order one online for less than $15.

Kick up the fiber in your diet with the chewy bulgur in this fresh side dish salad. Serve the diabetic-friendly salad on its own or with beef, pork, or chicken.

Enjoy the freshest summer vegetables hot off the grill, flavored with herbs and a hint of garlic.

This veggie platter is a perfect side dish for any gathering. Vegetables like asparagus, mushrooms, Japanese eggplant and fennel are marinated and then grilled to perfection.

Give classic pasta salad a fresher, more flavorful spin. This fast pasta dish calls for avocado to replace some of the mayonnaise, which makes it extra creamy. Whole-wheat elbow macaroni and fresh vegetables lighten up this healthy pasta salad that you'll be making all summer long.

This side dish is a cinch -- place the ingredients in your slow cooker and forget about them until dinnertime.