Low-Calorie Vegetable Side Dish Recipes

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.

Green bean casserole doesn't have to be just a Thanksgiving treat; in under 30-minutes you can enjoy this dish any time of year.

If you can't find broccolini (or don't care for its slightly bitter taste), substitute broccoli for it instead in this creamy, herby recipe.

Slice acorn squash crosswise to showcase its pretty scalloped edges before baking, then garnish with a light glaze of butter and rosemary for an elegant presentation.

This easy vegetable side dish shines alongside roasted or seared steak, chicken, shrimp or firm fish, such as cod or salmon. Sumac lends punchy, fruity, sour-lemon notes to this fast and simple recipe. Find ground sumac spice online, in specialty markets and in well-stocked grocery stores.

Pair this flavorful veggie combo with chicken or fish for a taste of summer any time of year.

This easy Asian green bean salad recipe gets a deeply savory flavor from shallots and fish sauce. Part of the reason is time: after it's made, the dish is left at room temp for 20 minutes to allow the green beans to absorb more flavor. Serve with grilled chicken or shrimp.

This crunchy salad is made with spiralized carrots instead of noodles. Make sure to use unrefined peanut oil, which is way more flavorful than its refined counterpart and is one of the trio of peanutty ingredients that makes this simple salad stand out. Look for it with other specialty oils or in the Asian section of your grocery store.

Our spin on the traditional Venetian risotto swaps in cauliflower rice for arborio rice in this healthy vegetable side dish. Spring peas and Parmesan cheese keep the rest of the dish classic.

This healthy recipe is a savory riff on the traditional brown-sugar-and-pecan-topped sweet potato casserole so often found on Thanksgiving tables. Crispy baby kale leaves make a stunning garnish, but any green or herb that suits you will look great, fried or not.

The cheesy-seedy crust that tops this healthy cauliflower casserole recipe evokes "everything" bagels. Serve for the holidays or as a hearty side dish with roast chicken.

Whole roasted carrots make quite a statement on the dinner table when they're topped with a port wine-and-fig dressing. In this recipe, we like dried Calimyrna figs because they're a tad less sweet than Mission figs and taste slightly nutty as well.

If you find turnips with their greens still attached at your farmers' market, snatch them up for this healthy vegetable recipe. Otherwise, spinach makes a good sub for the turnip greens.

Everyone loves Brussels sprouts when they're drizzled in a tangy-sweet sauce. Plus, bacon! Serve with chicken, pork or steak and roasted potatoes.

Just a touch of butter adds silkiness to the balsamic sauce that coats broccoli and meaty mushrooms in this easy broccoli side dish recipe.

Simple steps give this broccoli salad recipe a more nuanced flavor: soaking the onion tempers its bite and toasting the cumin enhances its aroma. Serve alongside grilled chicken, pork or fish.