Low-Calorie Vegetable Side Dish Recipes

Most of this savory fruit-and-tomato salad recipe can be prepared in advance-just mix the tomatoes with the dressing right before serving. For the most stunning presentation, use a mix of colorful heirloom tomatoes.

No gloppy canned soup in this healthy green bean casserole recipe. Simply give cilantro, parsley or chives (or a mix of all three) a whirl in the food processor to make the pesto-like sauce that ties the casserole together.

If you don't have a spiralizer to make this healthy zucchini noodle casserole (aka zoodles), use a vegetable peeler to make long thin strips of the squash and zucchini, stopping when you reach the seedy center. Just a few minutes under the broiler gives these ricotta-and-basil-filled nests a light golden top.

Padrón peppers have a poblano-like flavor and can be as mild as a bell pepper or as fiery as a habanero (or anywhere in between). Serve the grilled peppers with other tapas, like cheese, salumi, olives and Marcona almonds.

Grilled corn turns up across the globe, from Japan's supernaturally sweet Hokkaido corn to Mexico's elote, grilled corn slathered with mayonnaise and grated Cotija cheese. In this healthy corn on the cob recipe, the corn takes its inspiration from Cambodia's pod oeng, corn grilled with pandan leaf–flavored coconut milk.

Enjoy this healthy and simple grilled vegetable salad recipe alongside anything else you feel like throwing on the grill. Or toss it with pasta and plenty of Parmesan and call it dinner.

Don't skip salting the cucumbers in this quick cucumber salad recipe--just 10 minutes pulls out some of their excess moisture, concentrating the flavor and keeping the salad from being watered down. Serve as a healthy side dish at a summer cookout alongside burgers and hotdogs.

Top crispy sweet potato skins with guacamole for a healthy take on classic potato skins in this easy crowd-pleasing recipe.

You'll slash 131 calories and 19 grams carbohydrate when you trade in your brown rice for finely chopped cauliflower in this healthy cauliflower "rice" recipe. For an even faster "rice" pilaf, use 4 cups of purchased cauliflower rice instead of making your own. Look for it near other fresh or frozen prepared vegetables.

Swap parsnips for potatoes in this oven-baked fries recipe and get 5 grams more fiber per serving. Dress these healthy fries up with a side of spicy or garlicky aioli: just mix mayo with Sriracha or roasted garlic (or both!).

Cooking this quick broccoli side dish recipe in a wok gives you a larger surface area, so you get lots of nice crispy bits. Serve with oven-roasted herb chicken or fish, or as a tasty topping to your grain bowl.

Whir cauliflower into a creamy low-carb substitute for mashed potatoes. This easy recipe gets a kick of flavor from garlic-infused olive oil, making it a dairy-free (and vegan) vegetable side dish.

The turnip often gets a bad rap as boring, common or bland, but Chef Steven Satterfield is always looking for new ways to make this underappreciated vegetable shine. In this healthy turnip recipe, they're roasted with bright-flavored orange and lemon juice and rich, nutty miso, both of which balance the earthy taste of turnips.

Some cooks recommend sprinkling sugar on top of carrots to glaze them, so that it will marry with the natural juices in the carrots to create the perfect glaze. But you can't predict how much liquid will come out of a vegetable, so Chef Naomi Pomeroy developed a more controlled technique in this healthy carrot recipe to yield a deeper and richer flavor.

Chef Michael Symon loves Brussels sprouts because they can be cooked so many different ways. In this healthy recipe, the rich flavor of the walnuts, Dijon and capers is perfection with roasted meats.

Vinegar is the key to making this sautéed kale recipe special. Look for vinegar that's cloudy--it likely still has some of the "mother" in the bottle and will give you a sweet acidity rather than a harsh bite. Organic apple cider vinegar is usually your best bet. For the most eye-catching version of this side, use different colored varieties of kale.

Larger turnips or those that have been stored for a while can have a bitter aftertaste. A bit of sugar fixes that in this healthy vegetable recipe, but if you have small, young turnips, you can omit the sugar. This recipe makes about 1 cup of arugula pesto; use the extra as a spread on sandwiches or to dress up any roasted vegetable, pasta dish or soup.

In this easy green bean recipe, browning the butter before tossing it with the breadcrumbs produces a nice nutty flavor. Serve this green bean dish as a healthy alternative to green bean casserole or as an easy side with steak, chicken or fish.

Pan-roasted carrots become an exotic winter side when topped with dukkah, an Egyptian spice blend, in this healthy vegetable recipe. Dukkah plays nicely with other vegetables too. Try it on steamed asparagus in the spring, grilled eggplant in summer and broiled romanesco or cauliflower steaks in the fall.

Fresh wedges of tomato, thinly sliced onion and sliced cucumber dressed simply with vinegar and oil makes the most simple salad possible--think of it as the Southern counterpart to the classic Italian tomato-and-mozzarella salad. It is best enjoyed at the height of summer, when tomatoes and cucumbers are fresh from the garden.