Healthy Quick & Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes

Our savory cauliflower puree makes a perfect low-carb stand-in for mashed potatoes. It gets its fabulous flavor from garlic, buttermilk and a touch of butter and, best of all, it has about one-quarter of the calories of typical mashed potatoes. If you like, vary it by adding shredded low-fat cheese or chopped fresh herbs.

In this quick German-inspired side dish, red cabbage is cooked until just tender and combined with sweet apples, caraway and a tangy vinaigrette. Serve with roasted pork loin or turkey kielbasa.

Here a pungent garlicky dressing is infused into kale by massaging the greens and the dressing together with your hands. Any type of kale will work in this kale salad recipe, just remember to remove the tough stems before you start.

This lemon and dill vinaigrette is a natural complement to green beans. It's also great tossed with steamed asparagus or drizzled over sliced fresh tomatoes. To make this recipe serve 10, multiply all the ingredients by 2 1/2: Use 2 1/2 pounds green beans, 3 tablespoons dill, 2 1/2 tablespoons each shallot, oil and lemon juice, 2 1/2 teaspoons mustard and 3/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Cornbread stuffing, a Southern favorite, is a nice change from more traditional white-bread stuffing. Our delectable recipe uses Italian turkey sausage, rather than pork, and omits all the butter and cream to cut the fat by two-thirds. The stuffing is lower in sodium as well and so easy to make that it's sure to become a favorite side year-round.

There are countless variations on this classic Irish potato-and-cabbage combination--ours is made with steamed red potatoes, sautéed cabbage and just a touch of butter.

Crisp pears are tossed with Cheddar cheese and pecans in this delicious salad. For an Italian twist, try a good Parmesan with some toasted pine nuts or to go British use crumbled Stilton and toasted walnuts.

This colorful salad would be a welcome addition to a Mexican-inspired meal.

Brussels sprouts braised in broth and thyme is a surprisingly simple preparation that yields rich and savory results.

Try a sweet glaze on beets or other root vegetables to help balance their earthy flavor. This easy recipe will work with steamed carrots, turnips or rutabaga too.

Pure maple syrup, as opposed to artificially flavored and colored “pancake” syrup, is an extraordinary cooking ingredient. Here it adds body as well as rich flavor to the dressing, providing a perfect counterpoint to the smoked cheese.

This cranberry sauce recipe is scented with star anise, which has a dynamic flavor--earthy, spicy and sweet at the same time.

In this glazed carrot recipe, instead of a traditional sugar glaze, we glaze spiced carrots with a combination of sweet-tart pomegranate molasses and honey. A touch of butter and a sprinkling of pistachios make them a decadent yet simple vegetable side dish for any meal.

This carrot-potato puree has an amazing silky-smooth texture. We give it a sophisticated touch with a quick tapenade made with green olives, orange zest, hazelnuts and garlic. For a simpler dish, just make the puree and skip the topping.

Contrasting sweet grapes with savory feta cheese and crisp, colorful greens, this salad makes an elegant first course.

Bitter, sweet and peppery flavors marry well in this confetti-like salad of wintery fruit and vegetables.

For this simple sautéed chard, flavored with rich-tasting pancetta and walnuts, we prefer the milder taste of green chard.

Crunchy fennel and celery are combined with grapes in this delicious salad recipe.

We love how roasting brings out the sweet flavor of beets. Golden beets look especially pretty when tossed with the fresh herb and lemon seasoning mix, but any type of beets will work in this recipe. If you're a lemon lover, be sure to add the squeeze of fresh lemon juice after the beets are roasted.

The famous Waldorf salad, full of apples, celery, raisins and walnuts, gets a healthful makeover with a touch of golden curry. It has nearly twice the fiber of typical versions.