Healthy Greens Side Dish Recipes

Homemade mushroom sauce kicks the can of soup out of the picture in this veggie-centric, healthy riff on a classic tuna-noodle casserole recipe. Serve with steamed green beans.

Smooth, lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale) is topped with barbecue chicken, carrots and cabbage in this healthy, gluten-free lettuce wrap recipe. Try them for a low-carb dinner or light lunch.

In this healthy take on twice-baked potatoes, spinach, feta, garlic and oregano are stuffed into the potato shells along with the mashed potatoes. Serve with steak or chicken sprinkled with oregano or marjoram.

Based on a popular Chinese dish, these fun wraps also make appealing appetizers for entertaining. Make it a meal: Serve with chile-garlic sauce and rice vinegar for extra zip; toss diced mango and strawberries with lime juice for a quick dessert.

These collards can be served as a vegan main dish or as a hearty side. If possible, serve with injera, the traditional crepe-like bread common in Ethiopia (see Associated Recipe).

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.

In this quick and easy sautéed spinach recipe, a handful of standard pantry items transform frozen spinach into a satisfying side dish or omelet filling.

You can vary the filling by substituting robust mustard greens or collards, or milder greens, such as spinach, escarole or Swiss chard. (Cook the greens until just tender in Step 2.)

Simply sautéed kale seasoned with a blast of sherry vinegar is a deluxe combination.

Chickpeas make this exotic dish a terrific player in any vegetarian menu.

Trying to lighten up your green bean casserole? Try this quick and easy salad version, which combines fried shallots, croutons, mushrooms, green beans, and chopped chard leaves for a lighter take on a holiday classic.

Collard greens are meltingly tender when cooked for a long period of time. Smoked turkey in place of bacon adds the traditional smoky taste.

Here we've combined two favorite Southern side dishes--grits and greens--into one casserole; it's a natural choice to serve with Easter ham. Try omitting the bacon and using vegetable broth to make it a vegetarian dish.

Zesty sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and rye bread add Reuben-esque flavor to this surprisingly addictive spaghetti squash skillet recipe. If you can't find seeded rye bread, add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon caraway seeds to the mixture in Step 2. Serve with a green salad tossed with red-wine vinaigrette.

EatingWell's updated version of creamed spinach has a low-in-fat cream sauce that's rich with Parmesan cheese and nutmeg.

This eclectic stir-fry is a colorful combination of carrot, red bell pepper, corn and romaine lettuce. This recipe exemplifies how to stir-fry vegetables with different textures. The carrots, which are a “hard vegetable,” should be stir-fried for a minute before adding “medium-hard” vegetables like peppers or corn, which require slightly less cooking. Finally, add “soft or leafy vegetables” in the last 30 seconds to ensure all the vegetables achieve the same level of doneness. Make sure the lettuce is dry--if it's wet when added to the pan, it will turn the stir-fry into a braise.

Serve this pretty, pesto-flavored risotto alongside roasted chicken or pork roast or serve with a big salad for a light dinner. We add a splash of wine along with each addition of broth to give the dish a more pronounced wine flavor. If you'd prefer the wine to be more subtle, add the entire cup at the end of Step 3 and cook, stirring, until the liquid is gone, then begin adding the broth. You can substitute more broth in place of the wine.

Two Cypriot specialties--good olive oil and fresh lemons--lend sunny flavor to this simple bean dish, served as a side in Cyprus. Chard adds a hearty touch. Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt, or nondairy yogurt to keep it vegan, for a meatless meal.

Layers of tortillas, chicken and vegetables with a creamy goat-cheese sauce create a lasagna-like Mexican casserole dish for an easy, healthy dinner the whole family will love.

This is no ordinary wilted spinach recipe--it's dressed up with shallot, pine nuts, and garbanzo beans for a tasty side dish for meat or chicken.

Vary this quick-to-assemble vegetarian appetizer recipe with the season. Try sliced nectarines in place of the strawberries in the summer and halved grapes in the fall. Chopped pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts are all delicious in place of the walnuts as well.

This potato and kale hash recipe is just as fun to make as it is to eat. After the potatoes and kale are roasted, the hash is formed into 4 individual “nests” that are finished with an egg in the middle. To keep the prep work to a minimum, use pre-chopped kale, found near other prepared cooking greens. If you'd rather chop your own, start with about 1 bunch and strip the leaves off the stems before chopping.

In this hearty mushroom and spinach salad recipe, sturdier “mature” spinach leaves hold up better than baby spinach when tossed with the warm mushroom-and-bacon vinaigrette.

This quick and easy side dish goes with anything on the dinner menu. Made with a simple sauce, it highlights the fresh vegetables as the stars of the show. When pea shoots aren't in season, try this same stir-fry with fresh watercress or spinach.