Hearty sides
Healthy and filling sides to make supper into an event
A good side can make an ordinary meal into something special. It's also great to have options on the table, so any picky eaters in your household can fill up on something other than the main dish. These recipes are healthy, simple to put together and made with inexpensive ingredients. They're great side dishes, and the leftovers can be repurposed into a light lunch the next day.
This chickpea salad is hearty, cool, and refreshing. It's perfect for a hot summer day when you don't want to cook.
Nothing beats cornbread fresh out of the oven! Make a big batch to serve with your next pot of chili, drizzle with with butter and honey for a sweet treat, or get creative pour it into muffin tins for an on-the-go snack.
A classic side from Tex-Mex restuarants, made by simmering rice in a spiced tomato broth. The trick is to toast the rice in the pan before adding liquid, giving it an extra boost of flavour and texture in the pot.
These oven sweet potato fries cook up in under an hour after just a bit of chopping. Start them before you make burgers, and they'll be cooked and ready to serve when your burgers are done!
Sweet potato, corn, and black bean salad
This warmly spiced sweet potato, black bean, and corn salad makes for a filling side or a light meal. Fresh and tasty, perfect for a summer BBQ!
This variation on a traditional South American recipe makes tasty cornmeal flatcakes you can cook up in a pan in just a few minutes. They're delicious on their own, served with butter and honey or maple syrup, or cut in half and stuffed like a pita.
Old fashioned baked beans with pork
These classic baked beans are equally good served as a side at a family barbeque, or over some toast in the morning. This recipe calls for bacon, but it can be made just as easily with canned pork, or no meat at all!
Refried beans made on the stove or the slow cooker are a perfect side, a perfect topping for enchiladas, burritos, or tacos, and they're delicious on their own as a dip too! Start a batch using dried beans for the least expensive and most authentic flavour, or use canned beans to save time.