Stacey's Stir

Do you ever get into a side-dish rut? Deciding on the main dish can be pretty simple – chicken, steak, pasta, fish.. but, when it comes to the sides I feel like my brain immediately goes to salad and then gets stuck. Here’s a list of a few side dishes that seem to be on constant rotation in our home lately and have been helping me get out of my rut.

Roasted Savory Sweet Potatoes

Growing up, sweet potatoes were not allowed in our house. My dad had a bad experience with them as a kid, and swore he would never eat them again. Other than a couple of bites of sweet potato souffle at my grandmother’s house on Thanksgiving, I really never ate sweet potatoes until I became an adult. And now I eat them at least two to three times a week. Maybe I’m making up for lost time, but I really can’t get enough of them! And believe it or not, even my dad eats (and enjoys) these “savory” sweet potatoes!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Brussel sprouts are one of my all time favorite sides. They taste incredible, are easy to prepare and are the perfect accompaniment to almost any entree. What more can one ask for? These typically end up on our table every 1-2 weeks, with and without the lemon yogurt sauce.

Broccoli Parmesan Fritters – Smitten Kitchen

This is my new favorite way to get a boat load of vegetables into our meal. They don’t look or even sound very healthy, but trust me, there is a ton of broccoli in these little pancakes! Be sure to steam or boil your broccoli until it’s soft enough to mash with a potato masher, or you can always throw it in the food processor for a couple of seconds to blitz it up into small pieces.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi – Trader Joe’s

It really doesn’t get easier than this, or much better. I like to always have a bag of these in our freezer for when I use all of my creative culinary energy on the main dish and need help with a quick side. For frozen food, the ingredients are pretty simple and the quality is shockingly good. They also happen to be #2 on Huffington Post’s list of “16 Trader Joe’s Foods You Need To Discover (And Then Hoard)“.

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What are your favorite quick and simple side dishes? Let me know in the comments below.

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Happy stirring!

xoxo, Stacey