Sometimes the toughest part of planning a meal—weekday or special occasion—can be selecting side dishes as fabulous as the main course. Even farmer’s market regulars who know that there’s a world of exotic vegetables out there, can find it difficult to break out of the mashed potatoes and salad rut. There’s nothing wrong with having favorite regulars, but if you’re trying to incorporate more vegetables into your diet—something nearly everyone can strive for—it’s critical to have an arsenal of fantastic veggie sides that will really make the meal.

Salad

Switching roles from side to main course to appetizer, salads are the true all-around players on the veggie team. It’s great to have a mix of raw and cooked vegetables in your diet and crunchy salads are often a tempting way to get even non-veggie lovers to eat their greens. Try a new type of vinegar or oil to liven up your basic greens or add fruit, nuts, fresh herbs, greens, cheese, or other vegetables for flavor and texture.

Recipes to try:

• Greek Salad
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• Tabouleh
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Steamed

The most nutrient-friendly way to prepare foods, steaming preserves vitamins, color, and texture. If you don’t have a bamboo or metal steamer, just put a plate over a ramekin in your pot to elevate the food. Steamed bok choy or snow peas with a dash of soy, rice vinegar, and toasted sesame oil will have an Asian flair. Or lightly steam broccoli or greens and add them to a saute pan with olive oil, garlic, and crushed red chilies – a squirt of lemon juice and you’ve got a great side for any Mediterranean meal.

Recipe to try:

• Steamed Asparagus with Lemon Butter
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Braised

Slow cooking in a covered pot with a little liquid brings out flavors in heartier vegetables such as cabbage, fennel, or leeks. You can be creative with your braising liquid—mixing stock or wine with herbs and spices gives you layers of flavors that mellow and combine as your dish slow cooks.

Recipes to try:

• Braised Red Cabbage with Apples
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• Braised fennel
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Grilled

Quick and delicious, grilled vegetables are easy to make inside if you’ve got a cast-iron grill pan. If you don’t, you’ll get much the same effect by putting them under the broiler and turning them occasionally. Try eggplant, peppers, zucchini, onions, fennel, or mushrooms marinated with a bit of olive oil, garlic, and herbs.

Recipe to try:

• Grilled vegetable salad
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Sauteed

The saute (or its cousin the stir-fry) is a speedy way to add flavor and color to vegetables in one pan. Try a mix of colorful vegetables or mushrooms with butter and thyme for classic sauteed sides.

Recipe to try:

• Sauteed Broccoli Rabe
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Mashed/Pureed

A quick boil or steam, the whiz of the food processor (or a little muscle), and you’ve got a puree or mashed side dish. There’s no reason to just stick with potatoes when you can mash sweet potatoes, make classic English "mushy peas", or offer guests a very fancy-sounding pureed celeriac with nutmeg, butter, and salt. Carb-watchers should try cauliflower mash!

Recipe to try:

• Mashed Sweet Potatoes
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Baked/Roasted

You can bake or roast nearly any veggie. Roasting generally calls for a 400? degree oven to generate enough heat to get those caramelized sides while baking is done at a more moderate 350?. Try throwing in fresh herbs and whole garlic cloves (you don’t even have to remove the peel) for extra flavor. You can also "pan-roast" asparagus, Brussels sprouts, or even corn kernels by slowly cooking them in a saute pan over medium-high heat until you get the same caramelized flavor and color you would in the oven.

Recipes to try:

• Baked Butternut Squash
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• Early Autumn Roasted Vegetables with Couscous
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Boiled

We no longer have to eat bland boiled vegetables that have had all their water-soluble vitamins stripped from them, but there are a few cases where boiling is either quicker (think corn on the cob) or really the only way to get the result you’re after (think edamame).

Recipe to try:

• Spiced Edamame
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