Sides

By CCA Member Mary Pieper; Quincy, Illinois

These thinly cut potatoes fan open as they bake.

Cornbread and bacon give this moist, fluffy dressing its fabulous sweet-and-smoky flavor.

Cooking the beans and other ingredients in bacon drippings imbues them with rich, smoky flavor.

These baked potato pancakes are the stuff of calorie counters’ dreams—crisp, rich and made with only a fraction of the oil usually required to fry latkes. Muffin tins help keep the latkes uniform, and cooking spray makes the tops extra crunchy.

“My family and I belong to a community supported agriculture farm, and we’re treated to baby beets from time to time,” says life member Stephanie Soós. “While we use the beet greens for salads, we were unsure how to use the baby beets themselves.” Remembering a tip about roasting beets like potatoes, Stephanie experimented and came up with this robustly flavored recipe. “The beets end up tender and tangy,” she says, “while the onions turn a beautiful purple.” Serve it with grilled steak.

This hearty side dish tastes like beer cheese soup.

Bell peppers take on a surprising sweetness when pan-seared over high heat. They pair well with the spicy hint of roasted and ground red chiles.

Baby squash are lightly simmerd in butter and wine and sprinkled with fresh herbs.

The addition of chopped herbs turns a simple carrot side dish into a fresh-tasting accompaniment for turkey.