These three healthy side dish recipes are great for any large family gathering.
Often big family meals focus on the meat, but that doesn’t mean your sides should be any less delicious or beautiful! There may be loved ones who don’t eat meat – but you don’t need to worry about creating another big dish as these sides will satisfy!
Rainbow Carrot Salad
Over 10 people for lunch? Simply double the quantities.
500g rainbow carrots – all colours, sliced into ribbons with a peeler
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
¼ cup chopped walnuts
Handful fresh coriander
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)
For the dressing:
1 tsp mustard
2 tsp honey or 1 tsp agave nectar
Juice and zest of one orange
3 tbsp olive oil
1/ Assemble carrots on a large platter.
2/ Scatter over the nuts and coriander.
3/ Mix dressing ingredients together, drizzle over salad and toss to make sure the carrots are coated. Season with salt and ground black pepper as desired.
Edamame and Crumbled Tofu Green Salad
If you can’t get your hands on edamame beans, use white butter beans as a replacement.
Cooked edamame beans (steamed or blanched)
Olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Juice and zest of one lemon
200g baby butter lettuce
10-12 mint leaves, sliced or torn
100g firm tofu, crumbled
Salt and pepper
- Rinse the beans. Toss the edamame (or butter beans) in olive oil in a pan over medium heat, adding a squeeze of lemon juice. Set aside to cool while you prep the salad.
- Plate the baby butter lettuce on a large platter. Add the beans and toss together.
- Crumble the tofu over the salad, then garnish with the mint and lemon zest.
- Drizzle olive oil over the top with an extra squeeze of lemon.
Roast Veg Filo Pastry Tray
This recipe will take your regular roast veg to a new level!
1.5 – 2kg roast veg mix, roasted according to package instructions.
Filo pastry sheets
Olive oil
100g feta cheese (or tofu, as per above)
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- Spray a large baking tray with a non-stick or layer a sheet of baking paper at the bottom.
- Spray 1 filo sheet with a little olive oil spray (you can find this at big supermarkets). Top with another filo sheet and spray with olive oil spray. Repeat with a third filo sheet and olive oil spray. Then layer your vegetables on top of the pastry, leaving some pastry sticking out the edges. Add a final spritz of olive oil. Depending on how many vegetables you use, you may create two trays worth of pastry sheets (simply repeat the process for a second tray).
- Bake for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the tray(s) from the oven, scratter feta (or tofu) over and serve out the tray or transfer to a large platter.