Side Dishes
Baked Butternut Squash with Speculaas Spices & Dried Chili
Oven roasting brings out the sweetness of winter vegetables, and this baked butternut squash recipe is no exception. We've enriched the dish with seasonal spices and dried chili flakes for our holiday table, but you could easily play around with this recipe to suit your tastes and the time of year.
Cinnamon Glazed Carrots
Every country seems to have its own version of sweet glazed carrots. The Dutch enjoy theirs with butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. I've added a touch of lemon to give it a bit of zesty zing. These carrots are fantastic with lamb chops.
Coleslaw (Koolsla)
Coleslaw is a typical barbeque standby and fantastic served with steaks, burgers or hot dogs. Kids love it, so it's a great way to get them to eat their veggies. This nutritious salad is nothing like the gloopy stuff many people think of at the mention of the word 'coleslaw'.
Health(ier) Thick-Cut Fries
Who says fries have to be bad for you? My recipe cuts down on the grease factor and ups the nutrients. No mess, no fuss and all the taste.
Apple & Cranberry Sauce Recipe (Appelmoes met Veenbessen)
Cranberries add a refreshingly sour note to this nursery favorite. It goes particularly well with roast birds such as chicken, guinea fowl,or turkey and makes a nice match for roast pork, too.
Dutch Apple Sauce
The Dutch eat apple sauce (or appelmoes as they call it) as a condiment with their main meal. Children love it and it's very much part of the everyday family meal here in Holland. My apple sauce is so easy to make, I guarantee that the hardest thing about it is peeling the apples!
Indo-Dutch Gado Gado Recipe
Thanks to Holland's colonial past in Indonesia, Gado gado is a favorite in many Dutch homes today thanks to the Netherlands' colonial history in the former Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia).
My Roasted Root Vegetables Recipe
Every cook should have a recipe for baked vegetables in his or her repertoire. Not only because they're so ridiculously easy to make - you don't even have to peel the veg and the oven does all the work for you - but because they're so satisfying to eat. This is my winter version, using those root vegetables that take so well to our local soil;...
Green Beans With Almonds
A tasty side dish, this combination of green beans and almonds works perfectly.
Nasi Goreng (Dutch-Indonesian Fried Rice)
Thanks to Holland's colonial past in Indonesia, nasi goreng is a staple in every Dutch family home today. It's a classic fridge-raid recipe, using up leftover rice, vegetables, bacon and eggs to make a filling meal that'll please the whole family. Turning your leftovers into another meal isn't only a tasty way to save money, but will help to...
Pointed Cabbage with Leeks & Bacon
This vegetable side dish recipe features cabbage, leeks, onions and parsley. A classic combination that dates back to recipes from the Middle Ages. I've added bacon for added flavor and texture.
Pickled Herring Salad with Sour Apples & Potatoes
Tangy Granny Smith apples, spicy horseradish and creamy potatoes offer the perfect background for the fresh-sour flavor of pickled herring from Holland in this yummy salad recipe.
What To Do with Cauliflower
I've borrowed these ideas for using cauliflower from 'Smaakvrienden', Angelique Schmeink's guide to culinary inspiration, filled with ideas, tips, pairings and recipes for some 80 vegetables.
Raw Curly Endive Stamppot Recipe (Stamppot Rauwe Andijvie)
This old-fashioned Dutch winter dish with curly endive, potatoes and bacon may be the very definition of comfort food in cold weather, but it's actually quite good for you, too. Potatoes are packed with potassium and vitamin C, while curly endive is rich in folate, fiber and vitamins A and K.
Sauteed Curly Kale
This healthy side dish features iron-rich curly kale (a very traditional Dutch ingredient) in a new guise -- sauteed with onions, garlic, chilli and onions.
What To Do with Witlof
These ideas for using witlof come courtesy of 'Smaakvrienden', a guide to culinary inspiration, filled with ideas, tips, pairings and recipes for some 80 vegetables.
Steamed Cauliflower with Pastrami, Goat's Cheese & Arugula
This grown-up take on cauliflower cheese by Dutch masterchef Angelique Schmeinck features pastrami, arugula and goat's cheese for all the comfort of the nursery classic with none of the usual blandness.
White Winter Vegetable Mash (Stamppotje van Witte Wintergroente)
Why do we rely on potato so much when there are also veggies like celeriac, parsnips, parsley root and jerusalem artichokes out there in the colder months? If you're growing a bit tired of boring old mashed potato, this alternative winter vegetable puree offers the same pale colour and texture, but with a real depth of flavor. Plus the...
Telor Besengek Recipe (Eggs in Coconut Sauce)
I was intrigued by this recipe from Boekoe Kita, because I couldn't quite imagine eggs and coconut working together, but I assure you, it does so dreamily. The tender yellow yolks of the boiled eggs melt together with the creamy coconut sauce, and when combined with fluffy, white rice, this is the ultimate in comfort food. What's more, this dish is wonderfully economical and is sure to please vegetarian guests.
White Roasted Eggplant Recipe
Simple roasted eggplants (aubergines) complete the trio of Turkish mezze from Bismilla Arabia Cookbook. Its soft mellow tones allow the more pungent flavors of its siblings to shine.
Zuurkoolstamppot met Spek (Sauerkraut & Potato Mash with Bacon)
This old-fashioned hotchpotch with sauerkraut, potatoes and bacon is wintry and warming. Due to its high vitamin C content, sauerkraut has long been viewed as a vital source of vitamin C during cold Dutch winters. Nowadays, however, we eat 'zuurkoolstamppot' because we crave its sweet-sour-salty flavor.
Poached Pears in Red Wine
Fragrant pears poached in red wine make for a rather different side dish. It's an interesting addition to anyone's dinner repertoire, and marries really well with game meats and venison, but also with pork and any steak.
Thousand-Tomato Salad with Homemade Ricotta & Basil Oil Recipe
With its mixed heirloom tomatoes, homemade ricotta (made with goat's milk and coriander seeds) and fragrant basil oil, this fresh tomato salad couldn't be more perfect for summer.
Witlof salad with blue cheese, grapes and hazelnuts
This salad provides plenty of contrast and balance, thanks to crunchy, crisp witlof (Belgian endive), which counters the richness of the savory blue cheese and crunchy hazelnuts. The grapes add a juicy sweetness that tie together the other ingredients and temper the bitter notes of the witlof. This salad works really well as a side dish with...
Turkish Kisir Recipe
This Turkish take on taboulleh (cracked wheat salad) is tangier than the regular version, courtesy of pomegranate molasses and Turkish red paprika purée, which also lend it a scarlet hue. It is usually served as a side or salad, but leftovers make a fantastic packed lunch as there are no wilty leaves.
Warm Sautéed Mushrooms with Crusty Bread
Field mushrooms pan-seared with onion, ginger, nutmeg and ground coriander and teamed with fresh, crusty bread, make for a fine fall lunch dish.