You’ve refreshed your repertoire of easy weeknight meals and are pretty much set with the main course. Now what about the side dishes? You know, the ones where you have the best shot at getting your family to actually eat their veggies? If you’re anything like us, we’re guessing your rotation of boiled broccoli, bagged salad and steamed green beans is in need of some shaking up.
Keepers: Two Home Cooks Share Their Tried-and-True Weeknight Recipes and the Secrets to Happiness in the Kitchen, a new cookbook by Caroline Campion and Kathy Brennan, has given us so many simple-but-delicious ideas that we’ve been incorporating into our weeknight menus—like this seasonally perfect sautéed sugar snaps with radishes dish.
“This is an almost absurdly simple but reliably rewarding way to dress up sugar snaps,” say Caroline and Kathy in their book. “Be generous with the heat and salt from the start and stingy with the cooking time and you’ll end up with a bright, full-flavored side dish with a nice crunch. If you don’t like mint or don’t have any on hand, fresh tarragon and dill are both good substitutes; however, this is an instance where dried herbs wouldn’t add anything. You can also skip halving the sugar snaps, if you like.”
So if you’re loving the idea of whipping up a tasty and healthy side dish in minutes, then you’ll definitely be making this one… a keeper.
Sauteéd Sugar Snap Peas With Radishes and Mint
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 pound sugar snap peas, halved crosswise on the diagonal
10 radishes, each cut into six wedges
Salt and pepper
Handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
In a large skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the sugar snaps and radishes, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until just crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the mint, then check the seasonings and serve.
Yes, vegetable side dishes can be the most exciting part of the meal!