Gluten-Free Side Dishes

There's nothing boring about these dishes. From savory barbecued cabbage to sweet baked apples, you're sure to find at least a few gluten-free sides to add to your repertoire.

We'll start you off with Aromatic Slow-Roasted Tomatoes.

Slow roasting is one of the best uses for tomatoes because it intensifies their sweetness.

It's worth buying a food mill (we like OXO's) to make creamy mashed potatoes. Run the cooked potatoes through before combining with other ingredients.

Serve as a side salad, starter, or snack. But, no matter how you dish it up, this recipe will prove to be a refreshing and delicious treat.

If you have high-quality balsamic vinegar, use it to finish this dish. Serve with shrimp or fish.

*Remember to check for gluten in chicken broth.

A traditional dish in Valencia, baked rice is delicious with pork or chicken. Tip: Remember to check for gluten in chicken broth.

This richly flavored whole head of cabbage cooks slowly over moderate heat while covered. This preparation is a showpiece.

*Remember to check for gluten in turkey Italian sausage and barbecue sauce.

It's easier than you think to pickle your own okra, and pickling is a great way to make use of an abundant garden harvest. Serve these crunchy pods as a side dish or part of a relish tray.

This warm and savory recipe is sure to please. It is packed with delicious, satisfying flavors.

The success of this dish depends on slicing or shaving the mushrooms, celery, and cheese as thinly as possible so that each bite will provide some flavor from all the ingredients.

Peanuts are integral to West African cooking. The nutty, spicy flavors in the filling complement the sweet potato. Serve with grilled chicken and Broccolini.

Balsamic Roasted Asparagus is a supereasy side dish that helps round out most any meal.

"I like to grill fish and am always looking for interesting side dishes to serve with it," said reader Victoria Johnson. "This is also good with pork chops. It can be served warm or at room temperature."

*Remember to check for gluten in soy sauce.

Borrowing from the classic dessert crème brûlée, this dish has a hard candy topping, a crisp contrast to the creamy sweet potatoes.

Long, often flat, large green beans are sold in most grocery stores as "pole beans." Because they are tougher and more fibrous than regular green beans, cooking pole bean takes longer than common green beans. Serve this basic side dish with anything you'd normally have with green beans.

*Remember to check for gluten in chicken broth.

Perk up sliced carrots with the addition of white balsamic vinegar, cilantro, and oregano. Not only is this bright side dish great for picnics and cookouts, it's also a great source of vitamin A.

"Maduros," or sautéed sweet plantains, are a common side in the Caribbean and parts of Latin America. They can also be served as a dessert.

This casserole-style dish is full of flavor from the tender butternut squash and combination of herbs and cheese. Tip: Remember to check for gluten in chicken broth.

Use the fragrant cheese stuffing with any mild vegetable, such as bell peppers, mushroom caps, baby eggplant, or tomatoes. Save the scooped-out zucchini pulp for risotto or pasta sauce. You can use a mini chopper to chop the herbs quickly, but do not use it to combine the mousse ingredients, as it will liquefy the ricotta.

This recipe calls for what might appear to be a lot of kale, but it wilts to a manageable amount in the pan. The dish is a suitable side for roast chicken or pork. Also, consider using kale as a stand-in for spinach in other dishes. This low-calorie side dish has about 15 percent of the minimum daily recommended amount of fiber.

"I simply love the taste of this unique little vegetable," said reader Nikki LoRé. "The recipe has a bit of lemony tang, and I opt for a Vidalia onion to complement that flavor. The easy preparation ensures that the dish comes out the same every time you make it."

*Remember to check for gluten in chicken broth.

This recipe uses a 2-step, foolproof cooking method, that also works well with long-grain white rice and jasmine rice. Tip: Remember to check for gluten in chicken broth.

Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce add smoky-hot depth to these easy-to-make baked beans.

*Remember to check for gluten in chipotle chiles and barbecue sauce.

This recipe, full of North African flavors, is good served as part of a mixed hors d'oeuvre such as tapas or over basmati rice to catch all the sauce. Roasting the tomatoes yields a deeper, richer, slightly sweeter flavor than you'd get by cooking them on the stovetop the entire time.

*Remember to check for gluten in vegetable broth.