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A Trillion Ways to Dress Up Your Caulipots—or Maybe Just Six

Chipotle Caulipots: Remove the seeds from four canned chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. Finely mince and mix them into the Caulipots, along with 1 tablespoon of adobe sauce, or more to taste.

Garlic-Herb Caulipots: Mince four garlic cloves and saute in the olive oil, along with 2 teaspoons of dried thyme and 1 teaspoon of dried marjoram. Mix into the mashed Caulipots.

Lemon-Dill Caulipots: Mix in 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of Microplaned lemon zest along with ¼ cup of finely chopped fresh dill.

Cheezy ’Pots: Add 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast to the Caulipots.

Garden-Variety Caulipots: Saute ¼ cup of chopped fresh chives and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley in the oil. Mix into the Caulipots. This is also fab with a hit of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Broccopots: Replace the cauliflower with broccoli.

Silky Chickpea Gravy

SERVES 8 • ACTIVE TIME: 20 MINUTES · TOTALTIME: 30 MINUTES

(CAN BE MADE GLUTEN FREE IF USING GF TAMARI IN PLACE OF SOY SAUCE)

PER SERVING

(⅛ RECIPE):

Calories: 70

Calories from fat: 15

Total fat: 1.5 g

Saturated fat: 0 g

Trans fat: 0 g

Fiber: 2 g

Protein: 3 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 400 mg

Vitamin A: 0%

Vitamin C: 4%

Calcium: 2%

Iron: 6%

Gravy isn’t exactly a “side,” but what mashed potato recipe is complete without a gravy recipe? I really like to drown my food in gravy, so this tasty sauce comes in handy when I don’t also want to drown my food in grease. Chickpeas give this gravy great body and a full, savory flavor. It’s really a superhero that comes running when it hears the calls of potatoes from miles away, crying out for gravy.

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped roughly

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage (not powdered)

Several pinches of freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1¼ cups vegetable broth

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (use wheat free for

a gluten-free gravy)

Salt

Preheat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes. Add the thyme, sage, and pepper, and cook for about 3 minutes more. While that is cooking, whisk the arrowroot into the veggie broth until dissolved.

If you have an immersion blender then add the beans, broth mixture, and soy sauce to the pot. Blend until smooth and lower the heat to medium, stirring often for about 10 minutes while it thickens.

If you are using a regular blender, place the broth mixture and beans in the blender and blend until smooth. Add the onions and other stuff from the pan to the blender and puree again until smooth. Add back to the pot and stir often over medium heat to thicken.

Once the gravy thickens, lower the heat to low. Now you can decide exactly how thick you want the gravy by adding splashes of water, anywhere between ¼ and ½ cup. Keep warm and covered until ready to serve.

Mashed Yuca with Cilantro & Lime

SERVES 6 • ACTIVE TIME: 10 MINUTES • TOTAL TIME: 40 MINUTES

PER SERVING

(⅙ RECIPE):

Calories: 200

Calories from fat: 15

Total fat: 1.5 g

Saturated fat: 0 g

Trans fat: 0 g

Total carb: 45 g

Fiber: 2 g

Sugars: 0 g

Protein: 2 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 210 mg

Vitamin A: 0%

Vitamin C: 50%

Calcium: 8%

Iron: 20%

I’m trying to think of ways to describe yuca in case you’ve never had it. What comes to mind is nutty, earthy, bitter, starchy . . . but that doesn’t do this tropical root vegetable justice. Comparable to a potato when mashed, its flavor is more, as the French say, “I don’t know what.”

Because of how starchy yuca is, it’s often mashed with a lot of oil. Instead, to get it creamy here, you’ll reserve some of the boiling liquid and stream it back in as you mash. The yuca becomes creamy and ready to take on the sauce of whatever you’re serving it with. Try something a little sweet, like