Easy Winter Vegetable Recipes Created In One Delicious Platter

If you can open an oven door, you can master these veggie dishes.

Don't be fooled by the copious amounts of fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits on the table. Southerners love their vegetable recipes, too— especially the winter ones. If perfectly prepared, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, and curly kale can be just as satisfying as Mama's homemade banana pudding. Not convinced? Give these four easy and delicious recipes a try and serve them together on one platter for a winter vegetable extravaganza.

Winter Vegetable Plate
Southern Living
01 of 04

Melting Sweet Potatoes

Melting Sweet Potatoes
Atonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Recipe: Melting Sweet Potatoes

Sweet and savory all at once, these Melting Sweet Potatoes put traditional sweet potato casserole to shame. Be sure to use a rimmed baking sheet, so the vegetables soak up the chicken stock while baking. This simple step creates a recipe so tender and rich you're sure to make it again and again. Top it with a homemade buttery maple-walnut sauce for a final, decadent touch. Pro tip: Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave so you can toss the sweet potatoes right in to avoid getting another dish dirty.

02 of 04

Balsamic Green Beans with Pearl Onions

Balsamic Green Beans with Pearl Onions Recipe
Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller; Food Styling: William Smith

Recipe: Balsamic Green Beans with Pearl Onions

Crispy and tender green beans come together with pearl onions beautifully caramelized with garlic, butter, and balsamic vinegar to form one showstopping vegetable dish. The key to this recipe is blanching the green beans before sautéing them. (Blanching means boiling veggies and then plunging them in an ice bath.) This method of cooking creates bright and crispy, restaurant-style green beans. To achieve a perfectly golden-brown crust, completely dry the pearl onions with a paper towel before caramelizing.

03 of 04

Sautéed Mustard Greens with Garlic and Lemon

Sautéed Mustard Greens with Garlic and Lemon
Laurey W. Glenn

Recipe: Sautéed Mustard Greens with Garlic and Lemon

Stop stewing winter greens! Mustard greens, collard greens, and even turnip greens deserve better. Instead, try wilting them, mixing them in a salad, or stir-frying them. Better yet, take a crack at this recipe for Sautéed Mustard Greens with Garlic and Lemon. The combination of garlic, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper makes the dish addictively scrumptious.

04 of 04

Chopped Kale Salad with Toasted Breadcrumbs

Chopped Kale Salad with Toasted Breadcrumbs
Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Recipe: Chopped Kale Salad with Toasted Breadcrumbs

Even though this recipe is a healthier version of classic Caesar salad, we won't judge you for adding extra breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. The tangy, Greek yogurt-based dressing flawlessly coats the curly kale's nooks and crannies, and the addition of Worcestershire sauce truly takes this recipe to a new level of flavor.

These winter vegetable recipes make an excellent side dish for a protein-based Southern classic, but we think they've earned the right to sit on your dinner table as the shining main star. Whether you're craving kale, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, or green beans, these tried-and-true recipes will not disappoint.

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