Healthy alternative sides, excluding vegetables?

Hi, I'm new here and just starting my diet.

Being raised in a Cuban household, I'm accustomed to lots and LOTS of rice. I'm looking for a healthy alternative side dish. Brown rice would be the obvious answer, but really, how much healthier is brown rice than normal white rice? (And anyone have any good recipes?)

I've also tried eating veggies as a side dish, I can't stand most vegetables. Thing is, I vomit at the very sight of lettuce. (Well, no, that's an exaggeration, but I gag and can't swallow it.) Romaine lettuce is slightly easier for me to eat, but other than that I stick to cabbage (that I eat with vinegar and a tiny bit of olive oil), carrots, corn, and sometimes broccoli and celery.

So there it is-- any suggestions?

what about a plain baked potato or sweet potato? they actually have lots of nutrients in them.

Whole grain rice is healthier than polished rice.  For me, that usually means brown rice or jasmine rice.  Have you tried dicing peppers into tiny little pieces and mixing some in with your rice?  Start with one veggie that you like and just tuck a tiny amount into the serving of rice.  How about grilled squash?  Lettuce and carrots are not the only vegetable.  You could also try dicing fruit into your rice if you prefer fruit, both have many of the same nutrients although fruit typically has more sugar.

I like broccoli and rice or broccoli and peas.  I prefer to buy my veggies frozen so I don't have to do the prep work and then just steam them in a wok with a bit of sesame seed oil.

Try more veggies and different ways to cook them until you find something you like ... bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, roasted eggplant ... yum! It's all about learning how to cook them to your taste.

How about fruit?? Sometimes for lunch or dinner I eat a chicken breast with apple slices and light laughing cow cheese. Applesauce is also a good side sometimes. I buy the big jar of unsweetened applesauce and 1 cup provides a nice serving and its only 100 cals. Plus its just apple and water. Add some cinnamon...yummy. You could subsitute your rice for another carb like a whole grain tortilla. Make some type of chicken wrap.

Original Post by smwhipple:

Whole grain rice is healthier than polished rice.  For me, that usually means brown rice or jasmine rice.  

is jasmine rice whole grain by itself? I thought it needs to be brown- basmati or jasmine.

I second Jenny8484, I LOVE a sweet potato as a side with my dinner -- a little sweet, a little savory and very filling (and approximately 100 cals).

A recipe that I use a lot (and my husband, who is not on a diet, loves) is actually a weight watchers recipe. It uses some veggies, but ones that you have listed as okay: 1/2 Cup Diced Red Onions, 1 Can Yellow Corn (drained and rinsed), 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed), 1/2 cup fresh cilantro/coriander, 2 tbsp lime juice, and 2 tsp ground cumin. Mix well. 1/2 cup=1 serving.

I have tried some variations (pinto beans -- my husband's preference), kidney beans, making double portions and doing one part black beans and one part kidney beans. I also never use the cilantro/coriander (just not my taste).

Hope this helps!

There's a brown jasmine.  Also wild rices tend to be less processed.

As long as we are talking brown rice, I have to share an Alton Brown recipe for Baked Brown Rice, and its simply the BEST and EASIEST and TASTIEST brown rice. 

1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.

I love veggies, steamed crisp or roasted, or stir fried.  Try a variety of cooking recipes.  One of my most recent favs is sugar snap peas quickly stir fried with some oil, then salted. 

• WHAT ABOUT THOSE V-8 JUICES THAT ARE FRUIT AND VEGGIE COMBOS?
• AND ANY SUGGESTIONS ABOUT POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES WITHOUT BUTTER?  I CANT EAT THEM PLAIN!

Original Post by stxenia:

 AND ANY SUGGESTIONS ABOUT POTATOES AND SWEET POTATOES WITHOUT BUTTER?  I CANT EAT THEM PLAIN!

 I've noticed in a lot of cases when I used to use butter, what I really was wanting was the salt in the butter.  Not any better sodium wise, but definitely better calorie-wise.

As far as oh-ho's post, have you tried breaking cooked cauliflower into small (rice-sized) pieces and mixing it into your rice?  Cauliflower has a pretty mild flavor.  I would start with a 1 to 3 ratio to begin with.   Also, as someone else suggested, cutting up small pieces of any vegetable to mix with the rice would be a start.

Lots of people seem to have problems with the textures of vegetables, not necessarily the flavor, so you just need to figure out WHY you don't like most vegetables, and see what you can do to overcome it.  If you don't like the texture, change it.  You can cook and puree vegetables to mix in with sauces.  If you don't like the taste, cover it up with better flavors, or pick mild flavored vegetables.

you could put salsa on your baked potato

Although I would usually call myself a "purist," and eat the "real thing" rather than substitutes, last night on my baked potato I used some "spray butter" and salt, and found myself rather happy with that - and salt.  I ate the skin, too - with about 1 tsp. low fat sour cream on it, spread real thin.  It was still good!