Natural foods don't include ingredients such as refined sugars, refined flours, milled grains, hydrogenated oils, sweeteners, food colors, or flavorings. Try any of these side dishes for your next dinner -- or make a few for a meal in itself.

This spinach dish spiced with cloves, bay leaves, nutmeg, and peppercorns is deceptively rich -- its sauce is made creamy by skim milk and just a bit of half-and-half.

Steam the vitamin-rich sprouts until they are fork-tender, and use the best balsamic vinegar you have for tossing.

Lentils are enlivened by coriander, ginger, mint, and cilantro. Sweet beets add lots of minerals.

This quinoa salad can be made in advance and served at room temperature.

This is a quick and easy side (top image). Look for fennel bulbs with delicate green fronds still attached to the ends of the stalks. Most bulbs also have small wisps inside, near the core.

While many traditional coleslaws contain sugar, this one gets its subtle sweetness from honey, apple, and raisins. Cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and several cancers.

"Shocking" the cooked green beans in ice water prevents them from overcooking, preserving their bright-green color. The tamari almonds are delicious -- you may want to make extra for snacking.

Use only the best-quality olive oil on these baked potatoes.

There are dozens of kinds of miso, each with its own aroma and flavor. All are packed with protein.

This dish combines parsnips and cipollines. Also referred to as wild onions, fresh cipollines are the bittersweet bulbs of the grape hyacinth, and are available for a short time in the fall. If you can't find them, use some other sweet onion, such as Vidalias, cutting them into walnut-size pieces.

Seared fruits are simple, healthful accompaniments to roasted meats; use slightly overripe fruit.

Fennel tastes best thinly sliced. Serve it flat on a plate and topped with a savory mix of blood oranges and just a few oil-cured olives, roughly chopped to give the illusion of volume.

Use the tiniest whole red potatoes you can find for this potato dish, but if they aren't available, simply quarter the larger ones.

This side dish gets its splendid rose hue from autumn red apples.

Rhubarb chard, named for its brilliant red ribs, is delicious sauteed in a little olive oil and served on the side, but if you like, toss the sauteed greens into the pasta.