There’s no doubt the turkey is the inevitable star of the Thanksgiving spread. But if you want to boost the health quotient of your holiday meal, let your vegetable side dishes share some of that spotlight.

This year, cut out at least one traditional high-calorie standby—buttery rolls, or those marshmallow-coated yams—and opt for a few of these simpler sides instead.

Sweet Boiled Beets
Use a pound or two of fresh beets. Wash and trim off stalks—the green, leafy bits at the top—but put them aside for later. Cut the beets themselves into quarters and peel off the rough outer skin. You can wear latex gloves if you want to avoid staining your hands. Place beets in a medium to large saucepan, and pour in a cup or two of orange juice, enough to cover the beets by at least an inch. If you can find blood orange juice—the regular orange’s crimson-colored sister—that’s even better, but regular Tropicana juice will do, too. Boil the beets in the juice for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on their size, or cook until they’re tender enough to be easily sliced with a fork. Drain from the juice and serve.
Bonus: Beet greens—the stalks you trim off the top—are edible, and delicious. Simply sauté them in oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until tender. That’s two dishes for the price of one.

Roasted Carrots with Cumin Seed
Take one or two pounds of full-sized carrots, peel them and slice into sticks. Spread the carrot sticks on a baking sheet and drizzle with two or three tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with two teaspoons of cumin seed, and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees until brown and tender; about 25 to 30 minutes.

Honey-Roasted Squash
Use as many acorn squash as you’re looking to serve. Each squash will be halved, and one squash will make two servings. With a sharp knife, slice each squash in half, lengthwise, from stem to stem. Use a spoon to scoop out the seedy, stringy gunk in the center, so that each half looks like a little bowl. Place pieces in a baking pan with the centers facing up (in other words, skin side down). With a knife, score the squash, making shallow slices along the surface of each piece. Sprinkle with salt, then add a small pat of butter to the center each half.

Drizzle squash pieces with honey. Before baking, add a cup of water to the pan for some moisture, then cover with foil, leaving a few gaps here and there so steam can escape. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour, or until squash is soft.

Spicy Green Beans with Garlic
Use one pound of fresh green beans, washed and with their edges trimmed.  Briefly cook the beans in a pot of boiling water, for no longer than three minutes—they’ll turn bright green, and should be slightly tender, but still crisp. Remove from boiling water and plunge beans into a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, heat two teaspoons of olive oil. Add the green beans, and stir for a minute or two. Add two cloves of chopped garlic and half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes (more if you like things spicy!) and cook for another few minutes, until beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper before serving.