Eat In. Green bean side dish.

For a simple healthy(ish) side sauteed green beans with minced onions and mushrooms is the best.

Boil or steam the green beans until they get a nice darker green color. Then remove from heat and strain. Meanwhile sautee the minced onions and mushrooms in butter and salt. Mix in the green beans. Nuts, probably walnuts or almonds, would work well in this dish, too.

As with most dishes, this side is best with more butter.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Cream cheese and soy sauce spread.

This is the dip you would find at any Chilean "fancy party." It's simple, tasty, and always goes fast. A brick of cream cheese, with soy sauce drizzled over it, and toasted sesame seeds sprinkled over the top.

At first I didn't think soy sauce and cream cheese would compliment each other very well, but this dish so tasty we've had to start regulating how often we can buy cream cheese at our home -- it's that good. One of the easier things to put out if guests come over, just serve this up with crackers or baguette slices.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Carrot/beet salad.

Beets are unequivocally a super food. They are good for your eyes, blood, they help with digestion, are full of vitamins and fiber, and are low in calories. The only problem is that most people hate them.

But shredding beets and mixing with equal parts of shredded carrots masks some of the nasty flavor that people don't like. I first found this delicious salad as a prepackaged salad from Dole at my supermarket, but that's far more expensive than buying carrots and beets and shredding them, and that's not too much work.

I just pour some flavored olive oil over the beet/carrot mix and add salt to taste. An amazing side dish.

-- Lauren Williams

Eat In. Zapallo casserole.

In Mexican and Central American Spanish the word for squash is calabaza, pero in Chile the word is zapallo.

Squash appears a lot in Chilean cuisine. There's zapallo-based breads, it's appears in stews and soups, and can be bought by the chunk at any farmer's market. Coming from Midwestern roots, I naturally tried to adapt this into a casserole, and what ensued was complete amazing deliciousness.

What you'll need:

3-4 chunks of squash, about as big as the palm of your hand, maybe a bit smaller

4 large cloves of garlic

1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped

1 green onion stalk, chopped into rings

1/2 cup water

salt and white pepper (a-mazing) to taste

What to do:

1. Saute the white onion and halved cloves of garlic in a pan.

2. Add green onion.

3. When the green onion has wilted a bit, add in the cubed squash.

4. Saute this for just a second, then add the water.

5. Cover with the lid of a pan to steam the squash. This will take a minute because squash is so tough. Periodically turn the liquid-y mix around, but don't lift the lid too much or the steam will escape.

6. When the squash is tender enough to pierce with a fork, squish it so that it has a mushy consistency. Mix well with the other ingredients.

I like to serve this over a bed of white rice. This is a really healthy, tasty, fast lunch or dinner. Totally cooking time is about 15 minutes (not including clean up).

-- Lauren Williams