This make-ahead salad combines indigenous North American wild rice with the colors of fall. Not only will it save you prep time on Thanksgiving Day, it will add a vegan element to your menu that everyone can enjoy. Prepare the vinaigrette while the rice is cooking. Combine the rice with half the vinaigrette up to a day ahead; prep and refrigerate the remaining ingredients separately and toss them with the rice and remaining vinaigrette up to an hour before serving.
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Rainbow chard’s vibrant orange, red and magenta stems are too pretty to toss into the compost. They have a crunchy texture similar to celery and add a colorful confetti-like cheer to this speedy saute. Serve as a side dish with, well, just about anything (it’s especially tasty with our Spiced Pork Roast) or toss with hot pasta and goat cheese for meatless entree.
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This succotash recipe is a perfect example of how much bang for your buck you can get with just a little bit of butter. In this case, it draws out the rich, velvety flavors in the corn and summer squash for a luscious, easy side dish.
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I learned about Mississippi caviar, in which black-eyed peas stand in for fish roe, when I lived in the South. Sometimes it’s called Texas caviar, but I’ll leave it to those states to duke it out for naming rights. This zesty, summery side dish comes together in a flash when you use steamed, ready-to-eat blacked-eyed peas, and I’ve added precooked brown rice to introduce a little whole grain to the mix. You can use other beans or legumes, or even canned beans, in place of the peas. Mississippi caviar works as a light supper or as a side dish with grilled fare. Leftovers are even tastier, since the flavors continue to develop with time.
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These fennel wedges are the ultimate crossover food. Served warm, they’d be be lovely side dish on a cold night with Simplest Roast Chicken or Spiced Pork Roast. Served cool, they’re terrific finger food appetizer for a picnic. This recipe is based on one from the Gotham Cookbook, by Alfred Portale. I’ve always loved how the braising in this dish makes the fennel silky and tender, while the finishing sear gives it savory caramelization; a luscious juxtaposition.
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You may know–and love–radishes in their raw state. But they’re lovely in this delicious side dish, too. Butter adds a bit of richness to this otherwise simple dish. Browning the butter takes it a step further to add a nutty note, enlivened on the other end by the mint.
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This salad, which I learned from Mama Kourtesi in Greece, is the essence of “whole eating.” She boils both beets and their greens and tosses it all in a simple dressing of oil and vinegar for a surprisingly tasty, super-versatile salad or side dish.
1-1/2 pounds baby beets with greens attached
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Trim the leaves from the beets a half-inch from the base of the stem. Wash, dry and chop the leaves.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add beet roots, lower heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, and cook for 20-35 minutes (depending on size), until the tip of a sharp knife can penetrate to the beet’s center without resistance. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beets to a bowl and let cool until manageable. Peel and cut into 1/2-inch wedges.
Bring water back up to a boil and add beet greens. Boil for 5 minutes, until greens are wilted and stems are tender. Drain well.
Mix together beets and greens in a large salad bowl ,and toss with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 4
This lentil recipe is the little black dress of dinner. Toss a cup or two with a frisee salad. Serve it as a side with duck confit, or roasted or grilled salmon Or top a bowl with some honey-ginger carrots to make them the star of the show. Leftovers make a fab lunch, gently warmed and sprinkled with a little crumbled goat cheese or feta.
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There’s much to crave on the Thanksgiving table–and a glorious bird like the Miso and Herb Rubbed Applewood Smoked Heritage Turkey would certainly be something to be thankful for. A lot of work goes into cooking a stellar bird, but I have a confession: I only have eyes for the side dishes.
Yep, it’s true. I’d be happy to skip the turkey altogether, though propriety obliges me to sample at least a little, especially if I’m dining at someone else’s house. Instead, I’d load my plate with mashed potatoes, dressing, biscuits, green beans, gravy, and cranberry sauce. And supreme among side dishes is the sweet potato dish. It’s the Judi Dench of supporting players, so good it outshines the star and takes home an Oscar for, oh, five minutes of screen time.
Of course, sweet potatoes labor under an identity crisis. Mistakenly labeled “yams,” they are neither a yam nor a potato. In fact, sweet potatoes aren’t even botanically related to yams; the misnomer has lingered ever since soft varieties, which resemble the yams predominately found in Africa, were first introduced to the market decades ago. But they are sweet, which can confuse people in the kitchen. Sweet potatoes often are laden with butter and brown sugar, and topped with marshmallows in the classic casserole that many find too much like dessert. (Not me–I love the stuff–pass it all down my way, please.)
Despite their sweetness, these tubers play nicely with savory ingredients, as evidenced in this bread pudding recipe. The sweet potatoes themselves have impressive nutritional credentials–they’re low in calories yet high in fiber and vitamins A and C–and we boost the health factor even higher by using multigrain bread and sauteed kale. The indulgence comes from whole milk and egg yolks, which give the custard a luscious quality, and a touch of full-flavored Cheddar cheese. But baking the bread pudding in a muffin tin offers built-in portion control. A half-cup serving (one bread pudding “muffin”), which is plenty on the crowded holiday plate, comes in at just 134 calories and less than 2 grams of saturated fat per serving.
All of that makes me feel just fine about helping myself to seconds.
A longtime editor, writer, and recipe developer, Alison Ashton is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. She has worked as a features editor for a national wire service and as senior food editor for a top food magazine. Her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, and Natural Health.
You can bake these savory little sweet potato bread pudding muffins a few days before Thanksgiving; cool and refrigerate. Reheat them in a low oven while the turkey rests. You also can cook this in a 2-quart baking dish instead of a muffin pan, if you prefer.
1 pound sweet potatoes
2 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (8-ounce) day-old multigrain baguette, cubed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (8-ounce) bunch kale, trimmed and chopped
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
Nonstick cooking spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork. Place sweet potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast 30 minutes or until tender. Let stand until cool enough to handle.
While sweet potatoes roast, bring milk to a boil. Combine egg yolks, whole eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add half of hot milk to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Whisk in remaining hot milk into egg mixture.
Cut roasted sweet potatoes in half, and scoop flesh into a food processor or blender. Add 1/2 cup milk mixture and process until pureed. Whisk pureed sweet potato mixture into milk mixture in bowl. Stir in cubed bread. Set aside, stirring occasionally.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add oil. Add onion and another pinch of salt; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in kale and water. Cover and cook 3 minutes or until kale is tender. Stir kale mixture into bread mixture. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Divide evenly among 16 (1/2-cup) muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until pudding is puffy, set, and lightly browned. Serve warm.
Serves 16
