Different Side Dishes for T'giving?

[ImJustWingingIt]

Whew! I'm glad I saw this forum! I have been trying to no avail for two years now to come up with something a little different for side dishes for our Thanksgiving dinner. Every year we have the same things, over and over, and over...you get the picture.

Here's what our menu looks like:

Baked and/or fried turkey (Not sure we'll do the fried anymore)
Dressing and Gravy
Potato/Hash Brown casserole
(sour cream, soup, and cheese in it)
Broccoli casserole, my mother's recipe
(Velveeta cheese, cr. of chicken & cr. of mushroom soup, rice)
Green Beans
(home grown from seeds passed down from my gr-grandmother, so
this dish stays!)
Sweet Potato Casserole
Rolls

The problem is that my family are all pretty much accustomed to these dishes, but every year we ask, "What can I do that's different and the family will eat?"

Any suggestions, ya'll?

Thanks!!!

[SirOliversMom]

Carrot and Rutabagas Casserole?

Boil rutabagas and carrots in the same pot. Drain mash with butter or margerine, salt and pepper to taste. Spread in a casserole dish and push velveeta cheese chunks throughout. Sprinkle top with crushed crackers or plain potatoe chips. Bake at 350 uncovered until cheese is melted and bubbly.

[Suzanne R]

Carrot and Rutabagas Casserole?

Boil rutabagas and carrots in the same pot. Drain mash with butter or margerine, salt and pepper to taste. Spread in a casserole dish and push velveeta cheese chunks throughout. Sprinkle top with crushed crackers or plain potatoe chips. Bake at 350 uncovered until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Mmmmmmmm - I'm not a big rutabaga fan, but that sounds pretty good!!

[maddoxies]

I saw a simple receipe in one of the grocery store magazines up here.

Green beans (if the dogs will share, lol), tossed with pecans, cranberries and some seasonings. I can look for the details tonight.

One of my favourites is peas and pearl onions. The green and white is appealing together and the pearl onions add a little zip to the peas. I first found this as a frozen bag of the two mixed together. I can't always find them "premixed", the frozen pearl onions (by themselves) are a real time saver, rather than peel the fresh ones. Also, both frozen take the same cooking time in the microwave.

Instead of butter or margarine, try using the garlic butter (or garlic spread) on veggies.

[andy&abby]

How about roasted veggies? These are a few of my favorites.



Cauliflower Poppers
1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (or normal chili powder for less heat)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400
put cauliflower in a big baggie, add oil. Zip closed and shake to evenly distribute oil. Combine spices and add to cauliflower, close bag, shake. Bake on a baking sheet until tender, about 10-15 minutes.


Roasted broccoli
1 head broccoli, broken into bite size florets
2 cloves garlic, chopped.
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon low fat spread

Preheat oven to 220 deg C / approx 450 deg F

Place broccoli on baking tray and sprinkle with garlic. Roast in oven for approx 10 minutes.

Place lemon juice, zest and low fat spread in a pot and heat till the spread has melted. Pour over broccoli and serve.


Roasted Green Beans
-Green beans, rinsed and trimmed.
-Spray a large cooking sheet with cooking spray.
-Lay beans on in as much as a single layer as possible.
-I add tons of fresh coarsely chopped garlic and a little sea salt
-Spray beans with some more cooking spray
-Place in 400 degree oven for about 30-40 mins, turning every now and then, til they get almost brownish and wrinkly.
You may need to fix them a time or two for you to get them the way you like them.
They are sooooo good.
You can substitute the green beans for just about any other veggie. Or mix different veggies together to roast them. We snack on these all the time.

[Petey's Mom]

Broccoli Raisin Salad


1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Mix ingredients for sauce and store in fridge overnight.


1 bunch broccoli, heads only
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped red onion
½ cup chopped pecans
12 slices fried bacon, crumbled


Mix broccoli, raisins, onion and pecans. Mix in sauce and top with crumbled bacon.

You might need to double recipe for large gatherings.

[rfbcville]

Cranberry gel is a staple at our holiday gatherings - a gelletin "salad" with cranberries, honey, apples, walnuts put into food processor, then gelletin added - more to make firm like jello, less to make softer like a "relish" dish. Nuts are often left out of the second bowl for non-nut lovers

Also cranberry-orange relish uses cranberry, orange peel, sugar.

I'm happy to post both recipes if interested.

Appetizers are an area where you can do different things without leaving out favorites - black bean and corn relish scooped up with fritos (stepdaughter just made for a recent gathering) - we also had ham as an alternative to turkey - or you could just purchase turkey breast + another dish (my uncle used to bring lasagna since we are Italian.

[red&black]

I like homemade cranberry relish, made with fresh cranberries, orange juice, etc.

My favorite recipe website is www.allrecipes.com
browse through that and get some nifty ideas. What I like most about that site is the readers suggestions/tips/etc for specific recipes.

[andy&abby]

Try this url:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/category/all-pw-recipes/

She has the most amazing recipes.

[MomToMazzy&More]

Whew! I'm glad I saw this forum! I have been trying to no avail for two years now to come up with something a little different for side dishes for our Thanksgiving dinner. Every year we have the same things, over and over, and over...you get the picture.

Here's what our menu looks like:

Baked and/or fried turkey (Not sure we'll do the fried anymore)
Dressing and Gravy
Potato/Hash Brown casserole
(sour cream, soup, and cheese in it)
Broccoli casserole, my mother's recipe
(Velveeta cheese, cr. of chicken & cr. of mushroom soup, rice)
Green Beans
(home grown from seeds passed down from my gr-grandmother, so
this dish stays!)
Sweet Potato Casserole
Rolls

The problem is that my family are all pretty much accustomed to these dishes, but every year we ask, "What can I do that's different and the family will eat?"

Any suggestions, ya'll?

Thanks!!!

Hey Beverly, We must be related. That's our Thanksgiving menu to the letter. :laughitup:
I also have been trying to do a new spin on our menu so I am enjoying reading the recipes.

[SirOliversMom]

Try this url:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/category/all-pw-recipes/

She has the most amazing recipes.

This is a great site! Thanks!

[Kari]

Cinnamon apples are a nice, healthy side dish. :) There are a ton of recipes out there for that...even some slow cooker recipes.

[ImJustWingingIt]

Thank you, all for the ideas and recipes! I'm really excited about doing something different. :stars:Cinnamon apples....YUMM! Elijay, Georgia is known for its apples...I was up there a couple of weeks ago and now I wish I'd bought some apples to do this. DRATS!

Thank you andy&abby for the link...I checked it out and am going to bookmark it. I've already gotten allrecipes.com (Thanks red&black for reminding me!) I, personally, would love the cauliflower poppers, but I'm the only member of my family who likes cauliflower. I might just have to make a small batch for myself sometime.

rfbcville: would love it if you shared your recipes...that sounds really good. I have a cranberry salad recipe made with whole berry cranberries, cranberry Instant Jello, and nuts, but what you are describing sounds a bit different. My family got to the point that they didn't want the salad anymore so I stopped making it.

MomtoMazzy&More...Do you think it's because we're Southern?? LOL! :laughitup:

Again, thanks...you've been great to share!

[zoeysmom]

Sweet potato fries
I don't like sweet potatoes with more sweet or candied. But I love these.

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into about 1/2 inch square sticks. You can either bake them on a cookie sheet after sprinkling with salt / pepper/ olive oil and rosemary. Or you can saute them in a very hot skillet with olive oil until they're browned.


Brussel Sprouts

I've substituted bacon drippings with nice results. Even people who 'hate' brussels sprouts say these are pretty good.


12 Brussel Sprouts, sliced very thin - about 1/8 inch.
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
1/2 lemon,juiced
salt and pepper to taste



1 heat olive oil, when very hot add finely diced brussels sprouts. Saute for 60 to 90 seconds - NO MORE. Melt butter over sprouts and serve
2 adding a slice or two of crumbled bacon is good
3 adding a few dtops of balsamic vinegar is good.
4 adding lemon squeeze across is another treatment.


Warm Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Simply Wonderful! This sounds odd - and takes a bit of prep, but I have one little pumpkin left and it's getting used this way. The sage vinagrette is very nice.


1 small pumpkin
4 Tbs butter
1/2 cup raw green pepitas (raw green pumpkin seeds)
1 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup bleu cheese
Sage Vinaigrette
1/4 C sherry vinegar
2 bunches sage, chiffonade
1 egg yolk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Shallot
1 tsp Dijon
Kosher salt and pepper to taste



1 Preheat oven to 425°°
2 Peel and seed pumpkin/ cut into a inch chunks: arrange in one layer on a roasting pan. Season well and scatter pieces of butter liberally over, reserving 1 T.
3 Roast pumpkin for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender and caramelized, reducing heat if needed to prevent excessive borwning.
4 Toss cranberries in a T sugar; add to pumpkin during last 10 minutes of cooking.
5 Candy the Pepitas:
6 Meanwhile, melt 1T Butter in a heavy saucepan, over m oderate heat. Stir in 1 T sugar, cumin, cinnamon, aparika, cayenne, and a good pinch of salt, then cook, withour stirring until caramelized. Add pumpkin seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, until seeds are puffed and golden. Transfer to a plate to cool. When seeds have hardened, break up any clumps with your fingers.
7 Assemble:
8 Assemble roasted pumpkin pieces and cranberries on indificual serving dishes or on a platter while still warm. Drizzle wiht vinaigrette; sprinkle with bleu cheese and pumpkin seeds. Serve immediately
Sage Vinaigrette
1 Combine the vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt and egg yolk in a bowl and let stand for 2O minutes.
2 Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking constantly. (or add oil and use stick blender). When emulsified, season and add the herbs. Serve immediately

[ImJustWingingIt]

Yummmmmm...that does sound good! I'm gonna save this to my recipe files! Thanks!

[ImJustWingingIt]

I forgot to ask...is there anything you can substitute for the egg yolk in the Vinaigrette? I'm really funny about using raw eggs. :)

[zoeysmom]

Me too, about the raw eggs, but I'm slowly getting over it. My 'raw egg' squeamishness doesn't make any sense. I eat raw cookie dough, and lick the cake batter beaters and don't think twice about it. I eat eggs over easy. But have a recipe call for raw egg and I go ewwww.

I've started microwave poaching eggs that I use in recipes like this and that seems to make my brain OK with it. I put an egg in a custard dish, and in my microwave I nuke on high for 15 seconds, another 15 seconds and sometimes another 7 seconds. If I just did it for 30 sec straight it seems to over cook. Then the white is starting to set and I can take a spoon and scoop out the yolk and use it in recipes like this.

That being said....I think leaving the egg yolk out would just mean that it wouldn't emulisfy as nicely, but I haven't tried it that way.

[Terri]

Corn casserole - (you can double the ingredients, but I just make 2 casseroles.)

• 4 tablespoons butter
• ½ small onion, grated
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, finely minced and seeded (optional)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper
• 1 can evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
• 1 can (approx. 15 ounces) cream-style corn
• 1 can (approx. 15 ounces) whole kernel corn, or about 2 cups frozen thawed
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup shredded cheese (whatever kind you like or a combination)

Heat oven to 350°.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; add grated onion and sauté 2-3 minutes. add in flour, stirring until mixture is well blended. Gradually stir in the milk; add salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in corn. Beat eggs, and then add to the corn mixture with the cheese. Transfer to a 2-quart buttered casserole. Set the casserole in a larger pan and put in the oven. Add hot water to the large pan to a depth of about 1 inch. Bake for about 45 minutes.
Serves 6. You can make it way ahead and throw it in with the turkey or ham when you have room -

[Neshane]

Terry posted my corn cassrole recipe as we always have that, how about cauliflower??

1 medium cauliflower,whole
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup bread crumbs

Clean leaves from cauliflower then steam or boil cook 1/2hr.
Then mix rest and spread all over head sprinkling bread crumbs on last. Bake in 350* oven for 20min until brown

[DixieDoodle]

We love this one....don't be afraid....they are turnips....and GOOD!

Peel and cut up aprox. 8-10 turnips like you would for boiled potatoes.
Simmer in water like you would boiled potatoes.

While turnips are cooking, I fry several strips of bacon until crisp.
Save the bacon grease.

When turnips are fork tender, drain water and mash them with a fork until they are in tiny bits. Add the bacon grease and salt and pepper. Before serving....crumble the bacon on top, serve and ENJOY!

My grandmother always made this and I still do!

It is simple but ohhhhh so good!