Still Can't Decide on Thanksgiving Side Dishes

[kransden]

We are having Turkey, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, jello salad, cranberries, rolls and green bean casserole.

What else? Maybe something light?

I am don't have to make dessert.

[happymom]

Are you serving a tossed salad? There are so many interesting salads you can make and they always get eaten up around here.

[Tondi G]

corn?
Asparagus?
Trader Joes has that yummy bagged spinach salad with candied pecans, blue cheese and dried cranberries. Might be nice and light.
not light but how about a regular potato dish? Mashed or roasted

[KpbS]

For years we've done a butternut squash soup as an appetizer. Yum!

[bluestar2]

[QUOTE=KpbS;2544349]For years we've done a butternut squash soup as an appetizer. Yum![/QUOTE

We're having an apple butternut squash soup too.

[Seitvonzu]

our tradition is sweet potato casserole (with brown sugar/pecan topping, not marshmallow), mashed potatos (and tons of gravy...that's the only challenge every year, having enough turkey gravy :), apple orange cranberry sauce (a williams sonoma recipe), jellied cranberries, green beans with bacon & onion (with canned green beans, this is a family thing), stuffing (in the turkey and a pan of extra stuffing to sop up yet more gravy, i do traditional white bread sage stuffing), and a pumpkin apple pie (best of both worlds) with whipped heavy cream.

oh and crescent rolls (burnt, well, that's not the goal, but it seems to be the tradition since i do these last minute and always forget they are in the oven)

i don't fell the need for something light-- it's thanksgiving! i have steamed brocolli or asparagus,etc. on a regular day. if i was doing a salad it would probably have blue cheese and cranberries and pears and nuts anyway and how light is that? :):)

everyone's posts on butternut squash soup made me smile. i've been making this every fall for a while-- with apples and cider. something just wasn't as delicious about it as i'd hoped... i don't know. the other day i had a squash languishing in the fridge from our last CSA pickups. i decided i would roast it and then deal with it ....i found a recipe in my "first and forever" cookbook for roasted butternut squash soup that just required squash, onion, evaporated milk and broth (and a few other things, but this was basically IT). no cider. no apples. up to this point, i didn't really take the recipe seriously. it was SO good. dh thought it would be "just ok" and as soon as he tasted it he was swooning. lucy (23 months) gobbled up a whole bowl!!!! and she ate it the next day too. i couldn't believe it!!!! while i was doing my t-day shopping i happily picked up another squash. we'll have this same soup next week sometime...it's really easy and as dh said "it tastes like butter." when i said "oh, they had squash!" he was like "really, YAY!" i NEVER get that sorta response for soup :)

we're "pooling resources" with friends this year, so i'm not doing the meat or stuffing (they are doing a duck and turkey i think and probably cornbread dressing, not sage) and i'm not doing mashed potatos. today i'm making my casserole and cranberries, and then i'm making pies and beans tomorrow. it will be easy peasy and i'm looking forward to it :)

[sunshine873]

Mashed potatoes and gravy are a must for my family, and DH would be heartbroken if we didn't have deviled eggs.

PPs - I would love to hear some of your recipes for butternut squash soup - that sounds fabulous!!!

[Melaine]

We love this because it is cold and tangy, a nice contrast with the traditional sweet potatos, etc.

Grandma’s Pea Salad

The night before, make marinate:
¼ cup oil
½ cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
Place
1 cup sliced water chestnuts in marinate and refrigerate
The next day mix with:
2 cans LeSuer Peas
¾ cup chopped pecans
1 small onion chopped
A few pimentos
½ cup mayo
Salt/pepper
I usually add the peas last, and very gently stir them together to prevent them from mooshing up. Add marinate to achieve desired taste. Gets better with refrigeration. Pretty on a bed of lettuce.

[bluestar2]

PPs - I would love to hear some of your recipes for butternut squash soup - that sounds fabulous!!!

I don't have a recipe per se, but I:

- preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil baking sheet
- slice a butternut squash lengthwise and seed
- roast cut side down for 1 hour

While it is roasting:

- chop one onion
- saute with 2-3 tablespoons butter
- add a peeled, cored and cubed apple if desired
- add about 4 cups chicken stock (never with MSG! I use the organic, but in a pinch I can
sometimes find the canned broth without the MSG)
- scoop out roasted squash and add to pot
- simmer for about 15-20 minutes, take out about a third at a time and puree in a blender (be careful, it is
HOT). I put the blended soup in a big mixing bowl while I blend the rest.
- return to pot and add, to taste... salt, pepper, ground ginger

It can be made a day ahead of time and reheats well. HTH

[carolinamama]

It is all about comfort food and tradition for our family. We are having:

turkey
dressing/stuffing
cranberry/apple crisp
mashed potatoes and gravy
sweet potato casserole with pecan topping
sweet potato and apple casserole
broccoli and rice casserole
squash casserole
corn pudding
veggie/relish tray with dips for before and during meal
apple pie
pecan pie
pumpkin pie

[sunshine873]

I don't have a recipe per se, but I:

- preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil baking sheet
- slice a butternut squash lengthwise and seed
- roast cut side down for 1 hour

While it is roasting:

- chop one onion
- saute with 2-3 tablespoons butter
- add a peeled, cored and cubed apple if desired
- add about 4 cups chicken stock (never with MSG! I use the organic, but in a pinch I can
sometimes find the canned broth without the MSG)
- scoop out roasted squash and add to pot
- simmer for about 15-20 minutes, take out about a third at a time and puree in a blender (be careful, it is
HOT). I put the blended soup in a big mixing bowl while I blend the rest.
- return to pot and add, to taste... salt, pepper, ground ginger

It can be made a day ahead of time and reheats well. HTH

Sounds great! I think I'm going to try it.

[MommyAllison]

We always have spinach salad with dried cranberries, sliced almonds, poppyseeds, mandarin oranges & homemade dressing. It is nice and light :)

[kransden]

LOL! Thanksgiving is all about the carbs isn't it? :) Since I live in the southwest, we had a mango salad and asparagus besides all the traditional trimmings. I am going to make the pea salad though, it sounds yummy! I like the squash soup too, but I usually cheat and just doctor up the Trader Joes :D.