Characteristic: Thanksgiving side

This puree is light as a feather, simple and delicious. You can use olive oil instead of butter and a little broth instead of milk; you could add a little nutmeg or any number of herbs or other spices. You could enrich it with cheese and/or cream. Adding in roasted garlic in place of the steamed garlic is also delicious. For an even silkier texture you can add one small, diced potato to the mix.... Read more »

This is a delicious combination and a useful template but I do particularly like these two vegetables baked together with a little cream and/or milk that's been warmed with garlic, mustard, thyme, and pepper. That being said, rutabaga, turnips and potatoes would all make excellent substitutions or additions. And it would make a robust Thanksgiving side dish.   I suggest making a good amount of this since leftovers are wonderful. And if you don't have thyme or sage you can use a little rosemary or dried oregano or even fresh parsley.  ... Read more »

--Technique inspired by Todd Coleman's Potato Gratin via Food52.com   This is endlessly adaptable in that you can use any combination of roots and/or tubers you have or even mix in hearty greens. You can change the herbs or add or substitute spices. By cooking the vegetables in a a bit of cream or milk (or with some broth) before you put them in the oven you also save some time. ... Read more »

This is a simple technique that can be used with most any root vegetable or better yet, combination of roots. You can change the ratio of vegetables to suit your taste or to what you have on hand.  ... Read more »

This is a fresh, robust salad perfect for a weeknight supper or holiday meal. You can scale it up or down and change the ratio of vegetables any way you'd like. ... Read more »

This is a beautiful, fairly quick and highly adaptable dish. Unlike this Stuffed Pumpkin recipe, you steam the small squash on the stove top which speeds things up considerably. If your squash are smaller or larger than the ones pictured scale the filling accordingly.  ... Read more »

  -adapted from Afro Vegan by Bryant Terry   Afro Vegan is a gorgeous and inspiring cookbook for cooks/eaters of any persuasion. Bryant has a knack for flavor combinations coupled with deep knowledge of cooking and culinary traditions  in many African countries and the African diaspora. I adapted this lovely vegetable dish and un-veganized it by adding a bit of cream and bacon (and even a little chicken in the above version) which you could certainly omit.  ... Read more »

Parsnips cook very quickly and if you have a food processor this dish takes about 10 minutes to make and is creamy and sweet. It's delicious with a salad of bitter greens or braised kale, spicy sausages or something else to balance the sweetness of the parsnips.... Read more »

Carrot salads add bright and fresh flavors year-round and are the perfect foil for the cook-with-what-you-have approach. Cumin, coriander, chili flakes, fresh, hot chilies, lemon, lime (juice and zest), rice vinegar, parsley, mint, cilantro, tarragon, and basil are all wonderful complements to the carrots. Toasted nuts and seeds of many kinds are good too.   You can add white beans to this salad for a more robust version. Make a little extra dressing and you have a great lunch or light supper.   With a simple frittata and a piece of good bread, this makes a lovely dinner.   Serves 4... Read more »

This is a pretty classic, German-style braised red cabbage dish. It becomes tender and very fragrant with the spices and wine with plenty of acidity. It's wonderful with mashed potatoes and any roast meats or or grains of any kind.... Read more »

This is a simple and delicious way to work your way through a lot of cabbage. I can eat a quarter of a good-sized cabbage in one sitting prepared this way but by all means scale this down to suit your appetites/needs.... Read more »

  [caption id="attachment_17403" align="aligncenter" width="600"] You can easily omit the blue cheese and it will be just as delicious.[/caption]   This is a classic combination of ingredients and a wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving table or any meal, really.  ... Read more »

--adapted from River Cottage Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsall   This simple salad is fresh, sweet, tart and crunchy--a perfect combination. It would make a lovely salad for the Thanksgiving table.  ... Read more »

I love Brussels sprouts and they are quickly dressed up with this savory compound butter, and would be a perfect Thanksgiving side dish. Compound butters are a great way to enliven anything from vegetables to fish to toast. The idea for this compound butter came from the inimitable Deborah Madison from her book Vegetable Literacy. ... Read more »

  --adapted from smittenkitchen.com   This dish is so, so good. I've simplified it a bit, eliminating an extra step or two so it's really a rather quick dish and  sophisticated to boot.... Read more »