Favorite Side dish?

[suesam]

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year. For the record I am not a great cook. I need some help with side dishes. My first instinct is always green bean casserole, Boring! Anyone have some awesome hot veggie side dish recipes they would share? My mom is bringing an awesome wild rice dressing but that is as interesting as my menu gets.

I think I am going to try one of the turkey brine recipes from the other thread. They sound fabulous.

Thanks!
Sue

 

[falmouth3]

I have a recipe for artichokes and spinach. It's too thick to be a dip but it's just as delicious.

Sue

 

[wackymother]

I love sweet potatoes and acorn squash--not together, separately. Do you ever make those? Butter and brown sugar make it seem like you made a special effort!

 

[SueDonJ]

Anyone have some awesome hot veggie side dish recipes they would share?
Thanks!
Sue

Here's this one from a recipe thread that fell off the face of the earth yesterday. As Alan says, "so it goes." HA.

Sweet Potato Casserole
3c cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1/2c white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4c melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2tbs maple syrup (optional)

Mix until blended; spread in buttered baking dish.

1/4c butter
1/2c brown sugar
1/4c flour
1/8tsp baking powder
1/2tsp chopped nuts (optional)

Melt butter; mix in sugar, flour, baking powder and nuts until crumbly. Top sweet potato mix with crumble. Bake 30 min. at 350F.

The mashed sweet potatoes can be prepared ahead and refrigerated/frozen until ready to use. The entire casserole can be made a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake, but, if you're using a glass baking dish, bring it to room temperature before placing in oven.

 

[Carol C]

Here's this one from a recipe thread that fell off the face of the earth yesterday. As Alan says, "so it goes." HA.

Sweet Potato Casserole
3c cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1/2c white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4c melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2tbs maple syrup (optional)

Mix until blended; spread in buttered baking dish.

1/4c butter
1/2c brown sugar
1/4c flour
1/8tsp baking powder
1/2tsp chopped nuts (optional)

Melt butter; mix in sugar, flour, baking powder and nuts until crumbly. Top sweet potato mix with crumble. Bake 30 min. at 350F.

The mashed sweet potatoes can be prepared ahead and refrigerated/frozen until ready to use. The entire casserole can be made a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake, but, if you're using a glass baking dish, bring it to room temperature before placing in oven.

Re-name this one "Sweet Potato Souffle'" so it will sound like you made something fancy! :whoopie:

 

[pjrose]

Easy and very good, very few ingredients, and no measuring, mixing, mashing, whipping, etc.

scrub - do not peel - some sweet potatoes or yams - about one baked-potato-size for every 2 people.

Cut into cubes about an inch big and put them in a baking dish.

Add a T or so of olive oil, and various seasonings and toss them around. You could use Season Salt or Cavender's greek seasoning, or perhaps about 1/2 tsp of onion powder and around 1 tsp of whole thyme (crumble it a bit in your hand or with a mortar and pestle).

Roast at ~ 400 for ~ 40 minutes. Check at 20 minutes to see if they are browning and if a fork goes in. If they're not done yet, toss them around in the pan and leave them in awhile longer. If you do it with the turkey at a lower temp, it may take a bit longer.

Optional - along with the yams, also roast some thickly sliced onions or whole tiny onions, and whole garlic cloves.

Same general principle for white potatoes - rosemary is a good addition to them.

 

[Luanne]

My younger dd loves the sweet potato cassarole that Ruths' Chris serves. We found a copy-cat recipe on the internet (I'll see if I can find it and post it). Oh my gosh, it is to die for.

Here you go, thanks to google:

Ruth's Chris sweet Potato Casserole
Nov. 3, 2008 03:14 PM

For the crust:
one-half cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
one-half cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)
2 tablespoons butter, melted

For the sweet potato mixture:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (about 6 medium sweet potatoes, baked until fork tender, then peeled and mashed)
1 cup sugar
one-half teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, well-beaten
one-half cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces

Combine ingredients of crust mixture in mixing bowl, and reserve.
Combine mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter in a mixing bowl. Combine thoroughly. Pour mixture into buttered baking dish.

Sprinkle the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.

Serves eight.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

We loved my mom's sweet potatoes and still do. Just make sweet potatoes as you would make mashed potatoes with a little added cinnamon. Then bake and when they're hot, cover with large marshmellows and put back in just long enough to brown and melt the marshmellows. Yum.
Liz

 

[DeniseM]

My family loves this sweet potato recipe. It isn't as sweet as the marshmallow recipes (which we don't care for) but very flavorful.

VANILLA GLAZED SWEET POTATOES

3 lbs. sweet potatoes (I like the orange ones)
1/4 cup real butter
1/4 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 T. orange juice
1 T. pure vanilla extract (not imitation)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Scrub potatoes, pierce, and bake on a baking sheet at 350º until soft. Cool (I do this overnight in the refrigerator - they are firmer and easier to cut when completely chilled.)

Peel and cut into 1/4" slices and arrange slices in a greased 13 x 9" baking dish, overlapping slightly. (I don't arrange them carefully - I slice them and toss them in the dish.)

In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper, orange juice and vanilla, stirring until blended. Remove from heat. (Don't leave on heat, or vanilla will cook off.)

Drizzle over potatoes.

Bake at 375º until golden brown.

Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

I make this dish several days before TG and freeze it. On TG I thaw it and bake it, and it is delicious and does not taste like it was frozen. I also double it and it still fits in a 9 x 13 in. pan.

ENJOY!

 

[Passepartout]

We make one pretty much like DeniseM's above but make it about half sweet potatoes and half apples. MMMMGood!

Jim Ricks

 

[swift]

Pumpkin Pie

We can't have Thanksgiving with out pumpkin pie!

The Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
3 x 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 tspn vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
½ tspn cinnamon
¼ tspn nutmeg
¼ tspn allspice
whipped cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 tbsp sugar in a medium bowl. Stir well enough to coat all of the crumbs with the butter, but not so much as to turn the mixture into paste. Keep it crumbly.

Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the springform pan. You don't want the crust to form all of the way up the back of each slice of cheesecake. Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then set it aside until you are ready to fill itbsp

In a large mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice and continue to beat until smooth and creamy.

Pour the filling into the pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes. The top will turn a bit darker at this point remove from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool.

When the cheesecake has come to room temperature, put it into the refrigerator. When the cheesecake has chilled, remove the pan sides and cut the cake into 8 equal pieces.

Serve with a generous portion of whipped cream on top.

 

[sammy]

Mixed Veg Medly - delicious

One of my favorite sides is a medley of roasted peppers, zucchini, onion. Super easy. Just julienne lots of colorful veggies (I use red pepper, yellow squash, red onion, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes halved), lay on a large jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with sides, sprinkle with olive oil and some seasonings: Italian seasoning, extra thyme, S&P, little bit of crushed garlic. Shake around the pan to distribute all. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes. Toss together for a colorful tasty side! You can even add tiny pasta noodles for a more filling dish, but at Thanksgiving, you certainly don't need the extra starch and it is yummy either way!

The one thing about Thanksgiving is the plethora of white food - turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, even the green bean casserole is muddied by all that mushroom soup sauce.

This one is a nice visual addition to the table and really is delicious and a nice complement to all that heavy Thanksgiving food.

Even easier, roasted asparagus -- same method as above but use just olive oil, garlic, S&P. Very tasty and REALLY REALLY easy!

 

[wackymother]

My family loves this sweet potato recipe. It isn't as sweet as the marshmallow recipes (which we don't care for) but very flavorful.

VANILLA GLAZED SWEET POTATOES

3 lbs. sweet potatoes (I like the orange ones)
1/4 cup real butter
1/4 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 T. orange juice
1 T. pure vanilla extract (not imitation)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Scrub potatoes, pierce, and bake on a baking sheet at 350º until soft. Cool (I do this overnight in the refrigerator - they are firmer and easier to cut when completely chilled.)

Peel and cut into 1/4" slices and arrange slices in a greased 13 x 9" baking dish, overlapping slightly. (I don't arrange them carefully - I slice them and toss them in the dish.)

In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper, orange juice and vanilla, stirring until blended. Remove from heat. (Don't leave on heat, or vanilla will cook off.)

Drizzle over potatoes.

Bake at 375º until golden brown.

Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

I make this dish several days before TG and freeze it. On TG I thaw it and bake it, and it is delicious and does not taste like it was frozen. I also double it and it still fits in a 9 x 13 in. pan.

ENJOY!

Ooh, this sounds good. The marshmallowy ones are too sweet for us, too. Thanks!

 

[slgagnon]

Scalloped Corn


1 (15 oz) can creamed corn
1 (15.25 oz) can whole kernal corn
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter - melted
2 Tablespoons white sugar
1 (8.5 oz) package corn muffin mix

Mix together the corn, sour cream, eggs, melted butter and sugar. Stir in the muffin mix. Pour into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted midway into pan comes out clean.

 

[suesam]

Oh thank you!
You have given me some great ideas. I like the idea of freezing and getting out that day to reheat. I need to be organized.
falmouth3- Could I have that spinach and artichoke recipe? That sounds yummy too.
I am going to try one of the Sweet potato recipes and possibly the corn as well. Yum. I am going to need to go to the gym extra this week, I can tell!

Sue

 

[Glynda]

Orange Beets

The only beets I like:

ORANGE BEETS

3 (1 pound) cans small whole beets
6 ounces drained beet liquid
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ cup cider vinegar
1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 (6-ounce) can frozen orange juice
concentrate

Drain beets and reserve liquid. Combine cornstarch and sugar in a saucepan. Blend in orange concentrate, then beet liquid and vinegar. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and clear. Add butter and beets, reheat and serve, or place in double boiler over simmering water to keep hot until serving time. May be prepared the day before, then reheated gently in double boiler. Yield 12 servings.

 

[Glynda]

Asparagus Salad

1 bunch asparagus
Crumbled Feta cheese
1 small jar chopped pimentos
red tipped leaf lettuce
Ken’s Steak House Italian Dressing

Remove woody tough ends of asparagus. Bring a small amount of salted water to a boil in a frying pan. Arrange asparagus in a row and bring to a boil. Cook briefly. While still crisp remove and immediately put the spears into ice water to stop cooking process. Dry on paper towels thoroughly. Place in a zip lock bag with some of the Italian dressing until ready to serve. When ready to serve, place several leaves of red tipped lettuce on a round platter. Arrange asparagus on top of the lettuce and sprinkle with feta cheese and some of the drained pimento. Pour a little more dressing over the top if needed.

This is delicious and especially colorful for Christmas.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Theresa, that recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake looks heavenly. I think that will be our pie this holiday. Thanks for sharing it.

So what are those letters ahead of the measurements? Is that something the computer did automatically?

 

[shagnut]

I like to add in pineapple to my sweet potatoes!! Yummy I also do the crumbly peacon thingy on top. shaggy

 

[Mimi39]

Cranberry Apple Salad

1 can of whole cranberries
1 small package of sugar free raspberry Jello
1 chopped red delicious apple
1/2 cup of chopped celery
3/4 cup of chopped walnuts

Make the Jello using one cup of boiling water, then add 1/2 cup of cold water

Mix in the cranberries, then rest of the incredients. Pour into a 8" by 8" pan or a Jello mold and refridgerate. This is better if made a day in advance.

Mix a small container of sour cream, 1/2 cup of mayo and 1/2 cup of Cool Whip for the dressing.

 

[pjrose]

One of my favorite sides is a medley of roasted peppers, zucchini, onion. Super easy. Just julienne lots of colorful veggies (I use red pepper, yellow squash, red onion, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes halved), lay on a large jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with sides, sprinkle with olive oil and some seasonings: Italian seasoning, extra thyme, S&P, little bit of crushed garlic. Shake around the pan to distribute all. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes. Toss together for a colorful tasty side! You can even add tiny pasta noodles for a more filling dish, but at Thanksgiving, you certainly don't need the extra starch and it is yummy either way!

The one thing about Thanksgiving is the plethora of white food - turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, even the green bean casserole is muddied by all that mushroom soup sauce.

This one is a nice visual addition to the table and really is delicious and a nice complement to all that heavy Thanksgiving food.

Even easier, roasted asparagus -- same method as above but use just olive oil, garlic, S&P. Very tasty and REALLY REALLY easy!

Hey Sammy,

Sounds like you're a method cook like I am - a bit of this, a sprinkle of that.....

Roasted asparagus is wonderful, and it's a great way to use the thick spears. Cooking Light has a superb roasted asparagus that was featured several years ago with a selection of their top rated recipes:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=226706

 

[swift]

Theresa, that recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake looks heavenly. I think that will be our pie this holiday. Thanks for sharing it.

So what are those letters ahead of the measurements? Is that something the computer did automatically?

I don't know what that was about?! I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out. I went back and edited the letters out. Thanks

 

[Fletcher921]

CHEESY JALAPENO HASH BROWN POTATO CASSEROLE - Leslie

1 package Simply Potatoes® Shredded Hash Browns
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of celery soup
2 cups Sharp shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/3 can diced jalapenos - strained.

Topping Ingredients - stir together:
1.5 cups corn flakes, coarsely crushed
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
drizzle of the juicy liquid from the jalapenos


Heat oven to 350 F. Spray 2-quart glass baking dish (an 11x7-inch rectangular baking dish or 8-inch round or square) with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl combine all hash brown ingredients; mix well. Spread into prepared baking dish. In small bowl stir together topping ingredients. Spread topping evenly over hash browns. Bake 45 minutes or until hash browns are tender.

Can be made ahead - need to add heating time though...

 

[stmartinfan]

Asparagus Salad

Glynda, your asparagus sounds great. I also do one that works for even picky eaters who turn up their nose at things like feta cheese

It's very similar to yours, with the cooked and chilled asparagus and the plate lined with lettuce leaves. I just add the drizzle of dressing (Kraft Zesty Italian for us) before serving (although I may try your method of refrigerating with the dressing) and finish by grating a hard boiled egg through a very small grater over the top. It looks attractive and the small amount of egg adds a nice flavor. I even cook the egg in my microwave, so don't have to peel it. (Crack the egg in a small greased custard cup, poke the yolk and white several times with a toothpick, cover with plastic wrap and cook on medium for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Cool before grating.

My local grocery store has asparagus on sale this week so I'm planning to take this to the family Thanksgiving pot luck, along with the make ahead mashed potatoes (thanks to people's assurance they will work ok).

 

[Glynda]

Glynda, your asparagus sounds great. I also do one that works for even picky eaters who turn up their nose at things like feta cheese

It's very similar to yours, with the cooked and chilled asparagus and the plate lined with lettuce leaves. I just add the drizzle of dressing (Kraft Zesty Italian for us) before serving (although I may try your method of refrigerating with the dressing) and finish by grating a hard boiled egg through a very small grater over the top. It looks attractive and the small amount of egg adds a nice flavor. I even cook the egg in my microwave, so don't have to peel it. (Crack the egg in a small greased custard cup, poke the yolk and white several times with a toothpick, cover with plastic wrap and cook on medium for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Cool before grating.

My local grocery store has asparagus on sale this week so I'm planning to take this to the family Thanksgiving pot luck, along with the make ahead mashed potatoes (thanks to people's assurance they will work ok).

I love hard-boiled egg on salad and I can picture that looking great with the feta and egg over the asparagus and then the pimento on very top. Thanks.