A pan of broccoli about to be roasted.
Like a lot of Americans we are having a very small Thanksgiving celebration this year with just my husband and me and two dogs. We can't bring ourselves to have anything bigger or to travel when it feels like that would be so disrespectful to the health care workers who are on the front lines of this pandemic. I've been reading their stories, and it's all so heartbreaking. Also, we don't want to get sick and we don't want to die.
I have some Thanksgiving recipes to share with you to help make your holiday delicious. I loathe difficult recipes, especially ones with hard to find ingredients that use every pan and utensil in my kitchen so the recipes shared here are easy!
If a whole turkey will be way too much food for you this year, consider turkey thighs. We'll be having this as our main course! Also, we had it as our main course last year!
If turkey does not excite you or you just don't feel like having it, I invite you to consider serving an easy roast chicken with root vegetables. Even if you don't have this for Thanksgiving, save this recipe for winter because it's satisfying during the cold months.
Let's talk about side dishes. By far and away, the best side dish recipe I have developed over the years is this one: Roasted Green Beans with Chickpeas and Fig Vinaigrette. It has great crunch from pecans, it has both tart and sweet notes from the vinaigrette, and, frankly, it's lick-the-plate good. If chickpeas don't interest you, just omit them.
My friend Kathryn reminded me the other day that my husband, Brian, makes the best Roasted Broccoli. It's another easy and delicious recipe that deserves space on your holiday table.
How about soup? A lovely way to start your Thanksgiving meal would be with this Pumpkin Soup, which I created after sampling many delicious versions on a trip to Italy some years ago. It's Italian so it must be good!
Since Thanksgiving foods tend to be rich, a salad to cut through the fat and cleanse the palette is recommended. It's the beginning of citrus and avocado season so this Avocado & Grapefruit Salad is appropriate.
While all the recipes mentioned above have been personally developed by me, there are a couple of holiday standards we have on the table every year. I always make the Barefoot Contessa's Cranberry Conserve which is loaded with citrus, nuts, and apples. I modify her recipe to make it the best cranberry sauce ever! It has an obscene amount of sugar in the original recipe, 1 3/4 cups of sugar. I reduce it to one cup of sugar, and it turns out sweet enough without feeling like you are having dessert in the middle of dinner.
For Thanksgiving dessert last year, I made a pumpkin cheesecake, and, honestly, I regret it, save for the bourbon pecan caramel sauce. It took so much time. Plus the water bath failed so there I was blow drying a soggy cheesecake. We haven't quite settled on a dessert for our holiday meal this year. I am lobbying heavily for this Pumpkin Cake with cream cheese frosting.
Wherever you are this year and however you choose to celebrate, I hope we will all do the right thing and celebrate Thanksgiving only with immediate family. It's a small sacrifice to make to ensure that we can be with our families next year during the holidays.
I have some Thanksgiving recipes to share with you to help make your holiday delicious. I loathe difficult recipes, especially ones with hard to find ingredients that use every pan and utensil in my kitchen so the recipes shared here are easy!
If a whole turkey will be way too much food for you this year, consider turkey thighs. We'll be having this as our main course! Also, we had it as our main course last year!
If turkey does not excite you or you just don't feel like having it, I invite you to consider serving an easy roast chicken with root vegetables. Even if you don't have this for Thanksgiving, save this recipe for winter because it's satisfying during the cold months.
Let's talk about side dishes. By far and away, the best side dish recipe I have developed over the years is this one: Roasted Green Beans with Chickpeas and Fig Vinaigrette. It has great crunch from pecans, it has both tart and sweet notes from the vinaigrette, and, frankly, it's lick-the-plate good. If chickpeas don't interest you, just omit them.
My friend Kathryn reminded me the other day that my husband, Brian, makes the best Roasted Broccoli. It's another easy and delicious recipe that deserves space on your holiday table.
How about soup? A lovely way to start your Thanksgiving meal would be with this Pumpkin Soup, which I created after sampling many delicious versions on a trip to Italy some years ago. It's Italian so it must be good!
Since Thanksgiving foods tend to be rich, a salad to cut through the fat and cleanse the palette is recommended. It's the beginning of citrus and avocado season so this Avocado & Grapefruit Salad is appropriate.
While all the recipes mentioned above have been personally developed by me, there are a couple of holiday standards we have on the table every year. I always make the Barefoot Contessa's Cranberry Conserve which is loaded with citrus, nuts, and apples. I modify her recipe to make it the best cranberry sauce ever! It has an obscene amount of sugar in the original recipe, 1 3/4 cups of sugar. I reduce it to one cup of sugar, and it turns out sweet enough without feeling like you are having dessert in the middle of dinner.
For Thanksgiving dessert last year, I made a pumpkin cheesecake, and, honestly, I regret it, save for the bourbon pecan caramel sauce. It took so much time. Plus the water bath failed so there I was blow drying a soggy cheesecake. We haven't quite settled on a dessert for our holiday meal this year. I am lobbying heavily for this Pumpkin Cake with cream cheese frosting.
Wherever you are this year and however you choose to celebrate, I hope we will all do the right thing and celebrate Thanksgiving only with immediate family. It's a small sacrifice to make to ensure that we can be with our families next year during the holidays.
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