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Whether you are hosting your own Thanksgiving spread or are lucky enough to be a guest providing one food element, Planet Green has some recipe suggestions from soup to dessert and some notes on enjoying the meal.
By now you will have ordered your fresh, organic turkey. It's time to hit the market and look for the local, seasonal produce that is such an important part of any Thanksgiving dinner. To get the meal started, we have a wonderful Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup. This can be made today or tomorrow and then gently reheated on the day. Another make-ahead side dish is the Roasted Vegetable Salad with Garlic Dressing. You can roast the vegetables earlier in the day, before the turkey goes into the oven, and then simply assemble the salad before serving.
The winter salad of Fennel, Beets and Onions is another nice option. If you have vegetarian guests, give the Corn Bread and Broccoli Rabe Strata a try. It is hearty enough to serve as a main course and your other guests can have it as a side dish.
Of course, the crowning glory of any Thanksgiving meal is the turkey. Brad and Elizabeth Johnson share their secrets for a delicious, moist bird.
We have three choices for dessert-the traditional Pumpkin Pie, a traditional Apple Pie, and a Rosemary-Apple-Cranberry Galette. If you have a large crowd, you could always make more than one and give everyone a taste of each. In all three cases, just slip the dessert into the oven after you have taken the turkey out and turned the oven off. It will be just nicely warmed through by the time you are ready to serve them. If you really want to gild the lily you can serve whipped cream with them.
And finally, give some thought to enjoying the day and the company. Thanksgiving is, by it's nature, a meal of excess, but there are strategies to getting through the day without over-indulging. Remember that sitting down and sharing your food with loved ones is what it is all about. As Alice Waters says in The Art of Simple Food: "Savor the ritual of the table. Mealtime is a time for empathy and generosity, a time to nourish and communicate."
Happy Thanksgiving!
Difficulty level: Moderate
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