Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and with any luck, that means a night of delicious food, plus leftovers, even if the crowd around the dinner table may need to be slightly smaller this year. Whatever you have as your centerpiece, we feel that what truly makes a Thanksgiving dinner special and unique is the choice of side dishes, which can truly bring a personal flavor to the feast. We have here a couple of great recipes for Thanksgiving side dishes that may be worth trying out next week!
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
This recipe is highly customizable based on your tastes! It’s fairly easy to roast Brussels sprouts, and you’d be surprised by how delicious they are when they’re crispy on the outside and a little bit soft inside. This is the recipe for the most basic, tasty Brussels sprouts roasting, and then after they’re finished there’s a thousand different ways to flavor them. We’ll narrow it down by giving you a couple of suggestions!
Ingredients:
1 pound of fresh Brussels sprouts
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, and line a baking tray with parchment paper or tinfoil. Take your Brussels sprouts, and wash them, and then pull off some of the looser exterior leaves. Then, slice them in half lengthwise, and put the sliced halves in a bowl. Toss them with your salt, your pepper, and drizzles of olive oil, until coated. Then, place them on your lined baking sheet!
You want to roast them for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re tender and easy to pierce with a fork, and golden brown on the edges.
Once you’ve removed them from the oven, you can flavor them in a variety of different ways: garlic powder, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, cheese, or a bit of cooked bacon are all delicious possibilities! You can combine as many toppings as you’d like, and feel free to experiment.
Herbed Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are a delicious stable of the Thanksgiving table, and this is a guaranteed way to bring them up a notch. Garlic and herbs are delicious in potatoes, so this is an absolute hit at dinner.
Ingredients:
4 pounds of golden potatoes, which should come out to around eight
2 cups heavy cream
8 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
6 black peppercorns
Kosher salt
Directions:
First, wash and peel your potatoes, and then cut them into quarters. Place your peeled and quartered potatoes into a large pot, and add in enough cold water to fully cover them. Bring the pot to a boil. Add in 2 teaspoons of your Kosher salt, and then reduce your heat and simmer until the potatoes are slightly tender, which should take around 15 to 20 minutes.
While the potatoes are simmering, place the butter, cream, and all your herbs (bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns) into a small saucepan, and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat and simmer the mixture for 3 minutes, and then take it off the heat.
When your potatoes are slightly tender, drain them, and leave them in the pot, this time without the water. Strain your cream mixture into the bigger pot with the potatoes. Add ¾ a teaspoon of the Kosher salt, and mash the potatoes with the cream mixture until they’re your desired mashed potato consistency. Then, serve! This is obviously best hot, but should store in the fridge and reheat well if you desire leftovers.
Fig and Rosemary Cranberry Sauce
This is a fairly simple recipe to make that will nonetheless wow the family at your table by bringing something new to the usual cranberry sauce, and sound impressive to boast about cooking. It only takes four ingredients, including dried figs that rehydrate as they cook.
Ingredients:
1 cup of chopped dried figs
12 ounces of cranberries, either frozen or fresh
½ of a sprig of rosemary
½ of a cup of honey
½ of a cup of water
Directions:
Put a medium saucepan on your stove, and put all your solid and liquid ingredients into it -- the figs, the cranberries, the rosemary, the honey, and the water can all be combined here. Then, heat the saucepan on the stove, bringing your mixture to a boil. You can stir occasionally while this is happening. Once it’s boiling, lower the heat, and let the mixture simmer. Continue to stir occasionally while the mixture simmers for 15 to 20 minutes. You want your cranberries to burst, and your sauce to thicken.
When that’s finished, you can remove the rosemary (it’s not very fun to chew on its own, and you wanted it for the flavor!) and serve your sauce either at room temperature or warmed, depending on preference. Delicious!
Happy Thanksgiving, residents! We hope this gave you some ideas for your own holiday feast, and we’d love to hear from you in the comments about what you’re planning to make.
