Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Thanksgiving: the battle of the side dishes

It's the last week of November 2019, and I'm with my wee family (three of us left now) in Western Massachusetts. The Thanksgiving menu is mostly set: brined & roasted turkey breast, Trader Joe's cornbread stuffing mix and sausage, cranberry orange relish, homemade pumpkin pie.

What's missing? The green side dish. I'm pretty religious about my Thanksgiving plate including some green. The simpler the better. But after ten straight years of green beans almondine, a doughty recipe to be sure, I want something different.

I trawled Epicurious, Eating Well, and Food & Wine for good green bean sides. Along the way, I found four that fit my requirements this year, but caught in my net almost a dozen tasty other options I'd like to revisit for other meals, holiday and ordinary. The fruits of my research, for your delectation, are as follows:

THIS YEAR'S CONTENDERS

Just a basic review of how to cook beans and nuts together. I like the suggestion of nut oils.

So pretty! The beef fat option is intriguing...not sure how I feel about the tarragon.

Would probably dial back the tarragon here too.

What fun!

FOR ANOTHER TIME


Sometimes these recipes seem like you could replace the central ingredient with an old shoe and it would still be fantastic.

A special presentation. I'm game to try it.

This makes me want to eat cauliflower.

So does this.

What a gorgeous thing to do to carrots.

And to sweet potatoes.

Can you imagine this gracing your table on a snowy winter's day?

Pretty presentation of those narrow little fingerlings.

You had me at shallots and puff pastry.

"Hot honey" seems to be having its fifteen minutes, but I'd polish these off in a few seconds flat.

Being a gringa, I'd dial back the chile.