Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is all about the comforting flavors of home, and though the turkey recipes are always the stars, side dishes also play a very important role for making the dinner a success. These side dishes should be something that complement and accentuate the taste of the delicious turkey.

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes (cut into 2-inch chunks), 2
• Milk, ¼ cup
• Butter, 3 tbsp.
• Light-brown sugar, 2 tbsp.
• Coarse salt and ground pepper, to taste

Directions
Take a steamer basket and set it in a large saucepan. Fill some water in it; the level should come just below the basket. Bring the water to a boil, place the sweet potatoes in the steam basket, and cover it. Steam for about 15-25 minutes, or until tender. Drain the water and set them aside in the saucepan.

Meanwhile in a small saucepan, bring a mixture of the milk, butter, and brown sugar to a simmer, and keep stirring it. Remove the pan from the heat once it turns into a sauce, and add the mixture to the drained sweet potatoes. Mash the potatoes until they turn smooth and season the dish with salt and pepper.

No thanksgiving meal can be complete without a cranberry sauce. But instead of the sauce, you can try making something different with the craberries, like the cranberry roasted garlic risotto. This dish is also a great choice for diabetics. The natural sweetness of the cranberries will allow them to have something sweet without affecting their health.

Ingredients

• Butter, 2 tbsp.
• Garlic cloves (roasted), 3
• Small onion (diced), 1
• Rice, ¾ cup
• Chicken broth, 2 cups
• Original sweetened dried cranberries, ¾ cup
• Parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 ºF, and grease a casserole dish with some butter. Melt the remaining butter in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and onion to it, and cook until soft. Add in the rice and cook for 2 minutes.

Then add the broth and dried cranberries to the pan, and bring the mixture to a boil for 2 minutes. Pour it into the greased casserole dish, and bake for 30 minutes. Lastly, stir in the cheese, and serve hot.

Ingredients

• White sandwich bread, 2 slices
• Pecorino Romano cheese (grated), ¼ cup
• Coarse salt and ground pepper, to taste
• Pumpkin purée, 3 cups
• Butter, 2 tablespoons

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 ºF. In a food processor combine the bread and cheese. Season them with the salt and pepper and pulse until large crumbs are formed. Season the pumpkin purée with the salt and pepper, and place it in a 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle the crumb mixture and butter over this, and bake until the crumbs turn brown for 15-25 minutes.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, 1 cup
• Sugar, 2 tbsp.
• Baking powder, 4 tsp.
• Salt, ½ tsp.
• Sweet potatoes (cooked and mashed), ¾ cup
• Butter (softened), ¼ cup
• Milk, 2-4 tbsp.

Directions
Start by preheating the oven to 450 ºF. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and in a separate large bowl, mix the sweet potatoes with the butter. Add the flour mixture to the potato mixture, and mix together to make a soft dough.

Then, add the milk to the mixture, one tablespoon at a time, and continue to roll the dough onto a floured board; toss lightly until the outside looks smooth. Roll the dough out to ½-inch thickness, and cut it with a biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on a greased pan, coat the tops with the melted butter, and bake for about 15 minutes.