green veggies

[amccomb]

I am having trouble coming up with green veggies for t-day. I may do a salad, and I will probably do peas, pancetta, pearl onions, and cream (and maybe turnips), but I want to add another warm green veggie, but everything I come up with contains cream! I'll already be using cream in practically every other dish, so I would like to have a hot green veggie without cream. I also want it to be special. As much as I love roasted brussel sprouts or steamed green beans or broccoli, I want everything to be special for Thanksgiving. Any suggestions?

[Jason Perlow]

Pan roasted, not steamed, Brussel Sprouts. Cut them into quarters, throw them in a bowl, add salt, pepper, olive oil and lots of cloves of garlic. Toss to coat the olive oil evenly. Put on a sheet pan and roast at 400 for about, I dunno, 30 minutes or until you start to see the edges caramelize.

Even your kids will eat these. I swear.

[NulloModo]

It wouldn't be thanksgiving without a bit pot of collard greens, slow simmered all day with a couple ham hocks, a dash of cayenne, and just enough vinegar to give them a little tang.

[Behemoth]

Could red cabbage count? Or a beet and watercress salad maybe?

[Jensen]

Definitely the pan-roasted Brussels sprouts. There is a very nice recipe on Epicurious' site here.

[lovebenton0]

Seared asparagus spears, in butter, lemon, touch of garlic, S&P.

Braised cabbage or Endive. Molly Stevens has a great braised endive recipe in her All About Braising book. AnnaN has hers for cabbage in eGCI I think, or in recipe archives.

[Pan]

My father has often cooked an Ada Boni broccoli recipe from Il Talismano della Cucina. Fry up some onions and garlic in a touch of extra-virgin olive oil, add coarsely-chopped broccoli (including the stem!), let fry for a while, add a generous sprinkle of powdered black peppercorns, put in some good full-bodied red wine (e.g. Valpolicella), then add provolone cheese, melt, mix together. Add salt and more pepper to taste, if you feel it needs more.

[beccaboo]

I make a broccoli salad for Thanksgiving. It has steamed broccoli, wild rice, toasted walnuts, roasted red peppers, and thyme.

[slbunge]

Two thoughts. Along the lines of the pan-roasted Brussels sprouts you can shred them using a mandoline and then quickly saute them with pecan, maple syrup, and cider vinegar. Recipe is from Gourmet's Thanksgiving issue last year (click). Marvelous.

Another idea is a red cabbage casserole with apples. Marvelous color when baked and holds up very well as it cools on the table or buffet.

[merstar]

This is fantastic. You may or may not want to use the orange zest, depending on whether it goes with your main dish, but it adds a great flavor.

ROASTED ASPARAGUS WITH CRISP SHALLOTS

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 Tbsp olive oil, divided (I use extra virgin)

2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 pounds asparagus spears, trimmed

1/8 tsp salt

A few pinches freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp finely grated orange peel

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450 F (425 F for dark pans).

In a skillet, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat and saute shallots for 5 minutes. Set aside.

In a shallow roasting pan or baking pan, toss asparagus spears with remaining 1-2 Tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.

Bake until asparagus is tender, about 8-10 minutes, stirring once. Remove from heat.

Add orange peel to roasting pan, mixing well.

To serve, place asparagus on plates and sprinkle with shallots.

Makes 6 servings.

Adapted from my files.

Edited November 10, 2004 by merstar (log)

[The Hersch]

About ten years ago, it became traditional in my family to have fresh spinach with olive oil and garlic as part of Thanksgiving dinner. Now that I'm doing the cooking, I make it my way, which I developed and which is one of a very few things that I cook in the microwave.

In a large glass bowl, put as much chopped garlic as you want in a good bit of extra-virgin olive oil. Put it in the microwave and zap at full power for about 30 seconds. Add a big bunch of spinach (I use the prewashed, dried baby spinach, such as the "microwave in this bag" kind; the important thing is it should be dry) to the bowl and toss it about in the hot oil. Add some salt. Toss about some more, return to the microwave and zap at full power for about 30 seconds. Take it out and toss about some more. Keep up the zapping and the tossing until it's perfectly cooked, which should be about three or four zappings. Add more olive oil and salt as appropriate. Serve hot or at room temperature.

[eunny jang]

Green beans blanched and quickly reheated with a balsamic/shallot reduction and some butter are really delicious and a total no-brainer. They're slightly sweet from the vinegar, so even kids will eat it.

[Della]

I have spent the last several years having dinner at my best friends mom's for Thanksgiving and we always have artichokes. While she served them with our other appetizers perhaps you could stuff some artichokes or cut them in half, pare the leaves down and roast/grill them with lemon and evoo? Just an idea. I don't really have a recipe for you but I do love the artichoke and I don't think people eat them enough as they can be a little time comsuming to prepare.

[doggirl]

About ten years ago, it became traditional in my family to have fresh spinach with olive oil and garlic as part of Thanksgiving dinner. Now that I'm doing the cooking, I make it my way, which I developed and which is one of a very few things that I cook in the microwave.

In a large glass bowl, put as much chopped garlic as you want in a good bit of extra-virgin olive oil. Put it in the microwave and zap at full power for about 30 seconds. Add a big bunch of spinach (I use the prewashed, dried baby spinach, such as the "microwave in this bag" kind; the important thing is it should be dry) to the bowl and toss it about in the hot oil. Add some salt. Toss about some more, return to the microwave and zap at full power for about 30 seconds. Take it out and toss about some more. Keep up the zapping and the tossing until it's perfectly cooked, which should be about three or four zappings. Add more olive oil and salt as appropriate. Serve hot or at room temperature.

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Is the bowl covered, or uncovered? thanks!

[The Hersch]

Is the bowl covered, or uncovered? thanks!

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Uncovered. I never tried it covered, but I think it would be too much steamed and not enough sauteed. It's really good, by the way.

[Amuse Bouche]

In Nigella Lawson's new cookbook, there's a recipe for brussels sprouts with pancetta, chestnuts, and parsley. If that's not special, I don't know what is. But then, I love brussels sprouts.

[KarenS]

Steam and blanch green beans. Toast and coarsely chop hazelnuts. Make some brown butter, add hazelnuts and pour over beans in a baking dish. (my Dad's comment is always "how do you get the beans to stay so green?" answer: blanch and shock in ice bath.and Add salt and pepper. I prep this ahead and heat in the microwave (covered) right before serving (the oven is always too busy). I also do grated and sauteed brussel sprouts, and a fennel/ celery root/ orange salad.

[Jason Perlow]

In  Nigella Lawson's new cookbook, there's a recipe for brussels sprouts with pancetta, chestnuts, and parsley.  If that's not special, I don't know what is.  But then, I love brussels sprouts.

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Well, if your're going to bring bacon into it for crying out loud. Thats cheating.

[Dr. Funk]

But what happened to the French's french-fried onion - green bean casserole that your aunt brought? What would Thanksgiving be without it? If you don't know what I'm talking about (were you born on Mars?), the recipe is on the back of the can. I hate to think of the number and variations of this I've been subjected to through three marriages. My present wife does not make it - she knows better.

My mother always serves the brussels sprouts and chestnuts with bacon and has for as many years as I can remember and If I recall correctly, so did my grandmother. That's at least 50 years of some of the finest.

Edited November 12, 2004 by Dr. Funk (log)

[Busboy]

In  Nigella Lawson's new cookbook, there's a recipe for brussels sprouts with pancetta, chestnuts, and parsley.  If that's not special, I don't know what is.  But then, I love brussels sprouts.

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Well, if your're going to bring bacon into it for crying out loud. Thats cheating.

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As long as you're cheating, Mrs. Busboy, who can't walk past those big brussels sprouts branches in the market without throwing one over her shoulder like an vegan AK-47, likes a recipe from Gray Kunz's Elements of taste where you brown brussels sprouts in butter, hold them off the heat, brown some Granny Smith apples, and toss both sprouts and apples with turnips that have been softened in cider vinegar (vinegar should be reduce by half but the end) and bacon, salt and a pinch of sugar.

Imagine seeing the kids eating brussels sprouts and turnips simultaneously!

It would probably be a copyright violation to add more detail, but you can do the whole thing by instinct if you think about it for a moment.

We do a similar recipe to Eunny's green beans, as well, only I brown garlic slices in the pan and add some olive oil before I throw the green beans and shallots in. Once the boy looked up from a plate of these and said, "Dad, these are the best green beans ever." Something I don't think he's ever said about anything else I've ever cooked.

Edited to add: and, of course, you can always sautee about eight cubic feet of spinach or the greens of your choice in copious quantities of garlic and a puddle of olive oil to get a clean, pleasantly bitter contrast to the richness of the rest of the meal.

Edited November 12, 2004 by Busboy (log)

[curlywurlyfi]

Mrs. Busboy, who can't walk past those big brussels sprouts branches in the market without throwing one over her shoulder like an vegan AK-47

Brussels sprouts also excellent stir-fried till bright green (I sometimes put a lid on mine if they're getting a bit scorched) and then drizzled with a little walnut oil + balsamic.

[howard88]

I've got a good one for ya.

Its peas and proscuitto.

Easy, fast, a little different and tasty.

Saute minced shallots in olive oil and butter.

Add a quarter of a pound of thickly sliced (an eighth to a quarter of a inch)

diced proscuitto.

Add two packages of petite frozen peas.

Cook until done.

I include some crushed red pepper flakes when sauteing the shallots.

Do not add salt due to the proscuitto.

You can add a quarter of a cup of chicken broth when all ingredients are in

the pan or just adjust the olive oil and butter.

Its a really good dish.

[tanabutler]

My best green dish is green beans (yes, blanch and shock) tossed into a pan containing sautéed red bell peppers, a little teeny bit of balsamic (the older, the better) and sprinkled with the lightest bit of kosher flake salt. Plus the red and green are very pretty. (Prettier still are red, orange and yellow bell peppers.)

Note: Brussels sprouts are not a green vegetable, but have been proven to be cancerous cysts on host plants. Someone brought some for me to cook one Thanksgiving and I threw them as far as I could. Ugh.

[Behemoth]

I love brussels sprouts. I follow Julia's instructions for pre-cooking, cut them in half then spread them on a tea towel to dry until I'm ready for them. Then I heat mustards seeds in lots of oil a pan until they pop, add garlic, cumin, a tiny bit sugar and hot pepper flakes, toss the sprouts until they turn deep green and a little carmelized, them add sea salt & course ground pepper & toss again. I don't think I've ever had leftovers.

I got the spice combination from a Madhur Jaffrey green bean recipe, but I like the mix even better for sprouts. Something about the spices in thanksgiving food reminds me of indian dishes, I find them to be a really complimentary.

[tanabutler]

I wish I had ten thousand dollars for everyone who said they could make a brussels sprout palatable. They are, for me, the liver of the vegetable world.

EDIT: I would eat them if Chef David Kinch cooked them. He got me to try foie gras twice on Friday night, and it was fantastic both times.

Edited November 14, 2004 by tanabutler (log)