The Art of Elevating Thanksgiving Sides and Salads by Suzanne Goen

When it comes to Thanksgiving, I grew up thinking that turkeys were a given, so my focus shifted to creating sides and salads that would add something unexpected yet still feel like the quintessential Thanksgiving flavors. For me, caboa squash is an excellent choice, as it offers a nice contrast in texture and flavor to the traditional turkey. To prepare this dish, I start by tossing the squash with olive oil and roasting it until it's crispy on one side and tender on the other. The caramelized exterior adds a sweet and nutty flavor that complements the earthy taste of the dandelion greens perfectly.

To add depth to the salad, I make a relish using diced parmesan cheese, sliver dates, and a sprinkle of pitas or pumpkin seeds. The crunch of the seeds provides a satisfying texture that cuts through the richness of the squash. What I love most about this dish is how it's all about layering ingredients to create a harmonious balance of flavors. Each component brings its own unique taste profile, from the sweetness of the squash to the tanginess of the cheese and dates.

In addition to the caboa squash, another crucial element to consider for Thanksgiving is the green vegetable. With so many options competing for attention on the table, it's essential to choose a dish that stands out without overpowering the main event. For me, blue Lake beans are an excellent choice due to their versatility and texture. To prepare them, I cook them for a long time with wedges of onion, garlic, and herbs like sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. The key to achieving this perfect balance is to focus on the textures involved. By cooking the beans until they're crispy on the outside and tender within, I create an intensely flavored and sweet experience that's sure to delight.

When it comes to presenting the salad, I believe texture plays a crucial role in making it truly special. For my arugula salad with grapes, I start by crushing the grapes in a mortar pestle to release their natural juices without losing any of their flavor. Then, I whisk together some DIC shallots, Cherry vinegar, and olive oil to create a tangy dressing that complements the sweetness of the grapes perfectly.

To assemble the salad, I gently toss the arugula with the grape mixture, taking care not to bruise or wilt the delicate leaves. The goal is to create a visually appealing dish that invites the diner to take a bite. To finish it off, I drizzle the salad with saba, which adds a deep, savory flavor and a slightly sweet undertone that ties everything together.

Ultimately, Thanksgiving is a holiday deeply rooted in food, and as such, it's essential to approach the meal with a focus on texture and flavor. By experimenting with unexpected ingredients like caboa squash and blue Lake beans, you can create sides and salads that elevate your Thanksgiving celebration without overpowering the main event. With a little creativity and attention to detail, even the most basic dishes can become truly memorable experiences for your guests.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI'm Suzanne Goen and we're in my home Kitchen in Los Angeles Thanksgiving was a really was a big deal when I was growing up turkeys is pretty much a given so I think the sides and salads and things like that are a time when you can give them something sort of a little bit unexpected but still keeping with what they're hoping for and what tastes and feels like Thanksgiving for them um rather than doing something with pumpkin or with sweet potatoes for me I like doing something with the caboa squash and I toss them with olive oil and roast them till they're you know really crispy caramelized on one side but then also very tender and soft and then layer it with dandelion and um make a little relish of uh diced parmesan cheese and some sliver dates and then finish it with a little scattering of the pitas or pumpkin seeds and I can tell we got them just right by the way they're crunching so it's really more about assembling and kind of layering all those ingredients Each of which is going to bring a different flavor so the other dish I'd be thinking of for Thanksgiving is some kind some kind of green vegetable you know I think it's hard to be the thing to be the green vegetable on the Thanksgiving table cuz there's so much to compete with so just took the um Blue Lake beans and then uh cooked those for a long time with wedges of onion and garlic and then herbs big pieces of sage and Rosemary and Thyme I think texture is such an important part of how we enjoy food it's the texture of the beans themselves but then also of the onion and the garlic and the and the herbs and sort of thinking of all those elements especially when the the food is really simple it's really important to kind of nail all those all those moments so they get really nice and crispy on the outside like a very cooked french fry it's like all the moisture's been cooked out of them so they're really intensely flavored and sweet you're going to have a salad at Thanksgiving you want it to have some wow factor and something that's going to draw people in because they're just like on this mashed potato like turkey gravy cranberry Mission so for the for the arugula salad with the grapes first thing I did was I took the grapes and I just crush them in a mortar pestle and that's just to get all the juice out of them but not lose anything and take that and then some DIC shallots Cherry vinegar let that sit and then whisk in some olive oil you don't want to manhandle it but you do want to toss it well enough so that the greens all get coated and then it's all about kind of like the layering when you're plating so plate that sort of very gently but thoughtfully so just kind of take those little curls toss them in I usually kind of like to sort lift and lift in place you want it all to be sort of woven together and then we finished the salad with a nice drizzling of saba and it just has this really sort of grapy but Savory kind of deep uh flavor to it I think Thanksgiving is the most food driven holiday I mean we actually are celebrating something to do with food it is the one that people really hook into what they had as a kid either the pros or the cons and what they expect and what that meal means to youI'm Suzanne Goen and we're in my home Kitchen in Los Angeles Thanksgiving was a really was a big deal when I was growing up turkeys is pretty much a given so I think the sides and salads and things like that are a time when you can give them something sort of a little bit unexpected but still keeping with what they're hoping for and what tastes and feels like Thanksgiving for them um rather than doing something with pumpkin or with sweet potatoes for me I like doing something with the caboa squash and I toss them with olive oil and roast them till they're you know really crispy caramelized on one side but then also very tender and soft and then layer it with dandelion and um make a little relish of uh diced parmesan cheese and some sliver dates and then finish it with a little scattering of the pitas or pumpkin seeds and I can tell we got them just right by the way they're crunching so it's really more about assembling and kind of layering all those ingredients Each of which is going to bring a different flavor so the other dish I'd be thinking of for Thanksgiving is some kind some kind of green vegetable you know I think it's hard to be the thing to be the green vegetable on the Thanksgiving table cuz there's so much to compete with so just took the um Blue Lake beans and then uh cooked those for a long time with wedges of onion and garlic and then herbs big pieces of sage and Rosemary and Thyme I think texture is such an important part of how we enjoy food it's the texture of the beans themselves but then also of the onion and the garlic and the and the herbs and sort of thinking of all those elements especially when the the food is really simple it's really important to kind of nail all those all those moments so they get really nice and crispy on the outside like a very cooked french fry it's like all the moisture's been cooked out of them so they're really intensely flavored and sweet you're going to have a salad at Thanksgiving you want it to have some wow factor and something that's going to draw people in because they're just like on this mashed potato like turkey gravy cranberry Mission so for the for the arugula salad with the grapes first thing I did was I took the grapes and I just crush them in a mortar pestle and that's just to get all the juice out of them but not lose anything and take that and then some DIC shallots Cherry vinegar let that sit and then whisk in some olive oil you don't want to manhandle it but you do want to toss it well enough so that the greens all get coated and then it's all about kind of like the layering when you're plating so plate that sort of very gently but thoughtfully so just kind of take those little curls toss them in I usually kind of like to sort lift and lift in place you want it all to be sort of woven together and then we finished the salad with a nice drizzling of saba and it just has this really sort of grapy but Savory kind of deep uh flavor to it I think Thanksgiving is the most food driven holiday I mean we actually are celebrating something to do with food it is the one that people really hook into what they had as a kid either the pros or the cons and what they expect and what that meal means to you\n"