And if you need a last minute dessert, baked apples stuffed with raisins, oatmeal and chopped nuts is about as simple and easy as it can get.
The Big Feast will be upon us next week, and I can't wait. Every year I try to come up with something a little different for our dinner, and inevitably it's a side dish of some sort. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino reminds me, there's about a million clever ideas you can whip up, even at the last minute.
I love to make a simple stuffing for my turkey, which I serve right out of the bird. But a better alternative is to make "dressing" that bakes in the oven. By and large, dressings are more elaborate than stuffing but just as easy to prepare.
If you can pick up some cornbread from the store, or make your own, you're well on your way to making a nice dressing. Traditional ingredients would be onion, celery and sage, but there are millions of other options. Scallions, green onions, minced shallots can all add zing. Finely chopped peppers both mild and hot can add color and zest. Corn kernels give you little pops of flavor. Dried fruit like cranberries, currents or apricots and a lot of flavor. Small chunks of sausage are always welcome. And to moisten the dressing you can use chicken broth, melted butter, white wine, maple syrup, or a little orange juice.
Sweet potatoes are a fabulous idea for your feast. Straight-up baked sweet potatoes are great, but consider giving them the twice baked treatment. Scoop out the cooked potato flesh and beat it smooth, re-stuff the skins and then add a topping. Start with grated cheddar cheese, and then go wild. Red onion, lemon, feta cheese and tzaziki give it a Greek twist. Apples, shredded Brussels sprouts and cranberries make it autumnal. While curried chickpeas, plain yogurt and spinach take it in an
Indian direction.
Take advantage of the spectrum of colors that carrots display to make an eye-popping roasted carrot dish, garnished with ground hazel nuts, parmesan cheese and sprigs of Italian parsley.
If you have a few random vegetables in your fridge, cut them up into bite-sized pieces, arrange them on a parchment covered baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil, and hit them with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes in a hot oven, and you have a simple, delicious side dish to pass around.
How about creamed onions? If you can whip up a quick béchamel sauce, you can make this tempting dish. Just halve some Brussels sprouts, and boil them along with some pearl onions. Toss them into your sauce and you've got a winner. Very fast, and very easy.
Since winter squashes are available now, it would be a shame not to invite them along. Stuffed acorn squash is a very attractive dish. Try making a stuffing with quinoa, onions, sage, chopped walnuts, dried cranberries and a dollop of apple cider vinegar.
