Thanksgiving Recipes

We are still sorting through some serious issues here in the chaos house, so thanks for bearing with me.  Here is a quick round-up of all of the festive, holiday recipes on the site if you are looking for some inspiration this Thanksgiving.

Appetizers

• Maple Bacon White Bean Salad -This salad can be thrown together in minutes and offers a nice green starter or side.
• Caramelized Pear and Blue Cheese Salad -This is an impressive salad to serve alongside the big meal.  Mix up the dressing ahead of time and combine greens, onions, pecans, and blue cheese in a serving bowl the day before and refrigerate.  Thursday morning, set the dressing on the counter to warm up.  When ready to serve, caramelize your pears quickly in a hot skillet, toss greens mixture with dressing and serve.
• Onion Dip -A great choice for anyone asked to bring a snack for guests to nibble on during dinner preparations.  Mix it up at home and it will be ready to serve by the time you reach your destination.
• Prosciutto and Cheese Wrapped Figs -We can still get fresh figs in Texas and if you can get them this makes a nice fancy appetizer for party guests.
• Spinach Dip -Another quick, cold dip.  This is a great one to prepare alongside a vegetable crudité platter.
• Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip -This is a nice one to make early in the day for guest and kitchen helpers to munch on, you know, to keep their strength up for the big meal.
• Homemade Chex Party Mix -Popular for a reason this is another great nibble to set out to keep people from scratching at the kitchen door.

Sides

• Creamed Corn -I love creamed corn.  We usually heat up frozen corn as an additional vegetable side, but this creamed corn is rich and delicious.  Prepare on the stove top while the turkey is resting.
• Corn Casserole -This is an easy, delicious way to serve corn at Thanksgiving.  It can also be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until ready to bake.
• Creamed Spinach -Another great vegetable side that’s quick to prepare while the turkey rests.  Thaw a box of frozen spinach and squeeze dry to make this one super fast.
• Cranberry Sauce -Cranberry sauce is so easy to make there really is no excuse.  It can also be made several days ahead, just don’t forget to pull it out of the fridge Thursday morning!
• Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole -Mix this one up the day before and refrigerate.  On Thursday, set it on the counter to warm up while the turkey is in the oven.  Once the turkey is out and resting, this one can take a spot on the bottom rack next to the dressing.
• Caramelized Butternut Squash -A good alternative to sweet potatoes, these roast on the top rack while the casseroles are heating up.  Chop your squash the day before and refrigerate in a large mixing bowl.  Just dump your sugar and butter in the bowl, toss, and spread out on a baking sheet when ready to roast.
• Twice Baked Potato Casserole -Because you can’t have too many cheesy starches at Thanksgiving.  A good one for those who don’t have traditional mashed potatoes (or make a large pot of mashed potatoes and split in half to have both).
• Brown Sugar Bacon Brussels Sprouts -I always like to serve as many vegetables at Thanksgiving as possible, I think it is a nice balance to the heaviness of the rest of the dishes.

The Turkey

• Fried Turkey -Free up your oven and cook your turkey in an hour rather than waiting around all day.
• Smoked Turkey -Try something different this year (and free up your oven)!

Desserts

• Blueberry Pie -Use economical frozen blueberries and mix up the pie ahead of time.  Can be baked the day before and set out at room temperature or made up and refrigerated and baked after dinner.
• Cherry Pie -This is a super quick one and can be made ahead or even while dinner is being served.
• Chocolate Pie -Make the day before and refrigerate. Try it with an Oreo cookie crust! Make fresh whipped cream for topping before serving.
• Lemon Meringue Pie -Make the day before and refrigerate.
• Secret Family Recipe Cheesecake -Make the day before and refrigerate.
• Pumpkin Cheesecake -A spin on the classic.
• Classic Cream Pies -Banana or Coconut this one gets made ahead and chilled until serving as well.

Extras

• Cream Soup Substitute -Make ahead of time to use in your casseroles.
• Chicken or Turkey Stock -Make ahead to have turkey stock on hand for stuffing and gravy, especially if you are smoking or frying your turkey.  Definitely make it after dinner with your carcass for the next week’s turkey noodle soup, etc…
• Homemade Apple Cider -For sipping.

Thank you all so much for playing along with the Fresh Express Recipe Contest!  The chaos household is going through several huge transitions right now so I appreciate your patience with the delay in posting.  All of the entries sounded delicious and it was really hard to pick only three for you to vote on.

Kill the Microwave caught my attention with her non-salad entry:

Wild Rocket Tartines

Place the toasted bread slices on plates. Top each slice with the onion/mushroom/tomato mixture. Crown with a half cup of dressed Zest Blend and large shavings of parmesan cheese.

Comfort food meets fast food

Serves 4

4 thin slices of day-old sourdough or boule bread
10 mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 red onion, diced
1 cup slivered sundried tomatoes packed in oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cups washed Fresh Express Wild Rocket Zest Blend
1 cup parmesan shavings
Fleur de sel and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Brush a thin layer of olive oil onto both sides of the sliced bread and broil in an oven until golden brown (moments). Set aside to cool.

On the stovetop, heat 1 tsbp olive oil in a fry pan and sauté the red onions and mushrooms on medium heat until they begin to caramelize. Add the sundried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Allow the balsamic to reduce to a thick syrup then remove from heat.

In a bowl, toss Fresh Express Wild Rocket Zest Blend with the juice of one lemon and ¼ cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Next up was Biz from My Bizzy Kitchen and The Biggest Diabetic Loser with a salad concept I have been wanting to try forever:

The appetizer I got was a garlic crostini with a fried goat cheese medallion with a base of proscuitto and drizzled with a balsamic reduction.

Fried Goat Cheese Salad with Pears, Proscuitto and Balsamic Dressing

8 ounce log of goat cheese.
1/2 teaspoon minced rosemary
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1/8 to 1/4 cup flour
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup Italian style bread crumbs
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 slices of prosciutto, julienned
2 pears, sliced
1 back Wild Rocket Blend Salad
4 ounces packaged garlic chips

Cut the goat cheese into 8 rounds. In a small bowl, add rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper. Sprinkle both sides with this mixture.

Put the flour, egg and bread crumbs into 3 separate paper plates. Dredge the goat cheese in the flour, then dip in the eg, and then coat with the bread crumbs. Transfer the goat cheese to a plate lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until chilled.

In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, honey and oil – season with salt and pepper. This is the dressing.

In a nonstick pan, heat up about 1/4 cup of olive oil until it shimmers. Add the chilled goat cheese and cook over medium high heat until golden and crisp – about 2 minutes on each side.

In a large bowl, put 1 bag of Artesinal salad and toss with dressing.

To plate – divide salad mixture onto four plates. Top with 2 goat cheese medallions on each plate, 1 slice of julienned proscuitto and 1/2 a sliced pear. Put 1 ounce of garlic chips on top for a flavorful crunch.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

And the final recipe for you to vote on is Kelli’s which is a little different, but sounds easy and delicious:

Boil off your favorite short pasta. I love penne for this. Rinse and chill when it’s finished.

While your pasta is boiling, make a dressing with sour cream, lemon juice, dill and extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the dressing with the pasta, chopped smoked salmon and a bag of Fresh Express Wild Rocket Zest blend. Serve cold and enjoy!

So now dear readers it is up to you to decide which of these delicious recipes I will be making for you and who will win the $25 gift card.  Voting will be open through Friday, November 5th.  I can’t wait to see which one you pick!

Thank you to every one who voted and contributed!  Comments are now closed which means Biz is the winner by a landslide! I can’t wait to try it out!

Here we go friends!  I am excited to announce that Fresh Express has graciously offered to sponsor a recipe contest for my readers.  The winner of the contest will receive a $25 AmEx Gift Card and I will make and feature their recipe in a post here.  To enter the contest all you have to do is comment below with your recipe by Friday, October 22nd.  The recipes should feature either the bold, yet delicate Wild Rocket Zest blend or the sweet and mild Sierra Crisp Herb blend.  Based on your comments below I will pick three recipes that sound the most interesting and flavorful.  I will present those three recipes here for a vote in the comments.  The winning recipe will be made, photographed, and posted by me (with the credit going to you or your blog if you have one) and Fresh Express will send the winner their gift card.

The contest run-down:

• The recipe must feature a Fresh Express Artisanal Blend, however it does not have to be a salad recipe.
• The recipe does not have to be fully written out with measurements (unless necessary for success) but should give the readers and myself a good idea of what it is.  Sell your recipe!
• The commenter must leave me a valid email address so that I can get full recipe instructions and shipping information in the next few weeks.
• No recipes accepted after Friday, October 22nd.

So go forth and create delicious recipes!  I can’t wait to see what you all come up with.  If you need inspiration the Fresh Express Artisanal Blends should be available in stores near you and you can print a $1 off coupon from the Fresh Express website.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated!  Comments are now closed.

We have never been ones to eat the same meals every week, or even every month.  In fact, a lot of our repeat meals are seasonal traditions that we enjoy every year-once or twice a year.  That is one of the reasons I can post so many recipes here.  The disadvantage to that is some of these easy family pleasing weeknight meals get lost in the shuffle.  Chicken Parmesan is one of those meals-it has something for everyone and doesn’t take too much time to put on the table.  Made with your favorite jarred marinara sauce it is even faster but any good spaghetti sauce recipe will work (just leave the meat out) like this one or this one.  If you can manage to have leftovers they make great sandwiches the next day! Click here for the recipe »