For foodies, Thanksgiving is the ultimate holiday and celebration of all things food. I look forward to this day every year, not only for the food, but for the time spent with family that always seems to take on a unique flavor all its own. Giving thanks for the things we have in life and the food we have to enjoy is an American tradition, but one that is changing and evolving beyond he traditional turkey and mashed potatoes.
My family likes to have some of the classics at our table every year but we also like to experiment with new takes on old favorites, and as i’ve learned so do many others. So, i’ve compiled a list of new ways to do Thanksgiving that range from slight diversions to all out transformations. How will you shake up your table this year?
An Italian Style Thanksgiving
Giada De Laurentiis is the American sweetheart of Italian cooking and she has created a menu that channels Italian flavors into classic Thanksgiving dishes, like ciabatta stuffing with pancetta and sweet potato gnocchi. Click here for the entire menu: Giada De Laurentiis’s Thanksgiving Menu
Go Greek!
Chef Michael Symon has created a greek-inspired Thanksgiving menu that incorporates Mediterranean favorites like eggplant, spanakopitas, and root vegetable salad with feta cheese. Click here for the entire menu: Michael Symon’s Thanksgiving Menu
South of the Border Feast
Master Top Chef and American expert on Mexican cooking, Rick Bayless has introduced a new website based on his restaurant and brand Frontera Grill called Frontera Fiesta. They have a Thanksgiving menu that sounds absolutely amazing and is a perfect balance of Mexican flavors with your traditional favorites. With dishes like chili-glazed sweet potatoes, pumpkin chipotle soup, and beer brined turkey with adobo chilies, your table will never be the same again. Click here for the entire menu: Frontera Fiesta Thanksgiving
Not your Mama’s bird
This year at my house we have a small guest list and the thought of cooking a huge bird to feed the 5 of us seemed like too much work. So I thought why not try a simpler, easier take on turkey by preparing a Roulade. A Roulade is essentially a breast of meat stuffed with some type of mixture (in this case stuffing), rolled, tied and baked so that when sliced it incorporates a perfect proportion of meat and stuffing. Ina Garten has a fantastic recipe for Turkey Roulade in her Back to Basics cookbook that we are going to try this year. But hers isn’t the only one, here are a few you could try:
Ina Garten Roasted Turkey Roulade with fig and cranberry stuffing
Click here to watch Ina prepare it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/turkey-roulade/43216.html
Food Network Kitchen’s Turkey Roulade With Swiss Chard
Emeril’s Turkey Breast Roulade with Mushroom -Wild Rice Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes 50 Ways
The Food Network has compiled a list of 50 different takes on mashed potatoes, which one will you try? I know i’m excited about Mashed potatoes with Truffle Oil! Click here for the entire list: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-mashed-potatoes-1–10/index.html
Tara O'Keeffe
Thanks for offering these out of the box ideas! We’ll be having a traditional Thanksgiving, the inlaws are cooking but I’ll keep these ideas handy for Christmas!
So interesting! My cousins are vegetarians, and my grandma is Italian, so we would always have homemade spinach ravioli with our thanksgiving dinner! So good! Now Thanksgiving doesn’t seem quite the same without the pasta
Thanks for the feedback! I think it’s hard to break traditions, but an un-conventional feast can be great too. I love that you incorporate pasta. Perhaps a pumpkin ravioli would be a fun way to tie in the Italian theme with a thanksgiving classic. The link I posted to Giada’s menu has a really cool recipe for sweet potato gnocchi that sounds amazing!
Oh I love all these creative ideas!!!
oh cool post and love the roti post, aren’t they wonderful