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Food Fight
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The Best Vegetables to Serve at Thanksgiving Dinner;
Or, Don’t Tell Me I Have to Make Creamed Onions Again!
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In an informal poll, three out of three family members could agree on only one vegetable for Thanksgiving dinner: mashed potatoes. As a vehicle for absorbing gravy, mashed potatoes are unbeatable.
Opinion was divided three ways on what the other vegetables should (or shouldn’t) be. One person only likes carrots; the other two argue that carrots, being orange, are therefore too similar to pumpkin, which will show up as pie. A second person (also of the teenager persuasion) hates cooked carrots but loves sweet potatoes (go figure), but the others deploy the pumpkin argument and insist that sweet potatoes are as redundant as carrots. A third person (to whom I’m married) insists that it isn’t Thanksgiving without creamed onions, which I detest, and Brussels sprouts, which I like (in moderation).
Does this happen in every family? Although there is no right or wrong answer to this food fight, here is one possible solution: What would the Pilgrims have done? History tells us that the Pilgrims probably relied on their guests, the Wampanoag Indians, to supply the vegetable course. They brought the squashes, corn, and beans they knew how to grow in abundance.
This year, I too will rely on our guests to provide the vegetables of their choice. Personally, I hope someone brings pickled beets, or sweet potatoes topped with candied pecans. Or maybe a large casserole filled with aromatic winter vegetables:
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| Roasted Winter Vegetables with Thyme and Balsamic Vinegar |
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4 large beets, peeled and cut into wedges
2 pounds rutabagas, peeled and cut into small chunks
2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges
4 or 5 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup olive oil
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh thyme
sprinkling of kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
Place all prepared vegetables in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, vinegar, thyme, salt, and pepper. Spread out in two large baking pans and roast at 400°F for about one hour, until tender, stirring occasionally. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Last Bite
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The Season of Rest and Relaxation (tra la la)
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In a simpler time in the past, November marked the culmination of the agricultural year, a time of respite when the harvest had been gathered and preserved and farmers could take a breather. Animals that weren’t being wintered over were slaughtered or sold, and sides of bacon and ropes of sausage slow-cooked in smokehouses. With fewer animals to care for and more meat for the table, families enjoyed roasts and joints of meat with their root vegetables and grains, adding a nice layer of fat to their ribs for personal insulation.
There was plenty of food for visitors, too, and with roads not yet blocked by snow and mud, families and friends could get together easily for harvest feasts, lighting this dark time of the year with bonfires and candles and hearth fires. Most years saw a period of pleasant weather known as Indian Summer, originally designated as the days following the feast of St. Martin, November 11.
We still have those glorious Indian Summer days, but the sense of relaxation and well-deserved rest has vanished. Instead, so often we feel rushed and obligated and overwhelmed by the pressure of the holidays as the year draws to an end.
Especially this year, with world events reminding us so poignantly about the important personal ties that bind us together in community, let’s try to simplify, to slow the pace, to recapture some of this season’s long-ago sense of respite and thanksgiving.
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