Vegetarian Thanksgiving Side Dishes

 Wildly Delicious Episode 6: Vegetarian Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Thanksgiving is just a few days away! In episode 6 of Wildly Delicious, we cooked up two delicious plant-forward side dish recipes to make for Thanksgiving or any fall or winter dinner. Our founder and CEO Hank Adams has an amazing Thanksgiving Salad recipe that we've made a few times and featured in our inaugural edition of The Living Pantry. It has a lightness to the recipe thanks to the lemon and fresh ingredients while being hearty enough to be filling. Thanks to our Rise Garden, we had 75% of the ingredients already growing in our garden for the recipe! 

Of course, during the holidays you have to have a gratin. They are absolutely amazing and this butternut squash and sage gratin will wow your dinner guests. It's the ultimate cozy fall dish. Fresh sage from your Rise Garden makes all the difference in the dish and as a garnish. 

 

 

Hank's Thanksgiving Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup farro 
• 1 cup apple cider or apple juice 
• 2 bay leaves 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 1/2 cup olive oil 
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1/2-1 lemon, depending on size)
• 1/2 cup roasted salted pistachios, whole 
• 1 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped 
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced radishes (2 to 3 radishes, depending on size) 
• 2 cups arugula 
• 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese 
• Flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Step 1: In a medium saucepan, bring the farro, cider/apple juice, bay leaves, 1.5 teaspoons of salt, and 2 cups of water to boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until the farro is tender. Drain and discard the bay leaves.

Step 2: While the farro is cooking, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and set aside. 

Step 3: After draining the farro and placing it in a bowl, stir the vinaigrette into the warm farro and let it cool for 15 minutes. 

Step 4: Stir in the rest of the toppings. Then lightly fold in the arugula and the parmesan and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately. 

*Inspired by Charlie Bird’s Farro Salad

 

 

 

Butternut Squash + Sage Gratin

Ingredients

• 2 lb butternut squash, peeled, 1/8 inch slices
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 15-18 fresh sage leaves, chopped (depending on size)
• 1 cup heavy creamy (can sub half and half or non-dairy milk)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (can sub jarred nutmeg)
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 oz gruyere cheese (can use vegan parm)
• 1/2 cup butter toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

*Optional Garnishes

• Fried Sage Leaves for garnish
• Sea Salt to finish

 

Directions

Step One: Pre-heat the oven to 375 F and then prep the butternut squash. Peel the squash and slice it into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Once you reach the seeds, cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and continue slicing.

Step Two: Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the thinly-sliced leeks and saute for approximately 8 minutes. Cover the skillet half way through to help soften the leeks. After 8 minutes, when the leeks are soft, add the garlic, fresh sage, and pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 more minutes. Remove from heat.

Step Three: Whisk together the cream, salt, pepper, onion powder and grated fresh nutmeg in a small bowl. Set aside.

Step Four: Assembly. Grease a round medium-sized baking dish (we used olive oil). Add 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the baking dish. Then, begin assembly. Layer butternut squash overlapping slightly. Spring half of the sautéed leeks mixture. Pour 1/3 cup of the cream mixture over the dish. Sprinkle a third of the cheese over the layer. Repeat 1x. Then, layer with the remaining squash rounds, pour over the remaining cream mixture, top with the remaining cheese. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Step Five: Bake for 45 mins covered with foil or parchment paper at 375 degrees F. Remove the foil, increase the heat to 400 degrees F, and cook for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Step Six: Remove and let the gratin rest for at least 10 mins. While the gratin is resting, you can fry some additional sage leaves for a garnish by heating oil in a pan and frying the sage for 1-2 minutes each size. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to soak up any oil. Garnish the gratin with the fried sage and a sprinkle sea salt.

 

Enjoy!