Serve these caramelized onions in place of the creamed ones that grace many holiday tables. These too are sweet, but also hot and lower in fat and won’t fill you up! These can also grilled over a low flame, as shown in the photo. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.
Spicy Green Beans
These beans go well with simple meats, such as turkey, or with cheese dishes. They add color and just a mild heat to any meal. For a different taste, I’ve also used this recipe substituting zucchini squash for the beans and serrano chiles for more heat.
Serrano Ginger Cranberry Chutney
Where is it written that canned cranberry sauce has to be served with at Thanksgiving? The sweet, sour, hot tastes of this chutney compliments turkey, chicken, and even pork. The addition of black pepper may sound odd, but it does provide a tasty accent to the chutney.
Winter Harvest Salad
This marinated spicy salad is rather like the traditional Mexican Christmas Eve Salad and takes advantage of fall vegetables. Substitute celery for the jicama, add oranges or apples, and you have a lower-fat take on a Waldorf salad.
Curry-Pumpkin Bisque
I don’t always serve pumpkin pie for desert at Thanksgiving. Sometimes I make a pumpkin cheese cake, muffins, or this spicy soup with an island taste. If you don’t want to use pumpkin, any winter squash will do. Use butternut, acorn, or Hubbard, or for preparation ease, use canned pumpkin puree.