Hope's Homestead: Thanksgiving vegetable dishes and Liver Support with Beets

Thanksgiving 2014 is behind us and while I missed two of our older children, Alyssa teaching in the U.K. and Mitchell, studying at the University of Victoria, there was still much to be thankful for.

For instance, I'm very grateful that there is such a thing as Skype. When my sister J traveled the world in her early 20's, there was no such thing as Skype, or even email. I know my mom was on pins and needles between letters. Additionally, 100 years ago when my grandfather, Robert Clark left England for Canada, my great grandmother Jane must have been beside herself with worry, since letters only came a few times a year, if that. I was able to "see" and talk with both of our children on the weekend and give them a kiss on their forehead. (via the screen) They are both happy and living their dream. What more can a mom want for her children?

Another reason to be thankful, is that I have a sister and brother-in-law who can pop in for a quick visit, or spontaneously join us for Thanksgiving dinner. Also, my oldest son Clark's girlfriend, joined us as well. Times are changing and this is going to be a new normal as our children grow up, move away from home or come home with loved ones whom they have found out in the world.

When I heard we were having more than just "us," I went into "company mode." Which is what D calls it when I start to clean and cook rather madly. I want to make sure the dinner would be extra special. Although I probably would have done several of these new dishes for our immediate family, because I believe, to live a gracious life means making every moment special. We all deserve candlelight, linen napkins and clean glasses, even if we are alone. Maybe ESPECIALLY then.

I was so happy with the results of our dinner, I thought I would write a blog about it AND also include something my brother in law, B, sent me awhile ago after I blogged about making borscht. B's ancestors are borscht makers from way back, so beets etc are in his blood. If you have read my blog you know about my morning green drink and how I like to support my liver by juicing lots of veggies, particularly green ones. I think it gives me the energy I need to keep up with our family. Also, it's another way of balancing hormones and boosting immunities. I did not know that beets were so highly acclaimed so I thought I would pass this on to my viewers. Here are some thoughts from my blog guest, my brother in law, B.

He wrote:

We admittedly love beets, which not all people can say about themselves. 
 
The lowly beet is gaining some respect lately as health consciousness rises
across the population.   One point that caught our attention is it's roll in
the secondary breakdown of nutrients in our liver.  That aside, put some
colour in your life!  Live it up!
 
There are as many borscht recipes as their are cooks.  The key IMO is to get
it into those stomachs around us.  My own family tradition would likely have
been related to my swede/Irish mother from my Georgian/Ukrainian father's
childhood recollection.  In turn our recipe is my own  version of that
concoction.  I will spare you the minute details and just say that we use
mega dill and beets, all the other usual suspects, and as can be seen from
the pic, chard or beet tops.  Another key memory for me is the finish with a
tablespoon of butter and the same of vinegar.

B sent me a picture of his borscht and sadly I couldn't copy and paste it here....but the picture above, gets your saliva juices going hey?....his picture had chunky beets in his soup...oh happy LIVER.

Thanks B. for sharing your thoughts on the lowly Beet and I hope it inspires my homesteading friends to plant a good portion of this unremarkable vegetable in their garden next spring. (don't forget you can eat the tops too and they keep really well throughout the winter, making them excellent in your sustainable root cellar/garage/basement.

Now onto my Thanksgiving line up of new dishes, oh my, if you love vegetables like I do, hold onto your seats. Next year we may even say goodbye to Mr. Turkey, who sadly was only a side player this year. Don't get me started on our movement towards being vegetarians. It's a process.

Okay, here were the new dishes, drum roll please....ta, ta, ta, ta, ta,

Green and Yellow Beans with /Wild Mushooms
Candied Yams with Apples
Brussel Sprouts and Pancetta and Rosemary
Roasted Garlic Squash and Crispy Sage Brown Butter (yum)

My sister also brought homemade roasted carrots with maple syrup...(she must have just picked them as they were amazing!)

For my Canadian friends, making these dishes for Thanksgiving 2014 is too late, but maybe you can incorporate them into your December holiday dinner menu. For my American blog readers however there is still time. Source out your supplies and start planning a really special Thanksgiving feast. The nice thing about Canadian thanksgiving in mid October, is that a lot of the herbs etc are still growing in the garden. Also, my butternut squash supply is still intact. (Thanks J for the big one)

Also, I have to give total credit to the web site,"Delish.com." As the name implies, these dishes are/were, they went fast, delicious. If you are looking to spice up your holiday table, I hope you try them out and add lots more vegetables to your meals. Any day can have a special vegetable dish...if we truly love ourselves...and want to support our liver etc.

Here is vegetable dish #1

Green and Yellow Beans with Wild Mushrooms

Serves 10
Total time 35 min
Prep time 20 min
Cook time 15 min

Ingredients

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Metric

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1 pound(s) green beans, trimmed
1 pound(s) yellow wax beans, trimmed
3 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
2 clove(s) garlic, minced
8 ounce(s) wild mushrooms, such as chanterelle, oyster or porcini, trimmed and sliced (see Substitution Note)
1/2 teaspoon(s) kosher salt, divided
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add green beans and wax beans and cook until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. (Cook for another minute or two if you like your green beans more tender.) Drain well.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they release their juices and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.
Reserve 1 tablespoon of the mushrooms for garnish. Add the cooked beans to the mushrooms in the pan and cook, stirring to combine, until heated through, 1 to 3 minutes. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Serve topped with the reserved mushrooms.
Substitution note: If you cant find wild mushrooms, use button or cremini mushrooms.

Vegetable dish #2

Candied Yams with Apples

Serves 8
Total time 1 hour/30 min
Prep time 15 min
Cook time 1 hr 15 min
Oven temp 350 degrees

Ingredients

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Metric

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3 pound(s) yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound(s) Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, cut into 1-inch wedges
4 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter
1/4 cup(s) honey
1 teaspoon(s) salt
1/4 teaspoon(s) nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon(s) cayenne pepper

Roast the yams: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss all ingredients in a large bowl to combine. Transfer to a baking dish and bake, stirring occasionally, until yams are tender, about 1 hour. Increase oven to 500 degrees F and bake until liquid evaporates and yams are browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Vegetable dish #3

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Rosemary

Serves 8
Total time 26 minutes

Ingredients

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Metric

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Salt and pepper
3 container(s) (10 ounces each) Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon(s) olive oil
2 ounce(s) pancetta, chopped
1 teaspoon(s) chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup(s) pine nuts (pignoli), toasted (I used almonds)

In covered 5- to 6-quart saucepot, heat 3 quarts water and 1 teaspoon salt to boiling on high. Meanwhile, pull off any yellow or wilted leaves from Brussels sprouts; trim stem ends. Cut each sprout in half.
Add Brussels sprouts to boiling water and cook, uncovered, 5 minutes. Drain. Plunge Brussels sprouts into large bowl filled with ice water to chill quickly. Drain well. If not continuing with recipe right away, place sprouts in plastic storage bags and refrigerate until ready to use.
In 12-inch skillet, heat oil on medium until hot. Add pancetta and cook 2 to 3 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in rosemary and cook 1 minute.
To mixture in skillet, add Brussels sprouts and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook on medium-high 5 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently. Add pine nuts; toss to combine

Vegetable dish #4....my personal favourite as it was so easy and I love garlic and sage

Roasted Garlic Squash with Crispy Sage Brown Butter

Serves 8
Total time 1 hr 30 min
Prep 15 min
Cook Time 1 hr 15 min
Oven 350 degrees

Ingredients

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Metric

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1/2 cup(s) peeled garlic cloves
4 teaspoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3x1-inch chunks
1 teaspoon(s) kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper
5 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter
24 fresh sage leaves

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss garlic with 1 teaspoon of the oil; wrap in a foil packet. Put squash on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with remaining oil, salt, and pepper. Place squash and garlic packet in oven; roast squash 1 hour, turning pieces several times, or until browned and tender. Roast garlic packet 45 minutes or until cloves are tender and soft.
Five minutes before the squash is done, melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sage leaves and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until butter is lightly browned and smells nutty and sage leaves start to crisp. Remove the skillet from heat; transfer sage leaves with a slotted spoon to a paper towel; reserve the brown butter.
Transfer roasted squash and garlic cloves to a large serving bowl. Drizzle with browned butter. Top with crispy sage leaves.

.And voila......

I dished up and then realized something was missing...I added some gravy, cranberry sauce and a dill from my stash...oh and one of my homemade dinner buns too...see my dinner bun recipe.

Sorry this was blurry...everyone was waiting for me to join them in the dining room..."are you taking pics for your blog again mom!"

Okay, I know this doesn't look very pretty, but we did our dinner buffet style around the kitchen island and well, the cook (me) was the last one to dish up. Everyone was patiently waiting for me to join them in the dining room, I thought I had better just pile it on and dash. Do you skip lunch on Thanksgiving too? It all looked so good and was delish.

My personal favourite were the beans and the butternut squash ,but even the potatoes were whipped beautifully (thanks B) and the gravy was the BEST I have ever had at my house and that credit goes to my sister J who made it and gave me some tips for next time. (thank you...no lumpy gravy in the future) We were all helping out, while D carved the turkey. We pulled off another Thanksgiving dinner! Thanks to all who attended. It was a special memory for the little ones.

Will, Victoria and Kate (close up) enjoying their meal at the little table...does everyone do a little table?

The kids dashed off to watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving video, while we enjoyed our pie in relative peace and quiet.....but isn't all that little people noise just the BEST! They were so excited and helped me to remember, we are always creating memories but the present moment is IT!

I made the pies. An apple and a pumpkin, the night before Thanksgiving, along with my ambrosia salad....Although they aren't the most beautiful pies, they were made from scratch, Tenderlake lard, flour, salt and water, really easy but the trick is in the rolling. I will have to blog about pie making...a lost art in my opinion. I had an Auntie Geordie who was a master pie maker. I wish I had studied with her before she passed away. With it being so easy to buy pumpkin and apple pies at Costco for low cost, I think we are loosing the fine art of pie making but don't you just love PIE?

As I leave you, I thought I would suggest a great Thanksgiving movie to watch with your family. Also, something for the little kids.

Check out the movie called, "The Old Fashion Thanksgiving" based on a short story by Louise May Alcott (she wrote Little Women) and of course the classic of all time, "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving." (if you can't see the clips below, click on the highlighted video titles above for a connection link.