Easy Thanksgiving Side Salads

Lemon-Garlic broccoli

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, thoughts of meal meal planning and shopping are overwhelming.  The turkey is a given (unless you’re vegetarian).  Over indulgence and a little gluttony take over with the amount of food we prepare and eat…. but how else are we supposed to have leftovers???

Here a couple of very easy side dishes, not overwhelming or heavy to send you into that carb coma.  Both are cold sides and can be prepared a day ahead to lessen the load on the big turkey day.  For these recipes, I don’t measure… I just kinda eyeball it…  you can easily adjust the amount for the number of people you are serving.

Lemon-Garlic Broccoli

2 heads/crowns fresh broccoli

several cloves of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

1 – 2 lemons

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Rinse broccoli and cut off most of the stalk.  With a sharp knife, separate the spears of broccoli.  Steam broccoli in a large enough pot to accommodate until it’s al dente.  The steaming time is variable – not sure why…. some broccoli is “tough” and just takes longer.  Be careful not to overcook – no mushy broccoli allowed!  Place the broccoli in a baking/serving dish in one layer… best to avoid the aluminum pans – they discolor the broccoli and garlic.

Here’s where the eyeball method comes in – we love a lot of garlic in our family but some don’t tolerate it as much as others.  Chop garlic into large pieces and place over the broccoli in the pan  (the large pieces can easily be avoided for those that don’t want to eat that much garlic).  Drizzle olive oil over the broccoli and garlic.  Squeeze the lemon on top, being careful to keep the seeds out…. if they fall in, you can just pick them out – no one will know.  Add salt and pepper to taste and voila!!!  That’s it.  Just cover and place in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Steamed String Beans with Red Onion Salad

String Bean and Red Onion Salad

1 lb fresh string beans, rinsed and stems removed

1 small red onion, sliced thin into half moon

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Steam string beans until they are al dente (should only take a few minutes) and  please don’t over cook. Place string beans in a  medium – large bowl (you want to make sure there’s enough room to toss the string beans without them flipping over the side).

Add red onion.  *To make half moons slices, cut onion in half from top to bottom, then lay cut side down and slice cross-wise.

Drizzle olive oil, then balsamic vinegar over beans.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Gently toss string beans in dressing until well coated.  Place salad with dressing in a cover container (or large plastic ziploc) and refridgerate until ready to serve.  Every so often, I toss the beans in the covered container (with lid on) to mix the beans in the dressing.

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