Ideas for Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend – a time for giving thanks for the harvest and that necessarily means friends and family and, of course, food. As we all know, holidays tend to be a time for a little indulgence, which, for many, spells complicated and time-consuming – something you definitely don’t need if you are cooking for a crowd. I like to use high quality ingredients in simple recipes, highlighting their flavour. Just because something tastes great, doesn’t mean it has to be complicated!

Seafood Cocktail

I’ve come up with a seafood cocktail with a lemon-dill dressing for JamieOliver.Com which is a nice way to start a Thanksgiving (or let’s face it, any special occasion) meal because it combines what many people see as “fancy” ingredients (salmon, lobster) but is actually really easy to make and (even better) you can make it ahead of time!

If you host a less-formal gathering, like we will be this year, you could also serve the seafood in separate bowls alongside the sauce and allow your guests to build their own dish according to which seafood they prefer (I wouldn’t add the salmon for my own plate, for example!). For serving, I’ve left the prawns out of the “mix” and served them on the side, as I love the pop of colour they give this dish.

Get the recipe for seafood cocktail with lemon-dill dressing here.

Turkey, vegetables and beyond!

For the main event, over on JamieOliver.Com, there are a ton of ideas for prepping your turkey and then lots of ideas for leftover vegetables too (aren’t leftovers the best?). I’ve also worked on some vegetarian recipes starting out with a base recipe for simple sautéed vegetables with a creamy mayonnaise sauce that can be used as a base for any number of vegetarian main courses. So easy to prep, so versatile…

This basic recipe has you prepping vegetables that you can use for both side dishes and vegetarian mains – you’ll prep once then be able to make many dishes – my idea of multi-tasking which I am always looking to do on a holiday weekend when I am juggling counter and oven space!

Get the recipe for simple sautéed vegetables and a creamy vegetable casserole over on JamieOliver.Com.

Dessert!

Looking for something a little different for dessert? There are also recipes for dairy-free pumpkin pie and dairy-free pumpkin baked donuts (with a secret ingredient you won’t believe!).

If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, have a wonderful celebration of food, family and friends.

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