Bring Your Garden to the Table This Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving provides the perfect opportunity to showcase your produce. Many homegrown fruits and vegetables are incorporated into traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Here are a few ways you can put your garden favorites to use this Thursday!
Fresh Chopped Salads
Homegrown lettuce makes the perfect base for your Thanksgiving salad. It is a cold weather crop that can be grown through late November. This means you can pick your lettuce the day before Thanksgiving, fresh and ready to serve!
Once you have harvested your lettuce, wash it thoroughly. Store it in the fridge with a wet paper towel until you are ready to prepare your dish. It is up to you what ingredients you add to your chopped salad. Some favorites you can grow include tomatoes, onions, carrots and eggs!
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet potatoes are a staple of Thanksgiving dishes and desserts. They are grown until the first frost, which is typically in early November. If stored in a container that circulates air, such as an open bowl or paper bag, potatoes can last 7-8 months. When Thanksgiving comes around they will still be fresh and taste better than produce from the grocery.
This casserole is not very difficult to make, which is part of why it is so popular. To prepare sweet potatoes, all you need to do is skin and wash them. Mash the sweet potatoes and add them to a mixing bowl. Once in the bowl, whisk them together with the other ingredients and bake until golden brown!
Classic Turkey Stuffing
This traditional dish is one of the most common Thanksgiving sides! It uses a few different garden plants in its recipe. Celery and carrots are used to contribute to the stuffing’s texture, and both grow through mid-November. Just like lettuce, they can be picked the day before they are cooked.
Simply wash and cut the vegetables into thin pieces. Then, add the veggies to the stuffing mixture and cook!
Delicious Green Bean Casserole
Green beans are a common vegetable that work as a side to a variety of entrees. They are a warm weather crop, harvested just weeks before Thanksgiving.
Green bean casserole is one of the classic Thanksgiving dishes that your guests cannot seem to get enough of! Wash your green beans, and don’t forget to cut off the tough stems. Try cooking them in the oven for 10 minutes before adding them to the rest of the casserole mix to give them a softer texture.
With these suggestions, you can create your own spread of dishes, all using fresh ingredients from your garden! No matter how you decide to serve up your Thanksgiving favorites, enjoy the holidays!
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