Eat Well: Countdown to Thanksgiving = Potatoes + Cranberries + Stuffed Peppers

ED: The following post was written by my mom, WWW. Thanks, mom!

When I was little, my mother had a yearly nightmare about waking up on Thanksgiving morning with the turkey still in the freezer. She grew used to these nightmares and affectionately called them her “turkey dreams.” I have a recurring nightmare that in a moment of horrific epiphany on the day of the final exam I remember that I am enrolled in an advanced calculus class, but I have never had a “turkey dream”—that is, until last night. In my nightmare, I forgot to cook the sweet potatoes, the mashed potatoes, the stuffing, and the desserts. And when I opened up the oven to look at my heritage turkey, it was beautifully browned all over but was a whopping four inches big, kind of like a turkey you would put into an Easy Bake Oven. To make things worse, 10 people I hadn’t invited showed up for dinner, all dressed in red, demanding turkey. I woke up from this nightmare in a cold sweat and couldn’t go back to sleep for two hours. All I kept thinking was I better start making lists and planning the logistics of the meal so I don’t forget to do anything.

Making sure that everything is done at the same time is the hardest part of planning a feast, especially when you only have one oven. I am making quinoa stuffed peppers for my vegetarian main dish and they need to be cooked in the oven at the last minute as does the sweet potatoes. I can put them in the oven together as long as the pans aren’t too big, after I take out the turkey. That means, the rest of my menu must be either made outside the oven or cooked ahead. This is why I need to write everything down, check my list twice, and orchestrate the event as if I were a wedding planner.

I usually make myself a timetable when I have a big party so on the day of the event I don’t have to think or say during dessert, “Oh my gosh! I forgot to serve the asparagus!!” I am also going to make several of my dishes ahead and freeze them, such as the butternut squash soup and today’s featured recipe, quinoa stuffed peppers.

Last year I made these for the non-meat eaters in the family and all of the carnivores were fighting over the leftovers. They freeze really well—I made them for Rebecca’s family when Fable was born and they could defrost the peppers as needed (it’s one of Rebecca’s favorite recipes of mine!). Freeze them after you stuff them, and then defrost, drizzle with the oil, and cook as directed. This recipe feeds eight if you have other things at the meal. I can serve the vegetarians a whole pepper and then cut the rest in half so that the other family members can eat some, too. I got this amazing recipe from Deborah Madison’s "Vegetarian Suppers” which is a WONDERFUL cookbook and I highly recommend it for many delectable and easy recipes. Omit the feta and these peppers are vegan.

Deborah Madison’s Peppers

(stuffed with quinoa, corn, and feta cheese)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well several times

3 T olive oil

1 bunch scallions, including 2 inches of the greens, thinly sliced into rounds

2 jalapeno chiles, finely diced, seeded (or for a less spicy alternative, Anaheims)

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups, more or less, fresh or frozen corn kernels (from 3 ears of corn)

½ pound spinach leaves

½ cup chopped cilantro

¼ lb feta cheese, cut into small cubes

4 yellow, orange, or red bell peppers

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add ½ teaspoon salt, then quinoa. Give it a stir, cover, and simmer over low until the grains are tender, about 15 minutes.

Warm half of the oil in a wide skillet. Add the scallions and chiles, cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, then add the garlic, cumin, corn and spinach, along with 2 tablespoons of water.

fresh corn off the cob + peppers, onions & cumin

When the spinach is wilted, add the cilantro, quinoa, and feta. Toss everything together, taste for salt, and season with pepper.

Slice the peppers in half lengthwise without removing the tops or stems, then cut out the membranes and seeds.

Simmer them in salted water until tender to the touch of a knife but not overly soft, 4 to 5 minutes, and remove.

Fill them with the quinoa and set them in a large baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 400. Drizzle the rest of the oil over the peppers and bake the peppers until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes, then switch the heat to broil and brown the tops. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

…

It’s pretty traditional for our family to have either green beans or asparagus served simply with butter (in the case of the beans, with toasted almonds on top). I am going to serve asparagus. I wanted to roast them, my favorite method of cooking vegetables, but the oven is going to be very busy with the sweet potatoes and the peppers, so I will steam the asparagus and serve with melted butter with a little lemon added in. I just bought a new book, “Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes” by Harold McGee. I heard him talk about asparagus on NPR and that is why I bought the book! I was taught to break off the tough ends of the asparagus, which wastes a good portion of the vegetable. I also thought you should buy thinner asparagus, but McGee says: “chose THICK spears for the highest proportion of tender flesh to fibrous sheath and cut off fibrous bottoms before cooking, or peel the bottom half deeply. Snapping is not a reliable way of separating fibrous from tender portions, and wastes a significant amount.” And, he says further, “slice these trimmed bottoms into thin rounds and add to stir fries or to soup at the last minute.” I have always tossed them into the compost pile! Yikes!!

I love homemade cranberries. They are so easy to make and add such a great flavor to the dinner. I always make orange cranberries but two weeks ago, Alison commented on my post and sent me this recipe. It is DELICIOUS and so I am going to share it with all of you. Thank you, Alison!

Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce

1 ½ cups sugar


2 oranges

½ tsp FRESH grated ginger 


4 cups fresh cranberries

½ cups toasted pecans (optional)

Grate the ginger and one orange peel, put in a pot with the sugar. Add the juice from the oranges and simmer over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cranberries and cook until they all pop - about 5 minutes. Let them cool and then you can add the pecans. (It's good without the pecans, too.)

I think I will make some mashed potatoes (I like to make horseradish mashed potatoes—here’s a recipe for those who prefer them to sweet. And to round off the meal, homemade corn bread, easily prepared in the morning before the turkey goes into the oven.

Here is a re-cap of my Thanksgiving menu:

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Heritage turkey

Cornflake stuffing (cooked in the crock-pot)

Mushroom gravy

Pecan topped sweet potatoes

Horseradish mashed potatoes

Quinoa stuffed peppers

Steamed asparagus with lemon butter

Orange/Ginger Cranberries

Cornbread

I’d love to hear what you're planning on serving for Thanksgiving!

Love,

WWW