“I thought candied sweet potatoes were great when I was a kid,” he said. “But once I started running the show, things got a lot fresher and more interesting on the table, especially the vegetables.”
The challenge of how to balance the desire for fresh, interesting vegetables with the throwbacks of Thanksgiving is one that will be familiar to any vegetable lover whose soul cries a little every time a bag of frozen green beans is popped into the microwave.
And the legion of vegetable lovers is growing, led in part by restaurant chefs who are letting fresh vegetables star on the plate. You’ll see those chefs exploring produce in fascinating ways, playing with modernist techniques and far-flung flavor combinations. They are giving vegetables the kind of riveted focus usually reserved for the protein part of the meal.
That makes this a fine time to drag our Thanksgiving roster of vegetable side dishes into the 21st century — kicking and screaming if necessary.
Actually, it’s not the vegetables that would be screaming. It’s the traditionalist family members at your table who may object to too much Thanksgiving innovation.
The answer for the cook is to keep creative urges away from the sacred trifecta of turkey, gravy and stuffing, and reroute them to the roots, shoots and greens. A group of New York chefs offered suggestions for how to freshen up Thanksgiving vegetables in ways both creative and unexpected.
For example, instead of those candied sweet potatoes, Anthony suggests going in a more savory direction.
In his recent cookbook, “V Is for Vegetables,” written with Dorothy Kalins, he tops roasted slices of sweet potatoes with a piquant horseradish compound butter, which turns golden at the edges when broiled. Not only is the dish a refreshing change from the usual cloying orange mush, but it can also be made almost entirely ahead — a boon for the harried Thanksgiving cook.
Riverpark restaurant in the East 20s has a vegetable garden just a few city blocks away, a green enclave that supplies the kitchen with produce. The seasonal autumn vegetables — radishes and juicy turnips, hardy greens including kale and collard greens, all kinds of mushrooms — are a favorite of chef Bryan Hunt, who relies on them to brighten the heavier flavors of cold-weather cooking. The more vegetables you have on the table, the easier it is to digest the meatier, creamier and cheesier elements there, too.
And so it goes for Thanksgiving, the ne plus ultra of meaty, creamy meals. Hunt recommends serving vegetables with intense flavors that can stand up to a heavy onslaught. For example, roasted radishes with a lemony anchovy sauce based on a bagna cauda.
“It’s a brighter, light pop in your mouth to counter all the richness on the table,” he said.
Pickled and lightly cured vegetables are another way to bring lightness to the meal. “Pickles break up all the browned, roasted flavors on the table,” said Justin Smillie, the chef at Upland in the Flatiron district.
Smillie very lightly cures thin shavings of raw butternut squash with salt and sugar before dressing them with salted buttermilk, dates and pumpkinseeds — a refreshing salad that is an excellent companion for turkey.
At Piora in the West Village, chef Chris Cipollone strives to use vegetables rather than meat as the main way to thrill his customers. Six of the 12 dishes on the dinner menu are entirely vegetable focused.
“My motto at Piora is to take ingredients that people understand and then do something different that surprises them in terms of flavor or texture or both,” he said.
It’s a motto that can easily be applied to the Thanksgiving table. Those same old brussels sprouts? Think about updating them by sautéing with apples and topping them with grated frozen prosciutto like a mound of pork-flavored snow, as Cipollone does. Vegetarians can use grated pecorino to equally enticing effect.
Speaking of vegetarians, having an array of more interesting vegetable dishes in your Thanksgiving lineup will not only please both the meat eaters and meat-avoiders, but may also obviate the need to include a tofurkey on the menu, which no one will miss.
As Anthony said, “Being inspired to really celebrate vegetables isn’t about being a vegetarian, it’s about sharing the love of eating vegetables.”
No doubt a lot of diners, omnivore or otherwise, would have to agree.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Horseradish Butter
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup finely grated fresh horseradish, plus coarsely grated horseradish for garnish if desired
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, more for garnish
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, more for garnish
3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds sweet potatoes
Preparation
1. In a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, combine butter, horseradish, parsley, dill, panko, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper. Close the bag, pressing out most of the air. Mash everything together until well combined and smooth, then use a ruler or the back edge of a knife to scrape and work the butter to the bottom of the bag so it forms a log, rolling it as you go. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to firm up, or up to 1 week.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prick sweet potatoes several times with a fork and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Transfer to a baking sheet and roast until potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the potatoes. Once cool enough to handle, unwrap and slice into 1/2-inch-thick rounds (there is no need to peel unless you dislike the skins). Potatoes can be roasted up to 2 days ahead; wrap and chill, then slice them just before using.
3. Arrange rounds on a large rimmed baking sheet and count how many you have. Slice enough thin slabs of butter from the log so that you have one per potato slice, and place butter on top of potato slices.
4. Move the oven rack so that it’s 4 inches away from the broiler. Bake potatoes at 350 degrees until they are heated through and the butter is softened, 5 to 15 minutes depending upon how cold the potatoes were. Adjust oven temperature to broil, and broil until the butter is golden brown at the edges, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve garnished with herbs and fresh horseradish if you like.
Roasted Radishes with Anchovies
Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 (2.8-ounce) jar oil-packed anchovies, drained
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 garlic clove, grated
2 bunches radishes with fresh greens (1 1/2 pounds), preferably French breakfast radishes
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, more to taste
Preparation
1. In a small saucepan over very low heat, combine anchovies and 1/3 cup olive oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until anchovies have melted into the oil, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in garlic.
2. Clean the radishes thoroughly under running water, leaving any nice greens attached if possible; drain and dry very well. Leave smaller radishes whole and halve any large ones lengthwise.
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a very large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Add the radishes in a single layer. Cook, without moving, until undersides are golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip radishes and transfer skillet to oven. Cook until radishes are tender enough to be easily pierced with a knife, 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size of radishes.
4. Return skillet to stove top over medium-high heat. Toss with anchovy oil, butter, parsley and lemon juice. Serve warm.
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts and Apple With Prosciutto
Time: 30 minutes, plus freezing
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto (see note)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large Golden Delicious apples, cored and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and very thinly sliced
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, as needed
Preparation
1. Stack prosciutto slices on top of one another. Cut stack in half crosswise, then layer stacks on top of one another. Starting at the shorter end of the stack, tightly roll the prosciutto into a compact cigar shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
2. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until lightly smoking. Add apples and cook, barely moving, until lightly colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in Brussels sprouts and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Remove prosciutto from the freezer and use a hand grater to finely shave ham over the Brussels sprouts before serving.
Note: If you can get a chunk of prosciutto, often available from an end piece, feel free to use it instead of stacking the slices.
Shaved Butternut Squash With Dates
Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds young butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise and seeded
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1/2 lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon), more as needed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of granulated sugar
Fine sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 cup dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons toasted pumpkinseeds
Preparation
1. Cut the squash into 2-inch chunks. Using a mandoline or vegetable peeler, shave the chunks into thin slivers.
2. Place squash shavings in large bowl and add lemon zest and juice, olive oil and sugar. Season with a few pinches of salt and pepper and toss to coat. Macerate for 10 minutes, or until shavings tenderize (this could take up to 30 minutes, and once tender you can hold them for up to 6 hours). Toss with dates and season to taste with more salt and lemon juice.
3. Pour buttermilk into a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Smear the buttermilk on a serving platter and top with shaved mixture. Sprinkle with pumpkinseeds.
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