Celebrating virtually or with the people you live with is the safest choice this year at Thanksgiving.
In case you plan to have guests to your home, be sure that people follow the steps that everyone can take to make Thanksgiving safer.
These steps include:
- Have a small outdoor meal with family and friends who live in your community.
- Limit the number of guests, no more than 10.
- Have conversations with guests ahead of time to set expectations for celebrating together.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and items between use.
- If celebrating indoors, bring in fresh air by opening windows and doors, if possible. You can use a window fan in one of the open windows to blow air out of the window. This will pull fresh air in through the other open windows.
- Limit the number of people in food preparation areas.
- Have guests bring their own food and drink.
- If sharing food, have one person serve food and use single-use options, like plastic utensils.
3 All-time Favourite Thanksgiving Recipes
World Famous Turkey Meatballs
By Natasha Feldman, noshwithtash.com
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 8 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 cup basil leaves, whole (stems are ok)
- ½ cup parsley leaves, whole (stems are ok)
- ½ cup parmesan, grated
- 5 cups bread, torn into 1 inch pieces
- 3 eggs
- 3 pounds ground turkey
- 1 large jar Rao’s Tomato Sauce (or other sauce of choice)
Directions
- Pick your largest saute pan and heat over a medium heat with the olive oil
- Once the oil is nice and hot add in the onion and saute for a few minutes until the onion is translucent and aromatic
- Add in the garlic, carrots and a big pinch of salt
- Cook for 5 or so minutes until the vegetables are softened
- Transfer the onion mixture into a food processor (if you have one… if you don’t you’ll have to chop everything real small… but honestly a reasonably priced food processor is gonna make you VERY happy) and pulse until it forms a course paste
- Add in the basil and parsley and pulse a few more times
- Throw in the parmesan and bread and pulse again until the mixture is real thick
- Transfer the bread/onion/deliciousness into a large bowl and carefully mix in the rest of the salt, eggs and turkey together
- Only mix until it’s combined, beware of overmixing, it’ll ruin the texture. You’ll know it’s well mixed once the bread/herb mixture is evenly dispersed into the meatballs. As soon as it looks pretty evenly distributed stop mixing!
- Turn the heat back on under your pan to a medium and preheat your oven to 400 degrees
- Use your hands to gently form the meatballs into balls that are somewhere sized between a golf ball and a tennis ball (depending on your preference)
- Once the pan is nice and hot add in only enough meatballs so there is space between each meatball
- Cook for 3-4 minutes until the side of the meatball touching the pan begins to sear and turn a nice golden color
- Turn the meatballs a few times so most of the sides have color
- If you couldn’t fit all the meatballs in the pan rotate the meatballs in and out until they’re all browned
- Add all the meatballs back into pan and cover with tomato sauce
- Transfer pan to the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until the internal temp of the meatballs is 155 degrees. If you don’t have a meat thermometer you can take one out and cut it open. The turkeyshould be firm and uniform in it’s color. Honestly though, since these meatballs ar so moist it can be a little tricky to tell, I really think this is the motivation to go out and get yourself a meat thermometer, you’ll be happy you have it!
Cheesy Quinoa Casserole With Sweet Potatoes & Swiss Chard
Chef Michelle of the Plated Culinary Team
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 shallot
- 12 oz sweet potatoes
- 8 ounces whole milk
- 1 1/2 ounce mozzarella cheese
- 1 1/2 ounce fontina cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese
- 6 ounces Swiss chard
- 2/3 cup quinoa
Directions
- Prepare Ingredients: Preheat oven to 425°F. Mince garlic. Peel shallot and mince. Rinse sweet potatoes and halve lengthwise. Cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices. Rinse Swiss chard, tear leaves into bite-size pieces, and thinly slice stems. Separate 1 egg, reserving yolk.
- Sauté Aromatics: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add garlic and shallot and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Cook Quinoa and Sweet Potatoes: Add quinoa, sweet potatoes, and 2½ cups water to pot with aromatics. Season with ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Cook until quinoa is tender and all liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat and set aside.
- Sauté Swiss Chard: While quinoa and sweet potatoes cook, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add Swiss chard stems and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in Swiss chard leaves and sauté until wilted, about 3 minutes more. Remove pan from heat. Season with ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt and pepper as desired.
- Assemble Casserole: Add Swiss chard leaves and stems to pot with quinoa and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. Stir in cheese mix, milk, and 1 egg yolk. Transfer mixture to tin, reshaping if bent. Using the back of a spoon, smooth top of casserole. Sprinkle pecorino on top.
- Bake Casserole: Place casserole on a baking sheet, transfer to oven, and bake until golden and bubbling, 12-15 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes. Serve on your favorite plates and enjoy it while it’s hot.
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
By Southern Pressed Juiceryabout:blank
Ingredients
For crust:
- 3/4 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 2 cups dates
- Pinch Himalayan pink salt
- 3 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
For filling:
- 1.5 cups soaked cashew
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 2/3 cup agave nectar (could use maple syrup)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In food processor combine all ingredients for crust. In a pie tin with removable bottomform the crust by pressing into the tin with your hands.
- In vitamin or other high speed blender, combine all ingredients for the filling.
- Pour filling over top of the crust to desired thickness. Place pie tin on a level surface in the freezer. The pie will firm within an hour.
- Top the pie with sliced almonds and ground cinnamon, or topping of choice, such as dairy free whipped cream.
Happy 2020 Thanksgiving, at Home.