Thanksgiving is on Thursday. I bring this up because, if you’re like me, you may not be aware. It snuck up on me. I thought I had an extra week in there somewhere. Recalibrating…

Ok, this week’s menu is all planned around the fact that you are going to eat a big meal on Thursday. If you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner and don’t have all of your recipes picked out, or if you’re bringing a side dish and need some inspiration, I’m including a Thanksgiving dinner menu. Either way, the last thing you’re going to want is overwraught, heavy meals all week.

So, on the menu: a slow cooker vegetarian meal with a side of cornbread, leftovers to be used for Thanksgiving stuffing. A make-ahead salad, where you could potentially make other Thanksgiving sides at the same time–mashed potatoes or green bean casserole. And of course, the main event, the bird.

Menu #1

If you’re making cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner, be sure to make plenty of cornbread to go along with this soup. You’ll want to give it a couple of days to get good and stale before making your stuffing.

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Cornbread (make from recipe on box)
Garden Salad

Menu #2

You can get a jump on your Thanksgiving cooking by cooking a bunch of potatoes and pre-make your mashed potatoes. Then on Thanksgiving warm over a double boiler, or bake in a casserole for a new twist on mashed potatoes. You can also steam extra green beans here for the classic green bean casserole

Salad Nicoise

Menu #3

Brined Roasted Turkey
Gravy
Cornbread Stuffing with Cranberries and Pecans
Mashed Potatoes
Collard Greens
Steamed Green Beans
 

Shopping List

10-12 pound turkey
1 ham hock or ham bone
bacon
garlic
onion–3
celery
potatoes–3 pounds
collard greens–2 pounds
green bell pepper
Boston lettuce
tomato
green beans
solid white tuna in water
1 lb dried black beans
14oz can diced tomatoes
chicken or vegetable stock–2 quarts
Goya Sazon seasoning
kosher salt
whole peppercorns
bay leaves
dried thyme or fresh thyme
chopped pecans
dried cranberries
cornmeal or cornbread mix
brown sugar
capers
assorted olives
dijon mustard
cider vinegar
white wine vinegar
olive oil
butter
egg
whole milk

Tagged: menu, recipes, salad, soup, Thanksgiving