Green beans steamed whole with diced bacon and onions sautéed and added in.

Carrots prepped as you like with butter, honey and maybe a touch of curry if you like curry. Or just butter and honey or butter and parsley.

Creamed corn/fried corn?

For a green veg at Thanksgiving, besides Brussels sprouts, we always have peas and pearl onions. These are made from frozen without added liquid in the microwave and seasoned with butter and Penzey's Shallot Pepper seasoning. Minus that, salt, pepper, butter and an herb (tarragon?) would be good too.

Lightly roasted asparagus, plain or each spear wrapped in a sliver of prosciutto.

We always have peas and pearl onions, too, usually in a bechamel sauce.

Rachel Ray's brussels sprouts are really good:

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe/brussels-sprouts-with-pancetta-and-balsamic-vinegar/

We made it one year, but with regular bacon (be sure to drain the fat if you do it that way), and that was the first dish on the whole table to get emptied.

Several bonuses with our crowd-pleaser green bean dish: perfect for do-ahead, can be dressed right before dinner, served at room temp. My struggle with Thanksgiving veggies is serving them warm.

Steam/Blanch green beans til crispy tender, then ice water plunge. (Can refrigerate day prior -- bring to room temp.) Toss with 2Tbsp olive oil + 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice + 1 minced garlic clove, and top with 2Tbsp toasted sesame seeds -- dash of cayenne optional. S/P to taste.

Apricot glazed carrot ribbons will be on our menu. I peel carrots with a vegetable peeler and after the outer surface is removed, I just keep going. Put in a covered casserole in the microwave with a 1/4" of water and steam until cooked, stirring a couple of times. Remove and drain; add some butter, a spoonful of apricot preserves, fresh lemon juice and S & P to taste to the emptied dish, microwave until melted, and return the carrots to the sauce and stir with a fork to coat them.

I like these because they can be made ahead and quickly reheated in the microwave. Sometimes I do the prep work on the carrots a day or two ahead of time and store in a lidded plastic container with a damp paper towel inside to keep them from drying out.

Bacon green beans are always a good choice, unless you don't like green beans or bacon.

Sweet potato casserole with a pecan topping. Turns out I'm making it for this Thanksgiving. Always yummy!

I have to do the mixed roasted veg. Pleases everyone. Mutiny if I don't, : )

Two big heads of garlic, a few baby whole potatoes, a dozen small Brussels, any veg and root veg the grocery has. Golden beets, etc Prep night before and into two separate bags depending on cooking time. I just roast before the turkey until tender, then cover with foil and a hot micro steamed wet hot dish cloth. Back in for final roasting when the bird comes out. I have a Romanesco for the center of the plate.

Also making a warm Escarole, Collard, shredded Brussel salad with matchstick beets, pomegranate, pear, goat cheese, pepitas.

It is good coolish or room temp.

Sort of like this and the kale on the right column but I toss just a few minutes in a hot pan. ...escarole salad

Oh my! That warm escarole, collard, shredded brussel sprout salad sounds wonderful. Can you elaborate a bit more on the changes you make? I need something like that to fill a gap in my Thanksgiving menu.

DD does a killer recipe for slivered Brussels sprouts with pancetta and cream. Most don't even realize it's Brussels sprouts and rave over it.

^Oh, yum. I have roasted little ball/bundles of prosciutto under the broiler for a few min. Nice garnish on so many things.

@Daisy-I made it often last Winter/spring. Always a bit different, but I love how Escarole turns almost immediately sweet when it hits heat.

Last shopping tonight so may end up with Lacinato Kale. Whatever looks good.

Thin strips, the kale/collards, then massage with lemon/olive oil. Brussels are 'loose-binned' at the grocery so I'll pick out a half dozen biggies. core and shred.

toss all together in a hot pan, the rest garnished on top, no heat. (toss golden beet and pear matchsticks in oil/lemon separately) Needs an herb and/or ginger. Undecided on that but still have fresh garden herbs on the deck.

I often use toasted sesame oil/sesame seeds but way to conflicting flavor for Thanksgiving. So pomegranate sounds good with the lemon and pear.

Have not tried buttermilk. Just looked for similar recipes that did not have annoying pop-ups, : ). (the drop down bouncers asking for sign-ups)

Holds up well in the fridge like traditional coleslaws. Toss and freshen in serving bowl and add the beet salad matchsticks on top, then garnish.

I personally just like simply fixed vegetables usually, corn, green beans, broccoli, peas and so on. I also like carrots and onions. The list could go on but I want them mostly with just maybe a touch of sugar and some butter, green beans, onion, bacon, or ham and salt and pepper.

Sue

I think if you are serving yams/sweet potatoes, you need a green veggie to balance the plate, so carrots and corn would be out for me. I, too, would serve either green beans (and I often use a recipe that can be served at room temp, similar to javiwa's suggestion) or asparagus, which is also good room temp. The peas and onions with no sauce would be nice, too.

With all the fatty food, I never serve creamed veggies at a holiday meal. Too similar in texture to gravy. I want something fresh tasting and with a little crunch (not boiled until gray green beans, for example).

I heard someone from Bon Appetite on the radio this morning talking about Thanksgiving and he said this is something he's served ever since it appeared in the magazine, so I bought the ingredients to try. Even though you said no Brussels sprouts, I'm going to link the recipe for others, or another time. And it's a salad, not exactly a veggie side - but it looks delicious. I missed the mark on all counts!

Kale and Brussels sprout salad - Bon Appetite

I am serving marinated vegetable salad, very good with a fatty type meal, use a lot of different vegetables in it. Mine is made and marinating. It has green beans, wax beans, onion, pimento, peas, corn, and celery in it. You can put any kind of veggie you like, such as kidney beans, cucumbers and the list goes on.

Sue

With all the fatty food, I never serve creamed veggies -- << That...yes. I think it's the lemon and the garlic in the green bean dish I make that 'cuts the grease' a bit. Plus, we didn't grow up with creamed veggies of any sort. I always felt all the cheese sauces, etc. were used to mask veggies and/or get the kids to eat them. :)

I'd love to do an asparagus with a vinaigrette, but I don't think this is the time of year for asparagus (?). Green beans are plentiful, inexpensive and yummy.

Thank you so much, sleevendog. I'll try this, if not at Thanksgiving then definitely not long after. I'm unclear about how long you leave your greens in the hot pan? Do you heat the pan, throw the greens in there and turn the heat off? Do you leave the heat turned on and only the bottom layer gets heated?

I'll also try that salad Olychick listed.

Javiwa, the stores are filling with imported asparagus for Thanksgiving, so I'd buy it in a pinch, but it's not great like our local spring crop.

Growing up, thanksgiving always included creamed pearl onions, mashed butternut squash ( ick!) greenbeans and corn.
Now I just serve simple green beans with some slivered almonds....because no one eats vegetables at Thanksgiving...or not much any how...

We often had creamed peas and onions, I still love them, and in the spring, new potatoes got added to the dish. I like the peas and onions without the cream sauce nearly as well.

Of course, I also like mashed butternut squash, LOL, and roasted butternut and butternut soup and butternut squash in my whole wheat dinner rolls and I've even used mashed butternut in place of pumpkin in pie!

However, I don't think you need more orange, I agree that green is needed in here. My family likes green beans, steamed until tender then quickly sauteed with some chopped bacon and onion. I usually cook the onion and bacon first, until the onion is softened and the bacon crunchy, then add the cooked green beans and give it a saute long enough to color the beans a little.

I love Mustangs' Arugula/Fig/Parmesan/Proscuitto salad, I use baby spinach for the greens instead of arugula, but it's amazing. I don't like salad and I love the stuff!

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2459917/annie-or-peppi-salad-recipe

Happy Thankgiving!

Annie

Mushrooms!

dcarch

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1000&bih=556&ei=mG4VWoyVD-ecjwSqyYD4DA&q=mushrooms+plating&oq=mushrooms+plating&gs_l=img.3..0i8i30k1.2130.6834.0.7167.18.15.0.3.3.0.360.1402.12j1j0j1.14.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..1.17.1418.0..0j0i24k1.0.n5ShkHtqh6o

Hey, I did not see any asparagus last night. (wasn't looking) but it would be obvious if featured. Entering, i was distracted by the artichokes. Surprised they looked so good. Did not want or buy.

Lucky for me escarole was one dollar a giant head and locally grown. Bought two. So misunderstood. It's in the endive family like radicchio. Very hardy in the garden and survives a few light frosts. The thick/lush green leafy parts keep the core from the sun so the hearts are white and less bitter. Always tucked near heads of lettuce but iceberg it isn't.

@Daisy. You will have to do a test. All our stovetops are different and our sauté pans. I'm on gas burners and use a big heavy white ceramic pan. Easy enough to lift and wiggle or use a wooden spoon. I also have a big stainless heavy bottomed braising pan w/lid that works for a large batch.

I also have Lacinato Kale AND collards. We'll have this for a light dinner tonight while I'm elbow deep in chopping anyway. Use it as a test run so it will be a 'park walk' tomorrow.

Tonight I'll probably saute a slice of bacon in a blurb of avocado oil, add garlic, take out bacon, add loosely chopped rinsed and 'wet' escarole leaves, med heat, cover to steam, then add slices of the white core/heart and slivered kale and collards, toss and cover...3-4 min, done. (kale and collards have been previously massaged with lemon/olive oil.) Toss in a mustard lemon vinaigrette. Garnish with bacon, slivered golden beet and watermelon radish.

Tomorrow I'll 'tart it up' with pomegranate and toasted/spiced garbanzos, prosciutto crisps instead of bacon. Just a bit. ...dressing/stuffing has wild mushrooms and lamb sausage, so enough things are on the heavy/rich side.

In my family, the veggies are just as important as the turkey and dressing and there are generally few, if any, leftovers. They are not always the same year to year but will always include a couple of the following: roasted asparagus, sauteed kale with garlic, Brussel sprouts (various recipes), spinach souffle, mashed yams with goat cheese and pearl onions in a sherried cream sauce. And a green salad of some variety.

We tend to go simple with the vegetable. More recently it has been a brussel sprout medly or frenched green beans with almonds. And then candied sweet potatoes and twice baked potatoes.

Simple but tasty carrots -- cook to your desired tenderness, add butter, a spoonful +/- brown sugar and a sprinkle of dried dill. Really yummy (and I don't even like dill!).

A favorite around here is to lightly steam a mix of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. These go into a roasting pan along with some al dente whole wheat rotini, minced garlic, Veg-It for seasoning and drizzled with olive oil. Roast and top with some freshly grated Parmesan (I prefer Romano) and serve. Steaming the veggies ahead of roasting greatly reduces the am't of time they need in the oven.