Sounds very delicious! Since you're going toward fruit, how about an apple, sliced and laid out in a swirl on top with your wine glaze over?

I've made this salad for a few years now. I ruined it last year because the green onions were too strong, so be sure to taste those before adding them. Also, when I make it for someone other than us, I substitute flat leaf parsley for the cilantro as so many people don't like cilantro.

Click on image to enlarge:

It sounds like you're not sure if you want to go sweet or savory with this dish. I have served a butternut squash and goat cheese gratin several times at Thanksgiving and it is always well received - the tangy goat cheese keeps the winter squash from being overpoweringly sweet. You could roast your squash in bite sized cubes (along with perhaps some parsnips and/or halved Brussels sprouts for another flavor/texture/color), then toss with the dried cranberries and pecans plus some goat cheese in a vinaigrette (maple-mustard?) for a room-temperature salad that straddles the line between sweet and savory.

That sounds good Biondanonima. I was actually thinking of roasting fresh cranberries for it, since the dried ones are sugared and too sweet for me. Either way, a bit a chevre sounds like a nice unifier.

Ricky, I make awesome pumpkin lasagna, but I do have to make some turkey. :)

Fun2BHere, that recipe is definItely different! Something to try for sure.

Edie, I like the apple idea! I hadn't gone farther than imagining what it would look like in the pan. That would look pretty and be another good element.

I've just woken up and you've all given me such good ideas. I feel better about making Thanksgiving already!

I had lost the word I was looking for earlier... I meant pinwheel not swirl. I might have to try something like that also. Sounds really good and might be just sweet enough for DH to give up the marshmallow mess!

plllog, you were almost describing a dish that my sister made for T-day last year. I recall it being made with roasted sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts, (dried?) cranberries, pecans, etc. I loved it.

I've also served a dish made with butternut squash, pecans, cranberries and apples, I liked it very much.

If you want to go sweet, I just saw a recipe for butternut squash upside down cake, with swirls of squash slices. I'm still turning that around in my brain, LOL.

One of my favorite dishes was twice baked sweet potatoes, stuffed with Italian sausage, caramelized leeks and shredded gruyere. I think I need to make that again, but it was substantial enough to be a main course.

Annie

If you make your dish with pumpkin, and put pecans in it that would eliminate the need for either pumpkin or pecan pie. Unless someone else is in charge of dessert, or you really want to bake, I'd just get a variety plate of cookies from your store's bakery section and a couple different flavors of really good quality ice cream.

I JUST pinned this recipe a couple of days ago and sounds similar to what you're thinking. Thanksgiving veggies

Olychick, that looks like a keeper recipe! And I have to agree with Fun2BHere as well, even if you don't serve this, I'd try it sometime.

The other evening I tossed a a cold/hot salad together with sweet potatoes, carrots, some yukons (just dried cranberries, not fresh) and crispy ham (I feel sure a non-meat version would be just as good...) I made a parmesan dressing which I thought would clash, but it went well, actually. However, I think this is far too casual for what you want, plllog.

ETA: Oops, meant to post this pic of our salad

I've a savory pumpkin recipe (pie pumpkin) somewhere, but darned if I can't find it. I admit, it's a bit of a bother as even small pie pumpkins are hard for me to cut up. If I find it I'll post it.

I completely agree with you on the fresh cranberries - and roasting. Those dried ones are just so sweet and don't have that wonderful tang. About the only thing I've ever enjoyed in was a chicken salad that was otherwise spicy.

Thanks, Annie, I don't think I want to go cake sweet! Just a bit on the sweet side for vegetables. :)

Edie, you're right about the pumpkin clash. It made me think maybe of going sweet potato.

Olychick, PM and 2Many, those look very similar to what I was thinking. It occurs to me that this must be a thing I've kind of seen at some time.

So, thinking some more, I decided that it really needed a bourbon glaze rather than wine. Not that we've ever had any bourbon. So rather than searching down a smaller bottle, I bought a compact fifth at Trader Joe's. I was looking at what all they had, and the depth of color and shade just looked better on the pricy bottle, and I thought maybe it tastes double the money worth too, and this is for a reduction. It was after dinnertime, and they were mostly restocking the store. There wasn't anyone to ask. So I got the pretty one. Pretty is good, right?

I've been mulling over the menu. It's so different cooking for 5-8. Every little choice counts so much more. I don't want to make enough food for an army! For the mobs, I just make a whole bunch of food with a couple of alternatives for the special diets, and everybody's happy. For fewer, less disparate people, it's more like writing a poem than a story. Each word has that much more weight.

So I was thinking about the native mentors who, in the story, made it possible for the colonists to survive. I know very little about pre-colonial cooking, and all of it about SW rather than NE, except for succotash. According to Wikipedia, it's another ancient dish that has all the amino acids. Cool.

While I like succotash fine, I don't think I want to do it for this crowd. There will be plenty of carbs, and turkey for protein, and even with baby limas (I can't remember the last time I saw fresh ones, and they were huge, so I just get the sweet little frozen ones), it's likely to be heavy.

OTOH, I could add limas and corn to make a better mix rather than having them dominate. I think that would fill the niche that I was thinking of oats for, and prettier. I can't do Brussels sprouts. I can't eat them. The sulphur gets me and makes me nauseous. There's no point in making anything that one of us won't eat. Maybe roast some garnet coins if I can find enough skinny ones, and leave the skin on to keep them from going to mush. Maybe also lightly fry some thin slices of kabocha. Hm... Too much skin. This can't be all about peeling the components. :) So skin off garnet and kabocha.

So now I'm contemplating:

Roasted garnet sweet potato
Lightly fried thin sliced kabocha
Corn kernels (I was thinking charred, but I think that's too much flavor)
baby lima beans
Sliced scallions, lightly sauteed
Spiced pecan halves
Roasted cranberries
Crispy sage

Tied together with a bourbon glaze if it doesn't turn out too sweet. Otherwise, a bourbon/stock reduction.

It's carby for sure, and sweet. I just don't know if it's too sweet.

What do you all think?

It sounds lovely to me. I'd suggest making it this week as a test, so you can taste it and adjust it to your own tastes when you make it for Thanksgiving!

Yes. Definitely needs testing. I think it may also need pumpkin seeds. :)

Trader Joe’s normally sells roasted chestnuts if you have one nearby or I bet you can buy online. I love chestnuts. I would think lots of roasted squash and chestnuts perhaps with cranberries and perhaps sausage would make a nice dinner with a spinach salad with goat cheese.

IMO you have a lot going on there, with too many starchy elements. Personally, I would omit the lima beans and add green another way - perhaps with roasted kale or by serving it on a bed of arugula for something fresh. If you go with a glaze, I would make it a tangy one (bourbon balsamic?) or maybe add a little spice (maple jalapeno?) to balance out the sweet.

Yes, the point was to serve this as a starch, but all in one, rather than a bunch of separate dishes of carbtastic Thanksgivinghood. I actually like it with a lot of stuff, which is why I added more. I had considered something like kale, but the texture would make it something to be eaten around, rather than with. For myself, I would put chopped chili peppers (but not jalapeño), but not for the old folks. I also considered using some sausage as suggested above, but I while I like the idea of the flavor, I don't think the texture would be nice. Instead, I'll perhaps use some tasty fat and maybe a little anise.

plllog, I had to smile at the pretty bottle of bourbon. I used to buy my Mother wine for birthday gifts, and since I knew nothing about wine, I just bought the pretty bottles or the ones that had clever names. She drank all of it, as far as I know.

Annie