Salad Is Essential at Thanksgiving
Salad Is Essential at Thanksgiving
And here's a make-ahead, seasonal gem from Amy Thielen's new cookbook, plus a smattering of other holiday recipes, now unlocked
Hello and happy Thanksgiving countdown! How are you feeling? Are you ready? Are you over it? Are you just getting started? I tend to assume a supporting role in the Thanksgiving kitchen, because other cooks just have much stronger feelings about the menu and and all the traditions than me, but I do have one conviction: A salad is a nonnegotiable part of the meal. All that food is so buttery and savory, there’s got to be something light, crunchy, bracing, and cool to cut through the richness.
The challenge at Thanksgiving, though, is that a salad doesn’t really lend itself to advance prep the way most of the other dishes do. So it’s easy for it to become a harried afterthought. But do I have a salad for you, one that tackles the problem head-on and checks all the boxes. It is…
✔️ Not only make-ahead friendly, but make-ahead mandatory
✔️ Bursting with seasonal fall flavor
✔️ And a vibrant, colorful spotlight stealer
And it’s a beet salad! But with roasted grapes, radicchio, and hazelnuts — many of my favorite ingredients — and the recipe comes from Amy Thielen’s new cookbook Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others. If you’re not familiar with Amy Thielen, she’s an author to make space for, especially if you love to read cookbooks as much as cook from them. There are irresistible recipes, but also long headnotes rich with vivid details, context, and helpful tips; moving interludes about, say, the reality of how much it costs to entertain, and the secret pleasures found in cleaning up afterwards; and evocative instructions with paragraph breaks in them, that lend themselves to bedside reading.
It isn’t a vegetarian cookbook, nor does it try to be “vegetable forward,” but I love it for all its originality and considered approach to entertaining, as well as for the spectacular salads like this one, and the side dishes, breads, and desserts, too.
There are some great tricks in this recipe, the first of which is her method for roasting the beets. First they’re steamed in the oven with a bit of water and some aromatics, in a foil-sealed dish. Then the foil is removed and they’re further roasted, with the cue to watch for “the edges to darken a shade” and even caramelize on their bases. This intensifies their vegetal, earthy flavor and even gives them a “meatier” texture, I think, and I will probably roast my beets this way for the rest of my life.
There’s also a grape component, by which fall grapes like Concords are roasted and cooked down into a tart, red-wine based syrup that adds all this delicious complexity to the (here’s another little trick!) built-in dressing, which is the marinade. And being a marinade-slash-salad dressing makes the salad truly benefit from being made a day or two ahead of time.
If not Thanksgiving, then the bright cranberry color and festive, sweet-bitter profile makes it a winning addition to pretty much any kind of holiday spread. Amy has graciously shared the recipe with all of us, and you can find the recipe below.
A Few More Holiday Recipes for You
I’ve gathered a couple more of my favorite holiday-appropriate recipes below, plus I’m unlocking a few from the past year on Substack, to make them available to all subscribers of this newsletter. Thank you as always to paid subscribers, who support the cost of keeping this thing going, and provide invaluable exchange and such a lovely spirit of community!
Beet & Hibiscus Tonic {unlocked} | This is a fun, vibrant nonalcoholic drink that’s minimally sweetened and even a touch tannic, thanks to long-steeped hibiscus infusion and a little tonic water topper.
Mashed Cauli-Taters | I prefer these to mashed potatoes, and so does the rest of my family. They’re buttery, nutty, creamy, and won’t say no to gravy.
Miso-Honey Popcorn Snack Mix {unlocked} | this is a snack mix that’s a bit like Cracker Jacks, with popcorn and nuts coated in a savory-sweet (but not too sweet) glaze. Less dessert topping, more cocktail nuts.
French Onion Baked Beans | I get notes from people all the time about how much they love this recipe, many of them fellow Rancho Gordo bean folks. This might not scream Thanksgiving, but it’s warming and rich, and would be a strong contender for other holiday meals.
Seedy Date Crackers {unlocked} | Homemade crackers are easier to make than you might think, and such an unexpected addition to a cheese board. They’re a great host gift, too! These are vegan and gluten free, and impossible for everyone not to enjoy.
Baked Chestnut Risotto with Mushrooms | I love this easy, baked risotto, which is enriched with the distinctive nuttiness of chestnut cream. Roasted mushrooms make it a centerpiece main dish, and it sings with holiday flavors.
A Squash Galette | Who doesn’t love a galette? Freeform buttery pastry, tender sweet or savory fillings — if nothing else, a galette is a celebration of rustic handwork and seasonal produce, and perfectly festive.
Marinated Roasted Beets & Grapes with Radicchio and Hazelnuts
“Tangy sweet-and-sour marinated roasted beets are one of my large-party lifelines, because they’re best when they’re made hours (or even a day or two) before. And conveniently, the dark red pool of marinade that collects around them becomes the dressing for the salad. Be sure to roast the beets until their bottoms caramelize deeply. Even after they’ve been peeled, those charred contact spots will bring the down-to-earth balance that this mixture of sweet roasted grapes and cool, slightly bitter radicchio needs. ❡ The way the broken plum-colored vinaigrette coats and stains pale radicchio hearts makes my heart drum faster, it’s so pretty, but you can use any peppery or sweet/bitter sturdy fall greens (like endive, tatsoi, mizuna, or arugula). ❡ Arrange this salad on a very large, wide platter to show off its good looks, and shower it with cracked toasted hazelnuts at the last minute.” — from Amy in Company
The marinated beets can be prepared up to 3 days in advance (!), and the assembled, dressed salad can sit for at least 30 minutes. Additionally, this salad is easy to veganize by using olive oil for the butter.
You can find grapes right now at farmer’s markets on the east coast — I’m not sure how much their availability varies elsewhere in the country, but this salad is designed for a seasonal, tart-skinned one (Amy recommends Concords or another wine grape, and I’d add that a seedless one makes things easier). That said, I’m pretty sure that a grocery store red grape would work just fine.
From Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others by Amy Thielen, lightly edited for newsletter consistency by me
Yield 8 to 12 as a side | Prep & cook time 90 minutes
2 pounds beets (about 6 medium-ish)
4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary, plus 2 sprigs, divided
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus additional
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons neutral-tasting oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 ½ cups (8 ounces) purple or red grapes, such as Concords or wine grapes
1 teaspoon sugar
¾ cup red wine
1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely minced shallot
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus extra if needed
4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large head radicchio, cored and torn into bite sized pieces
1 lightly packed cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
½ cup toasted hazelnuts, skinned
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the beets in a single layer in a baking dish with the crushed garlic, 1 rosemary sprig, the neutral oil, and enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Stir to coat, then cover the pan with foil and roast for an hour, until almost tender. Uncover and continue roasting until fork tender — and “the edges of the beets darken a shade” and “their bottoms caramelize deeply.” Transfer the beets to a bowl (discard the aromatics) and cover it so that the steam makes them easier to peel. When safe to handle, use a paper towel to gently rub off the skins.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the grapes: Heat an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat and add the butter, followed by the grapes, sugar, and a little salt and pepper. Sauté until they begin to swell and take on some color, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining rosemary sprig and move the pan to the oven. Roast until the grapes shrink and caramelize, 25 to 30 minutes. Then return the pan to the stovetop and add the wine and vinegar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the liquid has reduced to a thin, pourable syrup, 4 to 6 minutes. Discard the rosemary sprig.
3. Cut the beets into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a bowl. Add the shallots, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, about 10 turns black pepper, the minced rosemary, and ¼ cup olive oil. After a few minutes, taste for seasoning, adding more salt or lemon juice as needed. Scrape the grapes and their liquid into the beets, and let marinate for at least 4 hours, or for up to 3 days, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
4. To serve, transfer the beets (and all the juices) to a wide serving bowl. Pile the radicchio and parsley on top, then toss. Taste, adding the additional tablespoon of olive oil if desired. Garnish with the hazelnuts and take to the table.
There’s definitely value in a Thanksgiving salad that can be made ahead of time.
Love it!