Thanksgiving Dinner Side Dish Ideas

dianaheather | 3:06 pm | October 28, 2008 | Celebrations.com

Sometimes it seems that your Thanksgiving dinner menu should be a no-brainer, right? Turkey is a given but what about side dishes? Here are a couple of creative side dish recipe ideas:

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

• 1.5 pounds of Brussel sprouts,
• 1/5 pound pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp chopped thyme

1. Boil salted water in a large pot.
2. Trim the Brussel sprouts and cut off any yellow leaves. Drop the trimmed sprouts in the boiling water for 4 minutes.
3. Immediately place the drained sprouts in cold water.
4. In a saute pan, place the cubed pancetta. Saute about 10 min, until crispy.
5. Removed the pancetta but reserve some of the fat in the pan. Blot the pancetta on paper towels.
6. Add the cooled Brussel sprouts to the saute pan and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Place the pancetta back in the saute pan with the Brussel sprouts. Add thyme and parsley.

Haricots Verts in Olive Oil

• 2 lbs haricots verts, trimmed and cleaned
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Coarse sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

1. In medium pot, place beans and oil.
2. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes, until tender.
3. Remove the haricots verts from the oil and place them on warm serving plate. Drizzle olive oil on top. Season with sea salt and pepper.