Ah, November, what a month for vegetables! To inspire Thanksgiving menus, look for additions to my collection of Thanksgiving vegetable recipes all month long. All the recipes celebrate the cornucopia of the season.
Today's Thanksgiving recipe idea: A simple yet festive salad made with celery, dates and toasted walnuts.
The first year in my own home, I signed up to host Thanksgiving dinner for a fair-sized crowd, fourteen. Like all good guests, people offered to bring a dish, my sister the salad. But when she arrived, the salad had been completely forgotten, not left behind, mind you, forgotten -- we've laughed about it ever since. (Trust me, there's little that escapes my sister, so it's useful to have 'something' to hold over her. For. Life. 80K. For Life.) Ever since, salad rarely finds its way to Thanksgiving dinner, there are just sooo many other foods, we'll be back to lettuce soon enough.
Still, especially for small Thanksgiving gatherings, a salad can be a welcome respite from all the rich, plenteous food. I loved this salad and think it would be perfect for Thanksgiving. Think Crunch. Think Color. Think 'autumn flair'. Perhaps a Thanksgiving salad isn't optional after all.
MORE THANKSGIVING SALAD IDEAS
~ Celery & Apple Salad ~
~ Classic Seven-Layer Salad ~
~ Festive Celery, Cauliflower & Apple Salad ~
~ Festive Holiday Salad from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more green salad recipes ~
~ Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipes 2008 ~
~ Celery & Apple Salad ~
~ Classic Seven-Layer Salad ~
~ Festive Celery, Cauliflower & Apple Salad ~
~ Festive Holiday Salad from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more green salad recipes ~
~ Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipes 2008 ~
CELERY, DATE & WALNUT SALAD
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 15 minutes
Time to table: 15 minutes
DRESSING (enough for 4)
1/2 a shallot, minced very fine
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or any good vinegar
1 tablespoon good olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
SALAD (per SERVING)
1 - 2 ribs celery, sliced thin on the diagonal
1/4 - 1/2 of a date, sliced thin
2 - 3 toasted walnuts, chopped
2 - 3 shavings from good Parmesan
Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Toss with the salad ingredients. Serve alone or atop a bed of fresh arugula or other salad greens.
TO PREP AHEAD
DAY BEFORE Assemble dressing. Toast the walnuts.
MORNING OF Prep the celery and dates.
BEFORE DINNER Assemble salad ingredients, toss with dressing.
KITCHEN NOTES
Use any good vinegar but sherry vinegar is definitely one of my favorites because it's smooth and sweet, while still completely vinegar. No dates? Substitute golden raisins or another dried fruit. The dates do add sweetness so if you elect to skip the fruit entirely (or use one that's not so sweet), you might stir a teaspoon or two of maple syrup into the dressing. For 12 servings, Food & Wine uses 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar, 2 tablespoons walnut oil and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, a 1:2 vinegar:oil mix. It may be the classic proportion but is rich-rich mixture for my taste. Do, of course, mix the dressing to your own taste.Win Gorgeous Olive Oil & Vinegar from O Olive Oil
All November, A Veggie Venture is partnering with O Olive Oil to give readers of A Veggie Venture the chance to experience truly great citrus-pressed olive oils and barrel-aged wine vinegars. There are Salad-Lover Prizes and two Grand Prizes. No purchase is required, it'll take just a minute.
Check out how to win!
Plus, O Olive Oil is offering a 15% discount on all purchases during November 2008. Just click this image below, then enter the coupon code of 'veggie' (without the quotes) for the discount to be applied.
[-->>>> UPDATE: We are so-so-SO close to awarding the next winner of a two-bottle Natural Box from O Olive Oil -- the odds are high, 1 in 50! If you've entered before, no problem, you're welcome to enter again. And every time you do, you're automatically entered into the grand prize contest, two winners, each winning an entire case of O Olive Oil's gorgeous olive oils and vinegars. It'll take just a minute, please do remember to leave an e-mail address. I promise, the only reason your address will be used is to notify you if you're the winner!]
PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.
NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.
FAITHFUL READERS Are you afraid that A Veggie Venture has become butter-cream-n-cheese blog? No doubt, Thanksgiving vegetables are rich. But don't worry, A Veggie Venture will soon return to its usual vegetable recipes, fast, low-calorie and easy to put on the table. After testing all these Thanksgiving recipes? I have to!
Here at A Veggie Venture, vegetables are the real stars of the Thanksgiving table. So watch for new Thanksgiving recipes all November long, new additions to my collection of Thanksgiving vegetable recipes. Whether it's 2006's famous World's Best Green Bean Casserole or 2007's favorite Cauliflower Cream or a brand-new recipe which catches your fancy, this year, move vegetables to your center stage.
© Copyright 2008
Thank you for supporting advertisers from BlogHer.
Thank you for supporting advertisers from SixApart!
Thank you for supporting advertisers from Google
Your Comments:
Apparently one of the things that got past the sister is remembering to enter this contest. Luckily for me, my sister is very good with gentle reminders.
I think the olive oil with lime sounds perfect for a cilanto-heavy salad, one of my favorites.
adanna UNDERSCORE kellogg AT yahoo DOT com
Links to this post:
Create a Link