Unique recipes to spice up your 2024 Thanksgiving dinner
Decorations for Thanksgiving (Maya Ferrari/The Puma Prensa)
Written By: Maya Ferrari, Opinion Editor
When you think of Thanksgiving, you can almost taste it. Thanksgiving, by definition, is a time for gratitude and peace; however, what coins the day is the delicious food. This food not only brings days of leftovers and a full stomach but also special memories for many families. Thanksgiving dinner is something that many people look forward to, but it looks different for everyone. Although this meal usually involves a turkey, many families indulge in various traditions and food assortments on this day. Since Thanksgiving is near, some unique recipes will impress your family and friends this year.
Rachel Lustberg, a senior at Carrillo, explains that “Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without [her] Nana's roasted pumpkin soup.” Lustberg and her family look forward to eating this wonderful dish and preparing it, too. She highlights that this soup brought her family closer on Thanksgiving because they can all bond and appreciate the finished product together during cooking.
(adapted from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
▢ 1 ⅔ pounds sugar pumpkin — peeled, seeded and cubed
▢ 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
▢ 2 onions, cut into wedges
▢ 2 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
▢ 1 large potato, sliced
▢ 1 quart water
▢ 3 cubes chicken bouillon, crumbled
▢ 1 cup heavy cream
▢ 1 ¼ tablespoons ground nutmeg
▢ 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
▢ salt to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Place pumpkin, carrots, and onions in a baking dish or roasting pan. Drizzle with vegetable oil
2. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes, until soft but not blackened.
Bring water and bouillon to a boil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the potato in simmering water until soft, about 20 minutes.
3. Combine potato and water with roasted vegetables and puree in a blender or food processor or using an immersion blender until smooth.
Return to pot over low heat, and stir in cream, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Heat gently; serve.
Suppose you are looking for a more untraditional dish for your Thanksgiving dinner. In that case, Junior Victoria Salazar explains her love for Pan de Bono, a Colombian dish she regularly has at her Thanksgiving dinners. She remembers “the joyful mornings with [her] mom and grandma where [she] would learn how to make this dish.” These cheese breads have been a regular part of many Colombian dinners, and as Salazar states, “should be a part of everybody’s Thanksgiving meals!”
Pandebono/Colombian cheese bread
(adapted from mycolombianrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
▢ ⅔ cup cassava starch or yuca flour
▢ ¼ cup precooked cornmeal or masarepa
▢ 1 cup Mexican queso freso or Colombian quesito
▢ 1 + ¼ cup feta cheese
▢ 1 large egg
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Place the yuca flour, cheese, and masarepa in a food processor. Process until well combined. Add the egg slowly while the food processor is running.
3. Divide the mixture into 12 equal-sized portions, shaping them into balls
4. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden on top. Serve warm.
Chicken Pozole is a dish that Cielo Marron enjoys yearly at her Thanksgiving dinner. It is a Mexican dish that her grandmother cooks for their dinner. Marron explains how this dish is “the most unique part of [her] plate, but it is also [her] favorite.” She describes how the flavorful dish and the memories that have come with it connect her with her culture and create a Thanksgiving special for her family.
(adapted from tastesbetterfromscratch.com)
Ingredients:
▢6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
▢ 6-8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
▢2 bay leaves
▢1 onion, quartered
▢5 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
▢1 teaspoon salt
▢½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
▢2 poblano peppers
▢1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers(optional, for extra heat)
▢1 pound tomatillos, husked and halved
▢3 cloves garlic
▢½ of an onion, chopped
▢½ cup fresh cilantro
▢30 oz can hominy, drained
▢1-2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
▢½ teaspoon ground cumin
▢Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toppings:
▢1 heaping cup of thinly shredded cabbage
▢1/2 cup white onion, diced
▢4 radishes, thinly sliced
▢1 large avocado peeled, seed removed, thinly sliced
▢1/2 cup sour cream
▢tortilla chips
▢1 lime cut into wedges
Directions:
Cook chicken: Add chicken to a large stock pot and cover with broth. Add bay leaves, quartered onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook partially covered until chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to discard onion, garlic, and bay leaves, leaving the broth in the pot.
Transfer chicken to a plate. Shred the chicken meat, removing and discarding the skin and bones.
Roast Peppers: Lightly spray a jelly roll pan with cooking oil. Wash all the peppers and cut them in half from stem to end. Remove steam, veins, and seeds. (Leave some veins and seeds if you want the soup spicier). Place the peppers on a baking sheet cut side down. Broil for about 7-10 minutes or until the skin is charred. Immediately place peppers in a plastic bag and tie the bag. Allow them to steam for 5-10 minutes, and then peel off their outer layer of skin (It should come off quickly).
Blend: Add the peppers, cilantro, and tomatillos to the blender. Add 3 fresh garlic cloves and ½ cup chopped onion. Spoon about ½ cup of the broth from the chicken and blend until smooth. Add the blended sauce to the pot with the broth.
Add hominy, cooked chicken, oregano, and cumin, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5-10 more minutes.
Serve ladle soup into bowls and top with a handful of thinly shredded cabbage, radishes, a lime wedge, avocado, sour cream, and tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips.
This article is complete with the traditionally coined Thanksgiving dish: a turkey. If you are in charge of the turkey this year or just want to supply some help, here is a mindblowing and easy-to-make recipe that will change your Thanksgiving dinners forever:
(adapted from tastesbetterfromscratch.com)
Turkey Ingredients:
▢1 12-20 pound turkey*
▢1 onion , peeled and quartered
▢1 lemon , quartered
▢1 apple (your favorite kind), quartered
▢.75 ounce container of fresh rosemary*
▢.75 ounce container fresh thyme*
▢.75 ounce container of fresh sage*
Herb Butter Ingredients:
▢ 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
▢1 teaspoon salt
▢1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
▢6-8 cloves garlic, minced
▢fresh chopped herbs
Directions:
If the turkey is frozen, Throw it in the fridge for 24 hours for every 5 pounds of Turkey. I like to give myself one extra day just to be safe
Remove the thawed turkey from the fridge 1 hour before roasting to let it come to room temperature.
Adjust your oven rack so the turkey will sit in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Make the herb butter by combining room temperature butter, minced garlic, salt, pepper, one tablespoon of fresh chopped rosemary, one tablespoon of fresh chopped thyme, and half a tablespoon of fresh chopped sage. (You’ll use the remaining fresh herbs for stuffing inside the cavity of the turkey)
Remove the turkey from the packaging and remove the neck and giblets from the inside the cavities of the bird. (Reserve them for gravy, if you want, or discard them). Pat the turkey very dry with paper towels.
Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper. Stuff it with the quartered lemon, onion, apple, and leftover herbs.
Use your fingers to loosen and lift the skin above the breasts (on the top of the turkey) and smooth a few tablespoons of herb butter underneath.
Tuck the turkey's wings underneath the turkey and set the turkey on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan*
Microwave the remaining herb butter mixture for 30 seconds (it doesn’t need to be wholly melted or softened). Use a basting brush to brush the remaining herb butter all over the outside of the turkey, legs, and wings.
Roast at 325 degrees F for about 13-15 minutes per pound or until internal temperature (inserted on the middle of thigh and breast) reaches about 165 degrees.
. (I remove the turkey from the oven once it reaches 160 degrees. Then, I put it with foil and let it rest on the counter. It will continue cooking under the foil to reach 165 degrees F.
. ***Check the turkey about halfway through cooking, and once the skin gets golden brown, cover the top of the turkey with tin foil to protect the breast meat from overcooking. Alternatively, you could start cooking the turkey with it tented in foil; then, during the last hour or so of cooking, you can take the foil off to let it brown.
Allow turkey to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving. https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/how-to-carve-a-turkey/
Tip: Reserve any drippings and juice remaining in your roasting pan to make turkey gravy.
Thanksgiving food can bring people closer together, so make some of these recipes to share the gratitude and joy with your friends and family this year.