Anna Franklin dug around for locally grown root vegetables, herbs, alliums, and other holiday staples to come up with six winter side dishes. Perfect for your next holiday repast, each one is a celebration of deliciousness. A key side benefit of these sides is shopping with local farmers to buy your ingredients. This supports the family-run businesses who keep our pantries stocked and bring life and health to the land we share.
Winter Side Dishes for Your Holiday Gatherings
Browned Butter and Sage Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions
Even the best-loved classics benefit from a sprucing-up once in a while. Kick your mashed potatoes up a notch or two with thyme-infused cream, browned butter, caramelized onions, and a sprinkling of fresh sage leaves. Not only will the aromas and flavors delight your friends and family, they will also provide a more interesting foil for the holiday turkey or ham than the usual milk-and-butter formula.
Root Vegetable Galette
Arrange thin slices of celery root, kohlrabi, sweet potato and Japanese sweet potato into a kaleidoscope of farm-fresh goodness. Drizzle with a simple thyme vinaigrette made with olive oil. Your eyes will be delighted. Your taste buds will be pleased. You will marvel at the wonder of winter banquets spent in good company.
Miso Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes with Tahini
The unique savory sweetness of Japanese sweet potatoes makes this dish a wonderful novelty at your next holiday feast. Roasting them with miso mixed with honey only adds to the intriguing flavor. They’re served on a bed of tahini sauce prepared with yogurt. A generous sprinkling of candied walnuts adds texture and a lovely note of sweetness. You’ll find yourself revisiting this comfort food in the long winter weeks ahead.
The Best Vegan Stuffing
Vegetarianism and veganism are on the rise, particularly among younger family members and guests. If you think your next holiday gathering may include someone committed to plant-based eating, try this vegan stuffing recipe. It’s guaranteed to provide all the savory delight of your traditional recipe, even as it makes everyone feel welcome at your table. And isn’t that feeling of warmth and togetherness the magic we’re all looking for?
Gochujang Hasselback Sweet Potatoes
Are you weary of the marshmallow-covered sweet potato casserole you’ve put on the sideboard for years? Perhaps it’s time for something new? This Hasselback-style sweet potato recipe benefits from the presence of Korean gochujang pepper, which elevates the dish into the stratosphere. We think it’s the perfect accompaniment for a slice of smoked ham, but it’s also substantial enough to be a vegetarian entrée.
Roasted Acorn Squash with Apple Fennel Sausage
A gorgeous cornucopia of winter goodness, this dish blends brilliant radicchio, squash, delicious apple fennel sausage, honey and oil and vinegar. The combination of colors, textures, and flavors is simply divine. We found ourselves wondering whether it was a holiday side dish or a weeknight dinner main course … until one of our tasting crew said he would much rather have this beside a slice of turkey than an umpteenth serving of bread stuffing. Vive la difference!
Recipes and Styling by Anna Franklin / Photography by Dave Bryce
Subscribe to TABLE Magazine‘s print edition.
