French Green Beans with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Haricots verts with oven roasted tomatoes are a great side dish. If you're in the market for a great green bean recipe for Thanksgiving, this might be it! It may look simple, but it’s absolutely bursting with flavor.

Making the dish takes quite a long time but requires very little work. The tomatoes are caramelized in balsamic vinegar, palm sugar and garlic and very slowly roasted for 2 hours. French green beans are very fine and tender, so they require very little cooking. I sautéed them in caramelized onions and added the tomatoes at the last minute. The crunch from the greens and the softness from the tomatoes make a wonderful combination without packing a lot of calories.

Roasted Acorn Squash Recipe

Roasting vegetables brings out the flavors beautifully. It's so simple to do that you can get your children to help you out in the kitchen. I've been thinking lately about what the menu for Thanksgiving is going to be, and after a tour of the local market I settled on making roasted acorn squash.

Acorn squash is so much more flavorful than pumpkin or sweet potatoes, plus it's an easy side dish. Just scoop out the delicious, tender flesh and enjoy!
 

Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

Making stuffed mushrooms is a great way to put stale bread to use. I served soup the other night and we had 2 leftover rolls, so I decided to make a plate of these savory treats. To start, I sautéed a few vegetables, including zucchini, bell peppers, celery and carrots. You can use whatever you want, but it's a good idea to choose colorful ingredients. Once the vegetables were cooked, I added the bread, a little vegetable broth and fromage blanc. In case you were wondering, the fromage blanc helps keep the top moist even after the stuffed mushrooms are baked. To complete the dish, I topped the mushrooms with sharp Cheddar cheese. 

I didn't add any additional spices, because the bread was already studded with chiles. Otherwise, a little heat is a nice touch to balance the flavor. One final bit of advice: make a bunch of these. They go fast!

Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe

Lasagna is one of the ultimate comfort foods our family enjoys. It's butternut squash season, so I've been cooking with it a lot lately, and I thought it would be fun to use it in a lasagna dish.

To start, I roasted butternut squash pieces in the oven with herbs and honey, then blended it into a smooth purée. I then stacked layers of pasta sheets in between creamy, cheesy white sauce and butternut squash purée. It’s a perfect combination of sweet and savory, and it really enhances the natural sweetness of the ricotta.

The lasagna dish can be prepared in advance (the day before) and kept it in the refrigerator overnight. It might not be the healthiest but it will definitely satisfy your appetite on cold days.

Pumpkin Protein Drink Recipe

I think if he could, my husband would drink pumpkin pie. He already inhales it every Thanksgiving! So this pumpkin protein drink is about as close as it gets to making his dreams come true. It's an ultra easy breakfast to make when you're on the go, and it’ll get you in the mood for the soon-to-be holiday season.

The drink is packed with vitamins, protein (I added soy protein) and calcium, making it markedly healthier than the real deal, and perfect for vegetarians like my husband Lulu.