To celebrate Thanksgiving here at Food Safety News we’re hosting our fourth virtual potluck (we’ve also held virtual picnics on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day).
We’ll be having turkey, of course, and for tips on how to cook a turkey, you can’t beat the Food and Drug Administration’s Keep Food Safe Blog. For instance, did you procrastinators know it’s safe to cook a frozen turkey? It will just take 50 percent longer than a fully thawed turkey. Check out the FDA’s helpful Turkey Roasting Chart and reminders that no matter what method you use — roasting, brining, deep frying or smoking — the bird isn’t safe until it reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees (and that goes for the stuffing).
In addition to the turkey, we’ve got two soups–Dan’s lentil and Marijke’s curry kale. Claire has contributed corn pudding, Gretchen made Brussels sprouts, and Helena suggests roasted squash and veggies. Alexa has shared Parmesan-rosemary potatoes and cranberry Waldorf salad. For dessert there’s Michelle’s “that blueberry thing,” a variation on a crisp, and Suzanne is bringing an unusual-but-delicious concoction involving butternut squash and pretzels.
We’re sharing the recipes here, so you can join in our virtual potluck or use them at your next one.
Have a happy and food-safe Thanksgiving Day.
The Food Safety News team
Helena’s Fall Roasted Squash and Veggies
One of my favorites, this dish is easy to make and sure to be a hit at any Thanksgiving dinner. It’s colorful, flavorful, and leaves your kitchen smelling heavenly — and it can’t hurt to eat a few vegetables to balance out the copious amounts of turkey, gravy, and stuffing on our plates.
Ingredients
— 1 butternut squash
— 1 sweet potato
— 3 red potatoes
— 1/2 onion
— 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
— 4 cloves garlic
— 3 shallots
— garlic powder
— dried sage
— couple sprigs fresh rosemary
— olive oil
— salt & pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse your veggies. Slice butternut squash lengthwise and scrape out the sides. Slice sweet potato into chunks, no thicker than 1/2″ – loosely chop onion, finely chop shallots and garlic.
Rub some of the garlic, shallots, and rosemary into the flesh of the squash, drizzle with olive oil. Toss all remaining veggies, garlic, shallots, and rosemary into a bowl. Drizzle with oil and add generous dash of sage, salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss to season evenly.
Place garlicky, olive oil smothered squash face down in casserole dish or roasting pan, arrange rest of the seasoned veggies around the squash. Roast for 25 minutes or until potatoes and squash are tender.