Thanksgiving Dishes with Brooke
Women come together in the kitchen. There is something so nurturing and satisfying about sitting around a big table, with a fire roaring, folk music playing, chopping, mincing, cooking, joking, laughing and all the while towards a delicious meal that will be nourishing your loved ones. The holidays give us an excuse to do this in a grand scale. My talented cooking wizard friend Brooke Larson came over to do just this. Sitting at the table made the process all the more special and bonding. We chopped the farmers market ingredients to make a delicious wild rice salad and soothing butternut squash soup. All my favorite autumn gems were at hand like persimmons, tangerines, pomegranates, butternut, almonds to add color and life to the salad and soup. Brooke had to stop my fingers from trying to sneak in a few nibbles! I made sure to compost all the scraps in a basket by the table. Feeding back to the earth continues the circle. Thanksgiving recipes below!
For more all natural and organic recipes, see The Local Rose.
Cook wild rice and set aside. Clean pomegranate seeds, 1/4 grapes, crush toasted almonds, slice persimmons, and julienne sage and place all into a large mixing bowl. Season w salt and pepper to your liking(I like my food to be well seasoned/aggressively seasoned, up to your palate) drizzle w balsamic and pumpkin seed oil, slice the satsuma tangerines in half and get as much juice from them as you can some of the pulp is perfectly fine. Mix and let sit for 30 minutes to macerate the fruits, nuts, and seasonings. Put cooked rice into mixing bowl and stir. Check seasoning. Right before you serve this rice salad throw in the kale and give a quick stir. It’s ready to serve on your thanksgiving table. Gobble Gobble
Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Place all ingredients into a large pot, season w salt pepper and spices. Cover w water. The water should be just about covering all the squash add a little more if needed. Cook on the stove top for 45 minutes (bring up to a boil and once you see bubbles turn to a med low) stir often to make sure your squash isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once squash is fork tender turn off the heat and let the soup rest for ten minutes. Purée w a food processor, food mill, blender, or wand. What ever is easiest for you. To get the soup really smooth be sure there is enough liquid to squash, the squash should be covered in the food processor or blender by half purée for a good 60 seconds and longer if needed.
Shiva! Thank you for the beautiful recipes, I now plan to make the salad for Thanks & Giving this Thursday. Wonderful! And great photos, as always.
Much happiness to you and your girls, grateful for your blog (and you) in my life! Blessings!
Thank you so much Meg! Happy Thanksgiving to you, so grateful for roses like you!
It is so joyous watching brooke develop and design her career in culinary arts. I will never forget the day she came home to tell us… she wanted to be a chef! so proud! I am her proud mama and love watching her blossom into a Gifted and talented chef!! She continues to work hard, has tremendous dedication in her field, has great taste buds, is a creative food artist and most importantly loves what she does. Brooke’s mind is always moving and reaching to go to the next level in her cooking career. Nothing gives her more satisfaction than cooking for others from the farm to the table. She is a hidden treasure in LA! I only wish she would be home to create our Thanksgiving dinner this year!!! what a lovely article and tribute local rose!!