There’s a pumpkin-spiced glow over the Internet right now.
“Best-ever Thanksgiving side dishes” and “all-star holiday treats” compete with “foolproof pie dough” and “make ahead mashed potatoes.”
It’s enough information to make you sick of Thanksgiving recipes well before the 4th Thursday of November.
So here’s a collection of decidedly-not Thanksgiving dinners: no turkey, no cranberry sauce, and definitely no pumpkin spice.
To be clear, I love Thanksgiving food and shamelessly adore pumpkin spice, but I like to switch it up in the days before the feast.
When your refrigerator is stuffed with all the vegetables at the farmer’s market, six extra containers of stick butter, and a giant raw turkey, you need simple meals with few ingredients to get you through the week.
The following meal plan includes healthy weeknight recipes that you can make in under 30 minutes (or 45 minutes if you’re simultaneously doing the laundry, unloading the dishwasher, and prepping Thursday’s pies).
You’ll find one dinner with meat, one vegetarian, and one fish.
If none of these options suit you, I’ve got plenty more ideas for meat/chicken, pasta, veggies, and seafood recipes.
Best of luck as you prepare for the delicious, stressful, exciting days to come- let the following meals serve as healthy moments of joy along the way.
Sunday: Lemony Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli
This take on the classic orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe is good enough to make an Italian mother proud. Spicy sausage, zesty lemon, parmesan cheese, and perfect bites of broccoli combined with whole-wheat pasta.
Monday: Skillet Chickpeas with Spinach and Lemon
A fast (vegan!) meal that tastes like a giant hug to yourself. Chickpeas fry in healing spices, sweet tomatoes, and piles of spinach to create something way too healthy to be so delicious. Warm pita for dunking is non-negotiable.
Tuesday: Sheet Pan Flounder with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives and Arugula
Delicate fillets of white fish powered-up with sweet roasted tomatoes, salty cured olives, plenty of lemon, and a ton of peppery arugula. A fast, flavorful, healthy weeknight dinner, all in one pan.
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