Wishing all Canadians a Happy Thanksgiving!
In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated in October and in the US it’s in September. What matters the most for me is the “celebration”. Every year, I try to whip up a few thanksgiving special dishes but haven’t tried roasting turkey from scratch. I am not a huge turkey fan so I always end up buying a whole chicken. Well, this year I’d already made up my mind that I would roast turkey in my oven.
This weekend, being thanksgiving weekend, I decided to make the dinner on Saturday. In the afternoon, I went for a mega shopping and bought everything that was needed for making the grant dinner and also the big guy, the turkey. I bought a young turkey. Started by cooking in the evening and it continued till night. Honestly, it wasn’t that tiring as most of the cooking was done in the oven. On the other hand, I couldn’t help envying my man who sat way comfortably on the recliner, watching football, and kept checking with me “is the dinner ready yet?” I tried hard not to blow my cool 😛
I roasted the turkey for about 3 1/2 hours. While the turkey was roasting, I made the other side dishes.
Thanksgiving Dinner 2012 Menu:
- Butternut Squash soup topped with red pepper/walnuts
- Cranberry sauce with orange zest and cloves
- Beans with caramelized shallots and butter-roasted walnuts
- Roasted butternut squash and sweet potatoes
- Peach and dried cranberry chutney
- Brown rice stuffing
- Turkey gravy
- Roasted Turkey
Other Thanksgiving Recipes, Click Here
In this post I am sharing the recipe for making beans with caramelized shallots and toasted walnuts.
Beans with caramelized shallots and roasted walnuts
- Extra-Virgin Olive oil or light olive oil- 1 tbsp
- Garlic, chopped small- 3 large cloves
- Shallots, cut long vertically- 4, large
- Green beans, whole- 30
- Soy sauce, low-sodium- 3 tbsp
- Ground black pepper- 1/2 tsp
- Pecans or Walnuts, roasted in 1 tbsp butter- 1/4 cup
- Sesame seeds- 1 1/2 tbsp
- Salt- 1/2 tsp
- Place a large pot filled with water over medium heat, let the water come to a boil.
- Add the whole green beans to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Don’t overcook the beans, the beans should remain crisp.
- Drain the water and keep the cooked beans aside.
- Place a non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Add oil, add chopped garlic and saute till light golden.
- Add shallots, and salt and cook till shallots turn golden brown in color.
- Add the cooked beans, combine well.
- Add soy sauce and ground pepper, combine well.
- Add sesame seeds, combine well.
- Stir fry for 3 minutes, let the beans turn light golden brown.
- Roast the pecans or walnuts in 1 tbsp butter in a small frying pan till they turn light golden in color.
- If you don’t want to roast the pecans or walnuts, you can skip that step & add them directly.
- Add the roasted walnuts or pecans to the beans, combine well.
- Take the pan off the heat and keep it covered.
- Serve this as a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner.
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- Extra-Virgin Olive oil or light olive oil- 1 tbsp
- Garlic, chopped small- 3 large cloves
- Shallots, cut long vertically- 4, large
- Green beans, whole- 30
- Soy sauce- 3 tbsp
- Ground black pepper- ½ tsp
- Salt- ½ tsp
- White Sesame seeds- 1½ tbsp
- Pecans or Walnuts, roasted in 1 tbsp butter- ¼ cup
- Place a large pot filled with water over medium heat, allow the water to come to a boil.
- Add the whole green beans to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Don't overcook the beans, the beans should remain crisp.
- Drain the water and keep the cooked beans aside.
- Place a non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Add oil, add chopped garlic and saute till light golden.
- Add shallots, salt and cook till shallots turn golden brown in color.
- Add the cooked beans, combine well.
- Add soy sauce and ground pepper, combine well.
- Add sesame seeds, combine well.
- Stir fry for 3 minutes till the beans turn light golden brown.
- Roast the pecans or walnuts in 1 tbsp butter in a small frying pan till they turn light golden in color.
- If you don't want to roast the pecans or walnuts, you can skip that step & add them directly.
- Add the roasted walnuts or pecans to the beans, combine well.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep covered.
- Serve this as a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner.
