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Quick & Easy Side Dishes For Thanksgiving

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cal State LA chapter.

It is finally holiday season and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Many of you are spending this day with family and friends and want to show up with a delicious dish. Here are a few simple recipes that will help you not show up empty handed to the party! Make sure to share some pictures if you try these out!

Mashed Potatoes

An easy and traditional side dish that everyone will love is mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are very simple to make it might seem difficult to make but in reality it is simple and fairly quick. All you really need is potatoes, whipping cream garlic or garlic salt and black pepper are that’s it! Here is a quick recipe from Alton Brown here

Peel and dice potatoes, making sure all are relatively the same size. Place in a large saucepan, add the salt, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.

Heat the half-and-half and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water. Mash and add the garlic-cream mixture and Parmesan; stir to combine. Let stand for 5 minutes so that mixture thickens and then serve.

Roasted Veggies

Veggies are an essential to have. And roasting them is very easy and effortless. Check out this great recipe here.

You can use any vegetable you like from carrots, bell peppers, onions, or asparagus. Let your creativity run wild. If you are trying to stay healthier, you can substitute the oil for balsamic vinegar, lemon juice or even soy sauce. 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

For Thanksgiving this will be the dish I will be taking! It is a personal recipe that my husband and I came up with and not to brag, but it comes out very delicious. We will be making stuffed bell peppers. There are many things that you can stuff your peppers with you can customize it to whatever you would like. We will be using ground turkey. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

Ground turkey

½ diced Onion

1 diced up tomatoes

1 corn

olive oil

Mozzarella cheese

Salt and pepper

Steamed Bell peppers

Jack Daniels (optional)

 

Heat up a pan with olive oil (or any oil of your choice). When oil is nice and hot, throw in onion and tomatoes. Sautee for about 5 -8 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook until nice and brown. Here you can add some Jack Daniels for a little kick but it is optional. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Get a full corn with the leaves on and put it in the microwave for about 5-8 minutes. Take it out and it should be tender. Peel the leaves off and then cut corn off the cob into plate. Add it to the ground beef.

Once the bell peppers are steamed just pour in the ground beef and top off with Mozzarella cheese. Pop them into the microwave for about 30 seconds or until cheese is melted.  And viola. they are ready to eat.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

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Judy Jimenez

Cal State LA

Judy is a senior pursuing a degree in business. Some may say she is a makeup lover and others might say she is an addict but point is makeup is a passion of hers. She hopes to start her own makeup line and take over the world one lipstick at a time. If you want to see her makeup looks follow her on instagram @ LaJudy12
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Yzzy Gonzalez

Cal State LA

Yzzy (real name Ysabel, for the record) is obsessed with a myriad of things, including Inception, traveling, Downtown LA, and laser tagging. Majoring in Television, Film and Media and a lover of creative writing, Yzzy is torn between visual storytelling and using a whole bunch of words. Twitter: @yzzygonzalez