One Farmers Market Trip, Seven Thanksgiving Sides

Yams with lime

Peel the yams and cut into large chunks. Brush with butter melted with a little dark brown sugar. Roast uncovered until done. Finish with a spritz of lime juice and another brush of butter.

Fried Sweet Peppers

Cut any variety or multiple varieties of sweet peppers into strips. Slowly fry in olive oil over low heat until very soft with some golden edges. Serve at room temperature with all the sweet pepper oil to dip bread into

Brussels Sprouts on the Stalk

Relieve crowding in your kitchen by cooking a whole stalk or two of Brussels Sprouts in your BBQ over indirect heat. Liberally brush stalk and sprouts with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for at least an hour slowly over indirect heat basting every 15 minutes. Cook until sprouts are nearly black and supersoft. Serve whole stalk on large platter

Stinging Nettle Potato Gratin

Use gloves to avoid getting stung. Rinse nettles to remove all the clinging soil. Cut off any string stems. Blanch in salted water and drain in colander. Chop the cooked nettles and layer them with thinly sliced potatoes, salt and pepper and liberal drizzles of cream. Bake until potatoes are tender. Finish with a gratineed sprinkle of bread crumbs or grated parmesan if you like.

Potatoes and Tomatoes

Layer thinly sliced potatoes and onion with slices of tomato, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Moisten each layer with olive oil. Bake

Sweet and Sour Zucchini

Grill zucchini strips then drench with a sweet-sour mixture of red wine vinegar, sugar to taste and mint. This is good with fried butternut squash slices too.

Tomato and Beet Salad

Roast beets wrapped in foil. When tender, peel and cut into wedges. Toss with wedges of red tomatoes and season as you like. Add a drizzle of olive oil.