When it comes to Thanksgiving, I love using the ingredients of the season to create warmth, comfort and balance. I also love dishes that manage to bring together familiar flavors and unique combinations. Each one of these recipes sets out to do all of that, while being luxurious but still a little lighter than the other items on the table. They may not revolutionize your traditional Thanksgiving feast, but they’ll certainly refresh it.
This vibrant salad, based on yum som-o, a pomelo salad from Thailand, puts citrus front and center. Grapefruit is used here, but if you happen on pomelos, grab a few: They’re much easier to peel and loosen from their piths. Fragrant toasted coconut, salty peanuts and crunchy shallots create layers of texture, while dried shrimp adds a saltiness that greets your tongue in little bursts.
With its delicate, crisp bite, this “just greens” salad — meaning not just leafy greens, but shades of green — dressed with an acidic, lightly sweetened cider vinaigrette can be a simple addition to your holiday spread. The recipe carries many of the season’s brightest notes and uses ingredients you likely have on hand. Green is the theme but not the rule, so any sour-sweet red apple will work just great.
This beet salad with roast chickpeas and coriander yogurt is all about big forkfuls of vegetables. Plump chickpeas suffused with warm coriander and bright orange zest lend a delightfully crisp crunch. And you’ll probably want to top everything on your plate with the creamy yogurt dressing.