Great Side Recipes Ideas For Turkey
D is for dressing / Pass the gravy please / Sauce it up!
No self-respecting Christmas turkey would ever make an appearance without gravy (considered an essential part of the meal, along with roast potatoes!) so don’t forget to include it on your ‘must make’ list. This simple recipe, from the brilliant BBC Good Food website, uses white wine for a pale, light gravy, but can also be made using red wine or Port for a richer feel.
Easy Christmas gravy
Ingredients (serves 8):
1 tbsp flour
200ml white wine or red wine
600ml chicken stock
Method:
Pour away any excess fat from the turkey roasting tin but keep any onion halves used in cooking. Set the tin over a medium heat, then sprinkle over the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook for 2 mins, turning the onion over in the mixture to extract the flavour. Slowly stir in the wine and stock, adding any juices from the resting turkey. Bring to the boil, scraping the bits from the bottom, then simmer over a low heat for 15 mins. Sieve and season before serving alongside your Christmas turkey.
Cranberry sauce is another traditional favourite which pairs beautifully with roast cuts of pork or poultry. Fresh or frozen cranberries are hard to come by, so rather than stress, why not try Woolworths’ delectable cranberry sauce, R36.95 per 150g jar, or their cranberry and port sauce, R39.95 per 200g sachet. Both are delicious with camembert and brie too, so can serve double duty with the cheeseboard.
Sensational side dishes
We’re mildly obsessed with side dishes and love to offer (and eat!) a variety of options with our choice of Christmas meat. Roast potatoes, honey glazed carrots, and cauliflower and broccoli cheese are all festive-season favourites, as are creamy potato bake and Brussel sprouts (try them sautéed in olive oil with pancetta and rosemary, then toss with pine nuts and serve warm). Ah-mazing roasted vegetables, braised greens with garlic and lemon, and (guilt-free) olive oil-roasted cauliflower are also utterly moreish!
In the heat of summer however, our best sides are salads – especially those with a twist. You can expect the easy kale, quinoa and roasted beet salad with marinated feta recipe below to be a crowd-pleasing hit, ditto the vegetable tagine salad (both fantastic meal options for non-meat eating guests). Other classy Christmas sides include the other recipe here: elegant asparagus and green beans with hazelnut and cranberry dressing. Hungry, anyone?
Kale, quinoa and roasted beet salad with marinated feta
Pic and recipe via www.taste.com.au
Ingredients (serves 4)
16 (about 350g) baby carrots, trimmed, peeled, halved lengthwise if large
12 (about 300g) baby beetroot, trimmed, peeled, halved (or quartered if large)
2 red onion, peeled, cut into thin wedges
1 cup (about 190g) quinoa, rinsed and drained
150g kale, trimmed, leaves shredded
2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1.5 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon honey
60g marinated feta in oil, drained, crumbled
Pink Himalayan salt flakes, to season
Method:
Vegetable tagine salad
Pic and recipe via www.taste.com.au
Ingredients (serves 6)
1/2 butternut or pumpkin (around 300g), peeled, chopped into 2cm pieces
1 carrot, sliced 2cm thick
1 zucchini, sliced 2cm thick
400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
2 tablespoons Moroccan seasoning
1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
1 cup (200g) couscous
1.5 cups (375ml) vegetable stock, heated
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, thinly sliced
½ bunch mint, leaves picked
½ bunch coriander, leaves picked
2 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted
170g tub tzatziki
Method:
Asparagus and green beans with hazelnut and cranberry dressing
Pics and recipe via www.taste.com.au
Ingredients (serves 8)
3 bunches asparagus, trimmed
500g green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
120g dry-roasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Method:
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Food for the day after…
Christmas leftovers are inevitable, but that certainly doesn’t mean you need to eat the same meal twice! With just a little imagination and a few extra ingredients, you can quickly whip up delicious, nutritious fare for Boxing Day.
Obvious options include turkey burgers and roast beef wraps, served with a simple side salad and sweet potato fries (if the latter is not too much effort!). Alternatively, you can’t go wrong with a homemade Christmas pizza featuring your favourite festive meat and veg, ham pasta or a fresh turkey risotto dish. When the time rolls around, we’re definitely going to try the Moroccan turkey salad below (and possibly substitute turkey with leftover beef or chicken), as well as the chicken (or turkey), kale and sprout stir-fry. Any remaining desserts such as Christmas pud will be crumbled and stirred into slightly soft vanilla ice cream, then popped back into the freezer until we’re ready to serve it with flaked almonds, dark chocolate nibs and a drizzle of hot cranberry sauce or maple syrup. Roll on the holidays!
Moroccan turkey salad
Pic and recipe via www.bbcgoodfood.com
Ingredients (serves 4)
2 pitta bread
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 diced aubergine
1 tablespoon harissa
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
500g leftover turkey, shredded
Method:
Tear the pitta into pieces and fry in the olive oil until crisp. Tip into a bowl, then fry the aubergine for 10 mins until soft. Add to the pitta with the harissa, tomatoes, turkey and rocket. Toss well. Scatter over pomegranate seeds and mint leaves.
Chicken, kale and sprout stir-fry (a light, wholesome way to get in extra Brussel sprouts!)
Pic and recipe via www.bbcgoodfood.com
Ingredients (serves 2)
100g soba noodles
100g shredded curly kale
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 lean chicken breasts, or the equivalent in leftover roast chicken (skin removed), sliced into thin strips
25g piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
handful Brussel sprouts, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or white wine vinegar
zest and juice of 1 lime
Method:
Shop for your ingredients at these local stores
Farm Fellows
D&J Vleismark
Fenwick Slaghuis
Van Vuuren Wors
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