I always make a green salad, even though I’m the only one who eats it. I’m cooking so it’s my choice.
Mr. B says he too likes having a green salad because it prevents him from filling his plate with too much of the other stuff. Of course, he always goes back for seconds. 
Yeh, no magic in avoiding Tday calories.
My problem with Thanksgiving vegetables is that I love too many things that are creamy/mashed/pureed: garlic mashed potatoes, Himmel und Erde (A puree of potato and turnip with caramelized onion and apple with some beef stock), sweet potatoes with either bourbon and butter and nutmeg or citrus and ginger, and of course creamed spinach.
I love brussels sprouts browned in butter, but H said he was tired of sprouts and GF’s father doesn’t like them.There goes my non-creamy green vegetable. I am one of those people who does not do salad on Thanksgiving.
BTW, I dug out my favorite, really delicious corn pudding recipe, which is on an ancient xerox of a page from Food&Wine: Corn Pudding with Cheese and Chiles. It’s more like a quiche filling, although it does have 3T of cornstarch. And it cooks in a bain marie. I may try steaming it in a slow cooker instead…unless I could sneak it into the oven with the turkey at the end.
I tried a green salad one year, and you would have thought I put dog poo on the table 
Everyone avoided it, saying they could eat salad any other day, but Thanksgiving day food was only once a year! I like to have loose food on the plate and not just casseroles or things that look like blobs on the plate, so we will have green beans and/or brussel sprouts.
Problem with people: a green salad doesn’t mean rabbit food, it can be really interesting! Wonderful ingredients. Delicious cheese. A from scratch flavorful dressing.
Don’t people want different textures in their mouth other than soft, creamy,mushy!!!
I add pomegranate seeds and some thinly sliced persimmons to the green salad for festive color.
We always have a salad! Slightly bitter mixed greens, fresh pear or apple, dried cranberries, candied pecans, GOOD blue cheese, champagne vinaigrette - clearly the salad haters have never had a real delicious salad!
Oh, I completely agree that salads can be interesting and wonderful.
They just don’t say Thanksgiving to me.
Might do it this year, though. This salad, from Cold Weather Cooking, is fabulous and Thanksgiving-y. Or one could do a simpler version, by using plain toasted pecans instead of making sugar-spiced pecans, for example:
https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/314308/mixed-greens-with-spiced-pecans
Consolation, is this similar to your recipe for corn pudding?
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spicy-corn-pudding-with-roasted-red-pepper
We ALWAYS have a green salad at our family gatherings and it often has to be refilled, sometimes multiple times. Sometimes we have several different green salads, as it’s such a hit!
I won’t do this green salad this TDay because I did it twice already for family events this fall, but it’s delicous!
https://www.aspicyperspective.com/roasted-root-vegetables-salad/
Other green salads that have made a Thanksgiving appearance:
http://espressoandcream.com/2010/11/autumn-chopped-salad.html
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/kale-salad-warm-cranberry-vinaigrette-recipe/
This is on the short list of one I might make this year:
https://www.cookingclassy.com/pear-bacon-and-brussels-sprout-salad/
“I may try steaming it in a slow cooker instead…unless I could sneak it into the oven with the turkey at the end.”
The only thing I’d be concerned about, @Consolation. is the water bath steaming the crispy skin on your turkey. I’d love your recipe if it is convenient. If not, no worries.
@sabaray You make the same kind of salad that I make for holidays. Sometimes, like @BunsenBurner, I sub the dried cranberries for some pomegranate arils. I also add a little thinly sliced red onion. I make my own candied pecans and add a teensy bit of cayenne in for a little zip. Colorful and yummy! Everybody enjoys it.
In addition to the above mentioned “color additives,” I add goat cheese, roasted pumpkin seeds, and thin slices of red onions to the salad. Balsamic dressing of sorts.
I’m definitely having salad with dinner tonight now. All this discussion has me craving it now!
My grandmother made that jello salad and added cottage cheese. I don’t remember cut up cranberries though and we all liked it. Thanks for the fun memory.
Everyday this week Ina is posting a recipe on her website (and on FB) from her Thanksgiving menu. Today she posted her Make Ahead Turkey. Her plan is to make the turkey ahead, carve it and then right before dinner to heat it up in the oven for 30 minutes in a small amount of gravy.
https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/make-ahead-roast-turkey
I’m tempted.
^Thanks for posting that, @ams5796 I am really tempted to try that, too. We will be having a small Thanksgiving this year and using Ina’s make-ahead method would really make things easier for me. Due to some commitments I have on Thanksgiving morning, this could make my life a lot easier. And I’m all for easier on Thanksgiving Day…
@ams5796 - thanks! Gravy with Pinot? I am on board, made ahead or not. It sounds delicious.
My mom always cooks a turkey ahead and another for T-Day dinner. The one cooked ahead is used for leftovers - sandwiches and such - but it also allows her to make the gravy ahead of time. It is normally one of those last minute things before the dinner is ready so getting it out of the way and just reheating is a big stress/mess saver. Added bonus: easier to separate the drippings from the fat when you do it ahead.