I feel like the sides are the point of Thanksgiving! The turkey is obligatory, but everyone seems to like the side dishes best. This year we’re having roasted brussel sprouts with pomegranate seeds, butternut squash with apple cider glaze, balsamic cippoline onions, glazed root vegetables, mashed potatoes, and some kind of stuffing.
You guys are making me very hungry :))
I think I’m going to try out a couple from this list!
one of our family’s favorite sides is sauteed apples. Sliced, sauteed in butter with a little sherry and sugar and cinnamon. They go so so fast.
I’m going to now make asparagus thanks to the post above.
For people who love creamed onions, I’ve been making this one for years and it is a must have for my family, an amped up version of creamed onions. It originally appeared in the New Basics cookbook by the Silver Palate authors.
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/4f75f5x3/five-creamed-onions.html
The waldorf salad suggestion made me think of a kind of waldorf spinach salad I have made with baby spinach, chopped tart apples, pecans, dried cherries and some kind of blue cheese sprinkled on top. I dress it with a lime, honey, olive oil dressing. It has a nice fresh taste next to all the heavy sides of a typical thanksgiving dinner.
I tried a salad one year, and it sat on the table! I am always looking for something that is not so heavy to compliment the rest of the meal. Like someone above, salad does not say Thanksgiving!!
My family loves brussel sprouts, with the exception of my BIL. Every year I have them, he has to make some crack about how much he hates them. Really-with the food on our table, enough to feed 5 extra families not in attendance, skip the brussels and eat the other items! He hasn’t called me yet to see if they are on the menu this year, but it is still early 
My mother does grilled vegetables which is everyone’s favorite. We use portobello mushrooms, onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and zucchini. I still like to serve another loose vegetable to make the plate colorful. We dropped the rolls a few years ago as no one ate them as they would rather fill up on the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and dressing; you can have rolls any day!
We also do a wild rice side dish. Wild rice is big around here
I love wild rice.
NM- did you post the Corn Casserole recipe several years ago?
The salad disappears on our table! It’s not like we’re just serving romaine leaves. 
And our digestive systems appreciate the variety.
Disclaimer: I don’t really like Brussels sprouts. My DW loves them. So I played with recipes and we expect the kids to try everything at Thanksgiving. I finally found a way that make them actually good enough to eat myself.
Shred the sprouts on a mandolin or slice them by hand (I don’t use a food processor, but that may work too)
Saute the pecans in a combination of butter and bacon fat. a couple of minutes or so
Add fresh bacon bits and sprouts.
Cook about 5 minutes
Add craisins
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
The shred gets more of the sprout some good caramelized taste.
This is my take on a recipe from Alton Brown. I sometimes also add lemon juice or cider vinegar to brighten it up.
@notelling, thanks for that NYT link, there are a couple of recipes there I think I will make this year! Getting tired of my usual vegetables.
S’s GF said she isn’t fond of brussels sprouts “although I’m sure you would cook them in a delicious way.” I am thinking of making the green bean dish on the Times link, which sounds really good. The ways I usually cook green beans are all Indian, which doesn’t blend well with Thanksgiving flavors IMHO. (The cauliflower gratin on the link sounds really delicious, although not for Thanksgiving. Will be making it.)
I’m attracted to the idea of a melange of roasted root vegetables of various colors!
Cranberry sauce on my table is jellied from the can, and must be served sliced, in my grandmother’s cut glass dish.
My S would be very disappointed if there weren’t garlic mashed potatoes.
I typically serve a corn casserole as the other dish. Wish I could provide the recipe, I get lazy by the time it comes to the last side dish and buy it from the pre-made section of the lovely (somewhat overpriced) food store nearby.
Just finished the first round of grocery shopping. Will be roasted mixed potatoes (small multi-colored) with parsnips, beets, carrots, butternut squash and pearl onions. Butter/olive oil blend with herbs (whichever herbs strike me at the time) Sausage and apple dressing with a sour-dough bread base. Twice-baked Sweet Potatoes. Fresh Green beans -style tbd. Two small turkeys. One smoked, one roasted. Salad-tbd. Fresh cranberry sauce (no canned at my house). Pie, pie and more pie. At least 4 pies. Pecan, Pumpkin and Apple, plus one tbd.
No, @doschicos, you are not alone. I will eat most anything, but cannot stand Brussels sprouts. And yes, I do know how to prepare them. I grew up in a town that had a Brussels sprout festival every year and have eaten them fresh off the stalk, harvested that day, but I still think they are too bitter. It’s okay not to like something!
A very traditional Thanksgiving side dish for some people in California is enchiladas. Our family has them every Thanksgiving and Christmas. The recipe dates from the late 18th century from California ranchos, and family lore is that is has been made in that branch of the family continuously from those days. Eggs, cheese, olives, chiles, tortillas – all daily foods on the California rancho. We think of it as the Native American portion of the meal since the (clearly apocryphal) story is that the recipe originated with the indigenous people in the area (Gabrielinos?), (which seems highly unlikely since the base of the sauce is very similar to a Spanish sofrito, and thus clearly has European origins).
It’s very definitely not a “south of the border” dish; it has been made on this patch of land for centuries (although the eggs, olive, chiles and other ingredients have obviously changed over time).
My fil asked me to make my balsamic spinach salad one year and now it’s a tradition.
Fresh baby spinach
Feta cheese
Chopped pecans
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
1/2 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix.
Follow the instructions for the salad dressing but use half the packet and balsamic vinegar. Assemble rest of salad and toss lightly with the dressing. The feta soaks it up and it’s super good.
Btw, shredded Brussels sprouts in Poutine, yum.
Looks like we’ll go with a turkey pot pie based on Ina Garten, but only a top crust, of pastry dough. Baked squash loaded with sautéed apples. That’s as far as I’ve gotten.
My father made mostacolli with meat sauce for every holiday. In his view, no holiday meal was complete without it. I served it when my folks were with us, but now that they are gone I don’t serve it on Thanksgiving. H makes it from my Dad’s recipe and we have it on Sunday before everyone (kids and their significant others/friends) leaves. By Sunday all our guests are tired of the leftovers. Over the years, H has tinkered with my Dad’s meat sauce but it seems like everyone likes the original recipe the best.
Just bought asparagus for the meal. I like them with a dash of lemon-pepper. I think it is a good addition. May do a garbanzo bean salad. Add diced cucumber and carrot, salt, dill and oil and wine vinegar. It’s light and a good source of protein fior the vegetarian D2.
I always hated Brussels sprouts and told my H, the cook, that I would not eat them. He loves them. But I finally ate some I liked. They are broiled with some olive oil and salt and some garlic on top. They have some crisp to them. Made this way they are good and I will eat them. Steamed or boiled or even just added to a soup or something like that, nope.
We would all love your dad’s recipe for his meat sauce?
!