Neglected Thanksgiving foods

When you look at a "traditional" Thanksgiving spread, there are definitely some dishes and foods that are associated with the holiday or the time of year. My problem is, some of these foods are really only associated with Thanksgiving, when they could be enjoyed the whole year round. In my Thanksgiving-themed post, I would just like to list off some of these things and try to state a case.

TURKEY.
Yes, whole or fresh turkey only seems to be consumed on or around Thanksgiving. It seems to be second fiddle to the chicken, which is readily available and easier to cook. Yes, I think the reason why the turkey isn't eaten regularly is its big, takes a long time to thaw, and takes a long time to cook. Plus, some people may associate turkey with being dry and flavorless. Truth be told, if you have a well-prepared turkey, I could eat it on a regular basis. Plus, the leftover options; you've got soup, sandwiches, turkey ala king, pot pies. As a bachelor though a whole turkey is way too much for me. I actually prefer deep fried turkey myself (if you haven't tried it yet, do yourself a favor and try it when the opportunity arises), but of course being in an apartment I can't use the equipment necessary.

But you don't have to have a whole turkey to enjoy turkey. Pilgrim's Pride has a large line of turkey products. You can get turkey breasts cutlets (perfect for picatta), ground turkey (which I use in place of hamburger), and others. Don't let "fake" turkey, used in many lunch meats, turn you off to turkey the year round.

SWEET POTATOES (aka Yams).
Whether you call them sweet potatoes or yams (even though technically they aren't the same thing), these vegetables are generally only thought of around this time of year, which is a shame. At our dinner table we typically had candied yams, which were peeled yams cooked in the oven with some brown sugar and marshmallows. Now, that's all well and good, but when I started really getting into cooking, I found that sweet potatoes were alot more versatile, and are good year round. A good sweet potato pie recipe can beat a pumpkin pie hands down. And in those rare occasions where I have steak (get it? rare?), I like to have whipped sweet potatoes along with it - which is just steamed sweet potatoes with a little milk and a bit of brown sugar whipped with a hand mixer. Far superior to mashed potatoes in my opinion.

CRANBERRIES.
The cranberry certainly has all its business taken away from the other berries, which is primarily because the cranberry is just not that sweet. ask yourself, outside of the holidays, when have you ever had cranberry sauce? Probably not that often, if ever. I like to make a nice cranberry orange relish to go with certain dishes. Its good with more than just turkey. Of course you can also enjoy cranberries in various juices at the store, and in a tasty snack, Craisins, which are great in place of raisins in any recipe.

GREEN BEANS.
Now this is a little hard to make a case for, since green beans aren't as tied down to Thanksgiving as the above foods were. But around this time of year the number of green beans and green bean recipes seems to increase, and I'm not sure why. Green beans and green bean casseroles are big this time of year. Me, my family had green beans on a regular basis. They were usually out of the can and heated on the stove. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but nowadays I find those types of green beans hard to swallow. Give me some fresh raw green beans, or fresh green beans that have been steamed, and I'll happily eat them.

Those are the biggies right there. Foods that have unfairly been locked into the November-December time frame. Do yourself a favor, get out there to some of the big recipe sites.. either Food Network or Recipezaar.. and look around the recipes with the above ingredients. Try a new recipe this year. Chances are you'll like one well enough to make it at a time other than Thanksgiving.