Zac's Thanksgiving Salad

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all who celebrate! I shared the meal prep with a friend, which was a great relief to us both. I do always like to make new recipes, which means now making notes as to the ones we liked best!

This year's winners were

Balsamic Roasted Beets
JoyFoodSunshine

Crushed Green Bean Salad with Cranberry
NYT - gift link

Slow Cooker Apple Cider from Scratch
The Stay at Home Chef

Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread
NYT - gift link

The Crushed Green Bean Salad with Cranberry was Zac's contribution to the meal. At age 10, he did nearly the whole thing himself. If you are looking for things kids can do in the kitchen, besides shaking heavy cream in a jar to make butter, may I recommend this recipe? He particularly loved hitting the green beans with a rolling pin, but there are lots of things a kid can do. In fact, the only thing that really requires an adult is the dicing of one shallot.

Kids can

trim the green beans with a pair of scissors

put the green beans in a large ziploc bag

whack the beans with a rolling pin

season the crushed beans with salt

combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously

juice a lemon

tear leaves off a head of lettuce

wash lettuce leaves in a colander

spin leaves in a salad spinner to dry them

pour the dressing into the bag

add dried cranberries to the bag

toss the bag back and forth to combine all the ingredients

make layers of the lettuce and the bean salad in a large bowl

shower the entire thing with fried onions

And this salad was a revelation! Fresh and delicious, it uses any kind of cranberry sauce (jellied or whole berry). All the component parts are made the day before and refrigerated until the last minute. It doesn't take up a burner or any room in the oven, provides the mandatory green beans (with no added mushrooms), and complements the flavors of the meal really well.

I have a feeling this will be Zac's contribution to Thanksgiving for many years to come.

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