By Mandate: Thanksgiving Turkey. But What About the Sides?

Got it. By a landslide vote, we love-love-love our Thanksgiving turkeys. But then what? Is there a movement for "Yes we can!"-style change for the vegetables we serve for Thanksgiving dinner?

First, what vegetables are in season? Really, the only fresh vegetables 'in season' now are the late-season crops that once-upon-a-time would have been stored in the root cellar, vegetables like potatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes, winter squash. But thanks to our global food distribution system (take that, locavores), we have ready access to an entire cornucopia of fall- and winter-ish vegetables. If your family has a family asparagus tradition, you're okay.

So what are our favorite Thanksgiving vegetables?

I'm willing to bet that these three make the top three favorites. And for good reason. They're healthful, they all play well with cream and butter and cheese.

Sweet Potatoes
Kalyn's Kitchen ~ Spicy Crockpot Sweet Potatoes
Food Blogga ~ Olive Oil, Caramelized Onion, and Sage Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Baking Bites ~ Buttermilk Sweet Potato Pie

Winter Squash
Gluten-Free Girl ~ Autumnal Squash Puree
Karma Free Cooking ~ Butternut Mac 'n' Cheese
Culinary Cory ~ Roasted Butternut Squash & Sweet Apples

Potatoes
Simply Recipes ~ Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Wasabi Bratwurst ~ Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

But I'd like to suggest that we adopt a new traditional Thanksgiving vegetable, corn. Why? Because sweet corn is a variety of maize which is indigenous to the Americas and was a staple of sustenance for Native Americans. It spread throughout the world only after European settlers arrived.

Corn
Pioneer Woman ~ Fresh Corn with Wild Rice
My Own Sweet Thyme ~ Corn Salad with Pecan Dressing
From Our Home to Yours ~ Cornbread Stuffing

Another Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipe Discovered via a Quick Request on Twitter
Mashed White and Sweet Potatoes

(Want to participate in occasional requests for recipes? Follow and Kalyn and me on Twitter.)

BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg scopes out Thanksgiving vegetable recipes all year long, cooks them in October, then diets in November.