With Thanksgiving just around the corner, your kitchen and fridge are sure to be packed full of Thanksgiving foods and dishes, even after the holiday is done. The leftovers will be taking up over all of the shelves, leaving not much room for other foods until you’ve eaten them up. So what do you do with all those leftover veggies that you didn’t entirely use at your Thanksgiving celebration? Read on for some ideas from our awesome bloggers that we found on our Food Monster App to give you some ideas!
1. Cauliflower
Image Source: Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Hazelnuts
Cauliflower is a classic holiday vegetable that shines in a variety of styles of cooking and is fantastic served with a large number of other flavors. It’s delicious in many dishes, so that makes it an ideal leftover! That extra head of cauliflower in your fridge that you didn’t end up using sure won’t go to waste when you know how to use it. These ideas will ensure that this fall vegetable doesn’t go wasted!
Cauliflower is fantastic when roasted since this method of cooking creates a wonderful flavor. Complement the cauliflower with another distinctive autumn flavor: hazelnuts! This Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Hazelnuts from Viktoria Radichkova will carry on the festive fall feeling even after Thanksgiving ends. So will this awesome Tahini-Roasted Cauliflower With Lemony Herb Oil from Maikki Vasala that incorporates warm and savory flavors. For a warm and comforting leftovers recipe, use your cauliflower in Trinity Bourne‘s Coconut Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup.
2. Green Beans
Image Source: Green Bean, Potato, and Carrot Stew
Green bean casserole is a classic that many families will find on their holiday table. But did you happen to buy an extra bag of green beans, anticipating that you would need more than you did? We’ve been there. Don’t worry, though – there are plenty of other awesome ways to use those beans that will keep you full all week.
You could use green beans to make a warm and comforting stew with other leftover sides like potatoes and carrots (keep reading for more carrot ideas!), like in this Green Bean, Potato, and Carrot Stew from Alenoosh Matakupan. Keep it nice and simple but delicious with Green Beans with Lemon Dressing from Melissa Tedesco that you can serve with a variety of entrees! If you have cranberries left over as well, throw together these Cranberry Almond Green Beans from Gina Hoskins!
3. Pumpkin
Image Source: Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Pumpkin is everywhere this time of year, and it’s likely that it’s somewhere in your Thanksgiving meal, too. If you’ve got extras but are sick of pie, there are plenty of other things to do with this leftover ingredient! Pumpkin isn’t only for desserts or lattes, although speaking of desserts, how awesome is this Pumpkin Bread Pudding from Gretchen Price?
If you want to go for something a little more savory that would make a great lunch for the week, you could go for these Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pumpkin, Tomatoes, Toasted Seeds, and Balsamic Vinegar from Judy Moosmueller that make use of lots of different seasonal veggies with a simple dressing. Soups are always a good bet for leftover veggies, and this hearty Minestrone Soup with Pumpkin and Buckwheat from Simona Malerba just proves that point.
Gratitude: Plant-Based Thanksgiving Cookbook
No other holiday captures the spirit of home cooking the way Thanksgiving does. This is why you need the ultimate Thanksgiving cookbook, One Green Planet’s Gratitude: Plant-Based Recipes to Create your own Thanksgiving Tradition! In the cookbook, you’ll find our 100 most popular plant-based thanksgiving recipes like Soft Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts, Spiced Apple Cake with Cashew Frosting, Sweet Potato Chocolate Pudding with Nut Crumble Topping, Cinnamon Apple Hand Pies, and hearty entrees like Roast Root Vegetable Stack With Dukkah, Vegducken: Butternut Squash Stuffed With Eggplant, Zucchini, and a Mushroom Lentil Stuffing, and Seitan Roast With Sausage and Pear Stuffing and Apple Cider Gravy and so much more!
4. Carrot
Image Source: Roasted Carrot Hummus with Turmeric
Carrots are important to many steps of the Thanksgiving process – not only are they amazing on their own as a side dish, but they also can be found in many other classic Thanksgiving dishes, like stuffing! Luckily, there are so many awesome ways to use carrots, like this beautiful and delicious Roasted Carrot Hummus with Turmeric that you can use all week, as a spread, dip, in sandwiches, you name it!
Carrots for breakfast? Trust us, it’s something you need to try with Julie Van den Kerchove‘s Carrot Cake Oatmeal! Or for lunch, you could prep a Carrot Ginger Soup with Curried Raisin Relish from Nikki and Zuzana for a truly warming and nutritious meal.
5. Brussels Sprouts
Image Source: ‘Honey’ Mustard BBQ Brussels Sprouts
Brussels Sprouts are a great addition to any fall table since they’re an ideal autumn vegetable packed with nutrition and great flavor. They can add a little bit of crunch, you can cook them a variety of ways, and you can pair them with a lot of different flavors. Use your leftovers to make these ‘Honey’ Mustard BBQ Brussels Sprouts from Gabrielle St. Claire that you can eat with many different entrees all week.
For another pairing of brussels sprouts with a classic flavor and great sauce, try Danielle Clark‘s Crispy Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Roast them up with another fall vegetable and add a little bit of sweetness with these Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Fennel and Pomegranate Seeds from Marie Reginato! You can even make a great spread to pair with any of these recipes: Peffe Stahl‘s Sunflower Seeds and Brussels Sprouts Pesto.
Easy Ways to Help the Planet:
- Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based recipe app on the App Store to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
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