If your motto is “eat the rainbow,” this Thanksgiving menu is for you. Yes, there’s turkey, but it’s really all about the vegetables. It begins with a brilliant roasted purple cabbage and pear salad. The two main dishes make the menu friendly to vegetarians and omnivores alike: a maple-brined turkey breast and a meatless vegetable tart. And the side dishes are what really give the plate a rainbow of color and flavor: brown-butter green beans with pine nuts, cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes, and lime-scented cranberry sauce. The menu ends with a pink cranberry-and-cream tart.
Menu Timeline
Two Days Ahead
- Make the cranberry sauce.
- Make the chocolate tart crust.
- Cook and puree the cranberries for the tart.
One Day Ahead
- Brine the turkey breast.
- Roast the cabbage for the salad and the vegetables for the tart.
- Make the dough for the vegetable crust.
- Make the mushroom gravy.
In the Morning
- Assemble and bake the vegetable tart
- Blanch the green beans.
3 Hours Ahead
- Make the cranberry fool filling, fill, and refrigerate the cranberry tart.
- Begin roasting the turkey breast.
2 Hours Ahead
- Make the mashed sweet potatoes; keep warm in a double boiler or slow cooker.
1 Hour Ahead
- Make the salad dressing.
- Take the cranberry sauce out of the fridge.
30 Minutes Ahead
- Assemble the salad.
- As the turkey breast rests, finish the gravy.
- Make the brown butter and finish the green beans.
Just Before Serving
- Carve the turkey breast.
- Rewarm the vegetable tart, if you like.
