When my inbox is multi-paged, the bills are piling up, there’s drama at work, or when I’ve just had one of those days, you can find me out in the garden with my big girl boots on, just getting dirty and feeling the feelings. Later on, you’ll find me making a garden keeper’s pie ;)
I planted a lot of things this year, all successful in some way or another. I still have some greens out there, but I saved the pulling of my absolute favourite vegetable for when the Fall was certifiably cool. The celery roots. The ones that look like baby aliens, but taste like absolute heaven. Creamy textured, sweet, kinda grassy like parsley, and celery-like.
But mine were so small! Nothing at all like those big, knubby, market ones. Lots of green leafy stalks and tangled up roots full of dirt, ie lots of bits to cut around before you had any real food. My dad advised that I put them in a low spot of the garden for maximal water absorption and then further explained why they can be a bit pricy: they have to take up so much real estate and so much water for so long! Next year I’ll get it right. In the meantime, I managed to scrounge up just enough for two dinners’ worth.
One night I roasted some rough dices with other roots and squash, served it with a spicy gingered quinoa pilaf and a wispy knot of kale, apple and fennel slaw on top. And the other, I served clouds of puréed celery root on top of these little pies–garden keeper’s pies as I’m calling them. I made some small dices of beets, carrots and butternut squash and slowly cooked them down with black lentils, vegetable stock, garlic, and rosemary. Small additions of balsamic vinegar and tamari round the flavours out.
I know all of my American pals are coming up on Thanksgiving, so I wanted to offer up a main course option for the vegetable lovers. Side dishes can be a vegan/vegetarian’s closest pal at the holiday table, but a thoughtful main can make the heart glow just a bit fonder. For more holiday inspiration, check out this roundup right here.
Garden Keeper’s Pie with Beets, Lentils & Creamy Celery Root Mash
Ingredients
FILLING:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cooking onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves minced
- 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed and divided
- pinch of chili flakes, optional
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 5 cups-worth of small diced root or tuber vegetables or squash (I used a mix of butternut squash, carrots & beets)
- ⅓ cup black or french lentils, rinsed
- 2 ½ cups vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce
- sea salt, to taste
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon cold filtered water
CELERY ROOT MASH:
- 3 cups peeled and diced celery root
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, plus extra
- ¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
Equipment
Notes
- These are rough measures, but this isn’t a fussy endeavour by any means. You’re just making one big sauté, thickening it with arrowroot, topping it with a rustic mash and baking it until the whole thing bubbles and browns.
- Some cooked beans would fill in nicely for the lentils. Just make sure you throw them in closer to the end of the cooking process.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly oil 4 ramekins/cocottes/mini gratin dishes with at least 8 oz/1 cup capacity. Place dishes on a sheet pan and set aside.
- For the filling, heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and sauté until very, very soft, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the minced garlic, rosemary, thyme, and chili flakes (if using) to the pot and stir. Sauté until the garlic is very fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir. Add the 5 cups of diced vegetables and the lentils to the pot and stir to coat everything in the oil. Season heartily with salt and pepper. Sauté the vegetables and lentils another two minutes or so, stirring often.
- Add the vegetable stock and tamari and stir. The liquid should cover all the vegetables and lentils nicely, by about a half inch. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer until the vegetables are tender and the lentils are just soft, about 45 minutes. It helps if you place a lid on top of the pot slightly askew, leaving a little gap for air to escape.
- When the filling is done, in a small bowl mix together the arrowroot powder and cold water. Scrape this slurry into the pot with the filling and stir to mix it in. Remove the pot from the heat.
- For the celery root mash, place the diced celery root and garlic cloves in a medium saucepan. Cover the vegetables with cold water/vegetable stock if you like, and then place the pot over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer until the celery root pieces are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Drain the celery root and garlic, and place it in a food processor fitted with the “S” blade. Pulse the vegetables a couple times to get them moving. Add the olive oil, unsweetened almond milk, and some salt and pepper. Run the motor on high until you have a cream, homogenous mixture. Check it for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
- Divide the filling amongst the 4 oiled dishes. Then, divide the celery root mash among the tops of the 4 dishes, smoothing it out with a butter knife or spatula. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top of each pie and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme leaves. Place the assembled pies back on the baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake the pies until the filling is bubbling and the tops are very lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
OK, this really means fall is here. Looks yummy!
I love this post.
I am gardening and growing some produce and I think the bug has bitten me.. I don’t think I can go back to not growing some food!
I love this post – I smiled when I read it and nodded along.
Beautifully written
Betty
new to you site and loving it. great photos and writing. we have a garden in the suburbs of Boston and our holiday tradition is to pick all the roots remaining Thanksgiving morning and roast them along with potatoes that were dug a few weeks ago. the thyme and sage are still going strong so they go in as well. it’s always beets, turnips, winter radish and leeks. Next year I’ll try my hand @ celery root. I love them but haven’t given them a try.
agree, it is so much fun going out in your garden and picking your own food! I just had a smoothie with chard from my yard (also in Boston subburb).
Lovely post, this. Brilliant photos.
My favorite holiday dish is actually the combination of cranberry sauce and sage-y cornbread stuffing/dressing. Not mixed together – just eaten together.
I love a sugar pumpkin stuffed with all kinds of goodness and then baked
I had a garden a few years ago an I miss it so much. I love to go out and pick fresh stuff too. Beautiful pictures and yummy recipe!
Gorgeous photos! Your post makes me want to get more adventurous in the garden next year.
Favorite holiday dish – cranberry relish.
I love all things sweet potato during the holidays.
Such a beautiful post!! I could look at those pictures all day. I have such a fond memory of eating my grandmother’s dill bread at every Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meal. And now I will be making it for the first time this year. The smell and taste instantly transports me back to those meals.
Warmly,
Elizabeth
I’m a stuffing kind of girl…Love your recipes and trying this one for dinner tonight. Thanks for the giveaway.
My favorite holiday dish usually involves fresh baked goods or roasted veggies. This year I’m craving roasted brussels sprouts and pecan pie. It just creates a wonderful sense of home.
Beautiful pictures!
I always love pumpkin pie
This recipe looks supper yummy, could I make ahead and freeze?
Stuffing/Dressing stuffed into tofu then deep fried-Tofu’s Little Pocket of Happiness. The best thing my mom makes during the holiday and some homemade orange cranberry sauce. Can’t wait. Thanks
Laura: Hi Saniel, I haven’t tried freezing this, so I’m not sure how it would perform. I know the beet/lentil filling would be fine. I’m just not sure about the celery root mash–I don’t know if it’s starchy enough to keep its integrity after a freeze. Might be worth a try though!
This looks wonderful. Stuffing is usually my favorite Rhsnksgiving side but I could see this taking it’s place!
YUMMMMM!!! My favorite holiday meals consist of turnip and sweet potato mash, and anything gingery like cookies (preferably a delicious raw/vegan version) and literally anything pumpkin. Can’t wait to try this celeriac mash! THANK YOU!
It’s already been said, but to restate: beautiful reflection on what gardening really is and means to those who do it. Having on the road/not in my own space for so long, I find myself iiiiitching to engage in more tactile creation–i.e., the kind that doesn’t involve a computer–now that I’ve begun putting down some roots (ha!) in this new city.
There’s a big ol’ ratty yard behind our place, still pretty torn up by the previous tenants’ dogs. I’ve got big gardening plans for it once early spring hits :)
xo
With thanksgiving right around the corner, the first thing that comes to mind is my aunt’s wild rice-cranberry-pecan “stuffing” (totally vegetarian, no turkey involved). She mixes in tiny baby brussels sprouts, too… :)
Yum, this looks awesome. As for favorites, we love experimenting with cider and cranberry cocktails! :)
One of my favorite holiday dishes is a homemade cranberry sauce with apples and ginger and cinnamon.
My favorite holiday dish is roasted vegetables. My mom and I always chop us whatever veggies we have on hand (usually sweet potato, beets, any variety of winter squash, carrots, parsnips, brussel sprouts, ect) toss them in olive oil and some basic seasonings and then roast them! They veggies carmelize in the oven and the flavors all come together to make the best side dish ever. Plus, it is so simple! I can eat this dish anytime of the year truthfully!
I live on a farm, but have never had any luck with vegetable gardening. (We grow hay for horses and such.) So I am thrilled with my CSA membership.
My must have for the holidays is sweet potatoes in any form. Recently my sister in law has been making them Creme brûlée style. She spreads mashed baked sweet potatoes in a pan and tops with brown sugar then it goes in the broiler to get crunchy on top. Not the healthiest, but a delicious treat for the holidays.
so cleaver with your layering!
i can’t wait for christmas to remake this roasted veg salad, it is SO GOOD: http://www.sproutedkitchen.com/home/2013/11/14/autumn-salad-with-horseradish-vinaigrette-news.html
I recently found your blog and just love the way you use fresh produce.
My favorite holiday dish is roasted vegetables. I love some kind of mixture (and love variety), toss with olive oil, generously sea salt and pepper and then will sprinkle a dash of crushed red pepper or, a new recent favorite, is a honey aleppo pepper dried blend. Smokey and a little sweet with roasted vegetable deliciousness. I just joined a CSA and am anxiously awaiting my first winter share delivery!
I tried my first celery root this season! I’m glad to know another (beautiful) way to use them. My favorite holiday dish is an apple crumble pie from the Applehood Motherpie Upstate NY regional cookbook. My mom makes it every Thanksgiving, and now I have made it the past few Thanksgivings I haven’t been able to be at home. Eating it reminds me of family.
Love cranberry sauce.
Can’t wait for Thanksgiving!
First of all, LOVE UR BLOG!
Then, I L.O.V.E. gardening and dream of one day having a small house on a great big land so i can have a great big garden and grow many/most of my produce! I studied in horticulture but have since moved back to the city (Montreal, QC…Can u tell i’m mostly french?) and moved from appartment to appartment, never long enough to really grow even balcony tomatoes or what-not. But now i recently moved to a nice little appartment just outiside the city and feel like i can stay here a while! So can’t wait for spring to start my seedlings and grow a few things in the summer! But for now i’ll just enjoy whatever fall and winter has to give!
Wich brings me to Thanksgiving/Holiday favorites! Allthough i LOVE stuffing (vegan of course) and sweet potato mash w/ maple sirup and pecans (YUM!), my FAVE of all is the simplest of all, potato salad. But not any potato salad…My dad’s potato salad cuz he makes it like my russian grandma used to make. It’s super simple with an oil/vinegar dressing and green onions. But what makes it EXTRA special is the most important part: the fresh dill!!!! Don’t forget thye frsh dill! Mmmmm…
A beautifully written post about gardening and life. Before living in Canada my favourite holiday dish was brown bread (better known here as soda bread!) ice cream that my mother makes just for Christmas which I will get to have this Christmas for the first time in five years! I could make it myself but its not quite the same experience. Pumpkin pie has become a new favourite though…..
I love the hazelnut biscotti my mom makes for christmas morning!
eeee!! these are the cutest! and i love that shot of your kitchen sink, the way the light falls on all of those little tomatoes. so pretty!!!
errrmmm favorite holiday dish… anything with marzipan :)
Favorite holiday dish? So hard to pick! I’m going with a butternut squash, white beans, kale, and cranberries casserole. No sugar for the berries; I love their super tart bite against the sweet squash. But this pie! My family *might* be getting a little sick of the squash and white beans; this looks like a great alternative.
One day, when I grow up, I wanna be a gardener just like YOU! I can’t wait to have a little piece of land to mull over and nourish because I am in desperate need of some stillness {fact}.
You know what, my favorite holiday dish is just straight up rustic mashed potatoes with or without a little gravy but definitely with a good amount of salt and black pepper. This McClure board is a beaut! xo
Homemade cranberry sauce is my favorite but I only make it for the holidays!
Thanks! I love stuffing and mashed taters. And Platte County pie.
I have so many holiday favorites, but I always have to make Spritz cookiies. I already have one batch in the freezer of green Christmas trees. Next – red poinsettias.
My favorite holiday dish is a Brussels sprouts and pomegranate salad drizzled with a nut oil like pistachio or walnut. I crave “greenery” after all the heavy holiday eating during the silly season. My salad seems like a fine intro course for the pie you’ve presented here. Lots of veggie goodness! Now I wonder what to make for dessert…
I would pay to have a small garden to plant my favorite veggies. Maybe one day, who knows :)
This variation with the celery root instead of traditional potato layer seems flavorful and healthier ^_^
I like stuffing!
Homemade cornbread stuffing is by far my favorite. Can’t have a winter holiday without it!
My favorite holiday food is grean bean casserole with crispy shallots. I could probably eat a whole baking dish of that for dinner.
I always have the absolute best of intentions every year to get a garden going, perhaps when we get into a house with a proper yard, I’ll make that transition! For me, Thanksgiving is alllll about the mashed potatoes. Although, after taking one look at this, I’m ready to dive into that celery root mash : )
this is really pretty…my favorite is a really deep molasses gingery bread with nuts and dried fruit…spicy and warming for the winter.
thanks for your posts…love to keep reading your insights.
I love the pumpkin pie with coffee after Thanksgiving dinner. For me, it’s the coziest moment of the whole season.
This looks delicious! I love surprising everyone with roasted brussel sprouts, i’ve turned many people onto loving them! :)
So many holiday favorites…roasted smashed fingerling potatoes, sweet potato biscuits, cranberry /ginger relish, lentil/nut loaf, broccoli casserole, white bean casserole, I could go on and on, but actually, my most favorite part is when you get to the bottom of your plate and you have little bits of each dish all mixed together…yum! Love your blog and thanks so much for the chance to win.
My new fav is roasted carrots tossed in a walnut pesto as a side. I had it at a restaurant in Brooklyn and will be making it for American Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!!
This entire post is just too beautiful and your words about gardening resonate so deeply with me. I’m dying to try this recipe, though unfortunately I’ve never been able to find celery root! I’m definitely going to keep my eyes peeled now.
I think I’m drooling over that cutting board just as much as the food photos! So stunning. :)
Growing up my favorite holiday dish was always the cranberry sauce my grandmother made. I’ve also always been particularly fond of any sort of sweet potato/rutabaga mash, or stuffed pumpkin.
love my maple walnut cranberry sauce… why don’t i make it more???????
My favorite holiday dish is some combination of roasted vegetables, some roots, some brussels sprouts, with a hint of maple syrup and chestnuts.
I love the vivid red color of these pies! It gives me another reason to try and incorporate more lentils into my cooking. One of my favorite holiday recipes is Sweet Apple Dumpling Squash stuffed with wild rice, cranberries and almonds.
This is beautiful! Favorite holiday dish–apple-raisin stuffing. It’s the only reason to make a turkey at Thanksgiving!
I would have to say stuffing – of any kind any mixture…just love all those wonderful flavors in my MOUTH! Yummy!
The chopping block is gorgeous! My favorite holiday dish is green bean casserole. I will probably end up consuming 4 of them in the next 2 months.
Another beautiful post. Your pictures do it for me every time! A favorite holiday meal for me is a chickpea and veggie socca made for thanksgiving morning, when everyone is lazing around enjoying the calm and togetherness.
I just love winter squash in its many forms.
This looks so great! My favorite holiday dish is from an old issue of Gourmet (RIP) for vegan shepherd’s pie filled with parsnips, carrots, mushrooms and herbs in a rich red wine sauce and topped with a celery root and potato mash.
And those chopping boards are beautiful!!
That second to last photo spreading the potatoes!!! (all the photos, obvz) This is beautiful! Love your words. Stuffing is where it’s at for me. A pretty traditional, herby, stuffing.
The recipe and chopping block both look amazing. And, the beet colour is so festive. I recently tried Heidi Swanson’s Beet Caviar recipe and it was a big hit with crackers and goats cheese. It will make a gorgeous red Christmas appetizer for all the vegetarians in my family. And, always for dessert, we have Delia Smith’s Sticky Toffee Puddings. MMMMM.
sweet potatoes!!
Hi gal
I am pretty new to your sight. I was sent here by Eathsprout. You girls are so beautiful. I love cooking, I have been vegetarian all my life, vegan for the last two years and I am loving it. Reading your posts gives me the same feeling you get when you sip a warm hot cocoa with slight ginger while cosy in your pajamas and on the couch. I can relate to you at various levels. Thanks for the wonderful site.
My favourite holiday recipe is this vegan eggnog that I make with raw cashews and coconut milk, nutmeg, vanilla and a dash of cinnamon. I also enjoy a warm cup of turmeric, ginger, carob almond milk.
Hi Laura!! Yummm can’t wait to make these guys. Favorite holiday dish by far is a nut loaf that my vegetarian family has been making ever since I can remember. My dad adapted the recipe from a greens restaurant cookbook, and it’s composed of brown rice, a variety of nuts, some veg, cheese, and bound with eggs I believe. It is absolutely killer when pan fried and eaten in sandwiches the next day, with ample amounts of cranberry sauce if possible!
My favorite holiday dish/dessert/breakfast has to be a toss up between pumpkin tofu pie (lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup) and persimmon pudding (sweetened with just super ripe Hachiya persimmons, and a splash of brandy). The spices are all the same, and sometimes I even mix the pumpkin and persimmon in either recipe, just to be adventurous.
What a delicious looking dish! My favorite thing to eat at holiday time is definitely macaroni and cheese. I’m from a southern family and we use a very specific (and secret!) recipe. I would eat it every day if I could — but then it wouldn’t be special.
Thanks for the giveaway, Laura!
I love sweet potato mash and cranberry orange relish. Delish!
Beautiful dish and lovely board! My favorite holiday dish would have to be kimchi soup. I know, strange, but I am half korean and grew up always have some form of kimchi during the holidays. I hated it as a kid, but definitely crave it now that I’m older.
I seem to change up my vegetarian thanksgiving main dishes every year (so many great options!), but without fail I always make some pumpkin sage risotto, which is just the perfect creamy accompaniment to whatever else I’ve whipped up.
Lovely looking dish. Our favorites holiday dish(es)are old-time cornbread dressing and my Mom’s regular(with lots of walnuts) stuffing. I always put some stuffing on my turkey sandwiches.
The butcher block is just incredible. SO gorgeous! Your garden keeper’s pie reminds me of a wonderful, similar dish called “red dragon pie” using adzuki beans. Check it out. My favorite holiday dish is Sweet potato pie – such a perfect mix of sweet, savory, and decadence. Thank you for the chance.
Can’t go wrong with bevvy’s!
Last year I prepared an ‘adult milkshake’ that was posted by Heidi Swanson which included vanilla ice cream, Lillet Blanc and buttermilk. It was divine.
This year I am going to attempt a dairy-free version with cultured coconut yogurt, vanilla coconut ice cream and Lillet Blanc (or maybe I’ll try with spiced whisky!).
There’s something so warming about the shake despite it being made with chilled ingredients. A winner for me!
My favorite non-traditional dish is cheese fondue. It goes spectacularly with holiday leftovers the next day!
I look forward to my mother’s pumpkin pie every year!
I love mashed potatoes. Classic and wonderful.
Roasted sweet potatoes with maple syrup and pecans. Heavenly!!
Unhealthy answer: Grandma’s mashed potatoes! Healthy answer: roasted Brussels sprouts with maple syrup and hazlenuts.
I am envious of your gardening prowess! I mostly have a black thumb, which makes gardening a frustrating, want-to-rip-my-hair-out type of thing rather than a form of meditative relaxation. The photos of the recipe are gorgeous. I don’t use celery root very often, and it’s nice to discover a new way to use it! Surprisingly, I have everything in my fridge and pantry right now to make this delicious-sounding recipe, except for the celery root! Might be time for a trip to the grocery store…
This looks beautiful, and delicious. I have always fantasied about moving out to the middle of nowhere just to grow stuff. So idyllic, right!?
Because Puerto Rican Christmas food is meat heavy, during the holidays I go straight to the rice bowl. My mother has mastered the art of making beautiful, delicious rice dishes studded with onions, peppers, herbs, and lots of aromatics, always simple, always humble, tasty!
You had me at “I will be a wholehearted gardener for the rest of my life.” I really look forward to your posts and the way you ‘see’ things. OK! My must-have, very-most-favorite ‘dish’ for Thanksgiving is Cranberry Sauce, made with sugar, orange juice, and fresh cranberries. I make it at least a day ahead of time so that the flavors can meld. I make it even though I’m the only one in the family who really likes cranberries!
I’m pretty new to the site, but I’m so glad I found you! I’m starting to think about our Thanksgiving meal, and I’m delighted to come across such a delicious looking (vegan) dish! And the beets speak to my guy’s Lithuanian roots. Keep ’em coming!!!
Thank you for this email and Happy Holidays! I look forward to my mom’s mash potatoes the most!
Beautiful chopping blocks, beautiful food.
Favorite Thanksgiving food is, hands down, the roasted brussel sprouts topped with all sorts of yummies I decided to add to the table a few years back. Nobody knew they actually liked brussel sprouts before then. ;) And I see I am not alone, as there are some other brussel sprout lovers up in here!
My favorite holiday dish is the deviled eggs my family makes as a Thanksgiving appetizers. It’s all about the perfectly cooked egg, a good grainy mustard, a few red pepper flakes for some kick and a drizzle of olive oil to make them so mouth-wateringly decadent. I could in theory make them at other times of the year, but in my family they’re a tradition that starts off the holiday season. Can’t wait!
Also the cutting board looks so lovely, as do the pies!
I love the name of your *holiday dish*- garden keeper’s pie! Being a garden keeper has a lovely ring. Love the photos of your celeriac, which inspire me to plant some next season.
Laura,
What a luscious twist on a shepherd’s pie! The color is gorgeous and I love the presentation in individual gratin dishes. Definitely a great main for a veg Thanksgiving. Thanks for the yummy ideas!
My fave holiday dish? That’s a tough one. Maybe a toss up between a mushroom stroganoff, a stuffed squash with roasted autumn and winter veggies with a legume, and maybe a roasted vegetable torte. Ah, but there’s also a creamy polenta topped with a mix of chopped butternut, chard or spinach, and mushrooms….hmmm…it’s a hard call.:)
Whatever you’re serving, I hope your holidays are bright and cheery.
Fried oysters-it’s a family tradition.
leek and chevre tart with grainy mustard
wild mushroom /cheese/nut loaf from the Greens cookbook
squash galetttes
small apple tarts
cheeseboard
rosemary shortbread
gail ambrosius chocolates ( the ones you pair with wisconsin beers are fun for the holidays)
I love this! Your blog is definitely one of my favorites. Your pictures are always beautiful & I so enjoy your thoughtful writing in addition to the delicious recipes. So inspiring!
My favorite holiday dish is a classic – pecan pie.
I love good ole mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving :) I was raised by my grandma who grew up on a potato farm in Idaho so potatoes have always been at the center of what we eat and have sentimental value to my grandma as well. I am naughty and eat them with ketchup!
My favorite holiday treat probably has more to do with the making than the eating. Once a year, my 6’6″” Texan father bumbles into the kitchen to make hot Dr. Pepper. Yes. Hot Dr. Pepper. He grandiosely gets out a pot, pours the sugar laden teeth-eating sugary beverage on the stove, and gets downright giddy as he heats it up. He slices lemons into rounds and tosses them in. Then each person gets a clear glass mug with a slice of lemon.
Hilarious.
I love the hustle and bustle, the meals that take hours to prepare and 30 minutes to consume, and time spent with family. However, the best part for me is the day after. All the leftovers of stuffing, potatoes, sauce, and green beans magically taste better the second day. . . maybe because it allows me to relive/remember the beautiful chaos of the day they were made.
This looks delicious and I cannot wait to make it! My favorite holiday dish is green bean casserole….it never gets old! Chewy ginger cookies also come in a close second.
Its a toss up between stuffing and caramelized white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake I always make :)
GRAVY! with a side of everything (fresh cornbread, mashed herbed sweet potatoes, turkey legs.. mmmm)
Gorgeous pictures and beautiful meal!! Love this!
My mom’s pumpkin cheesecake!!!
I’ve been thinking about mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce recently :) We don’t eat either at any other time of year so these are both very seasonal for me. I really should just make them at other times, somehow it never even occurs to me.
My favorite holiday dish is usually the pumpkin “pie” which is never pie but various alternatives, like raw vegan pumpkin cheesecake or a pumpkin tart with chocolate ganache.
My favorite is always homemade ravioli with homemade ricotta and kabocha squash filling :)
I didn’t grow up in the US, and when my family moved here, we usually stuck to our own traditional Ukrainian dishes. My diet has evolved since then, I focus on eating more fresh produce and healthy dishes while jumping on the American traditions but still with influence from my home country. We never had specific dishes for different holidays, dinner was usually based on what’s seasonal and affordable. So our meals were simple. That’s how I cook now, simple and seasonal and once in a while bringing a hearty factor into it. My favorite dish during the holidays happens to be roasted root vegetables in any form (salad, casserole, breakfast hash, etc.) I can also eat it all year round, and for any meal of the day. Followed by a chocolatey dessert preferrably, with tea or coffee. I have yet to meet a Westetn European who will eat dessert without some sort of a warm beverage.
My favorite holiday dish is homemade, from scratch stuffing w/ homemade gravy:)
Looks Ah-mazing as always Laura :) the very best sort of “humble pie” and I’ll happily eat some!
Oh and that gingered quinoa and slaw? YES PLEASE! recipe share?
h x
I can’t wait to try this dish! I am pulling up my beets now. Happy Nesting.
Love the post!
Around the holidays, I always look forward to a seasonally-inspired salad/bowl of goodness with greens, grains, some type of fruit and roasted vegetables…and maybe a sprinkling of feta cheese (my favorite). The truth is I’m always the one contributing the salad!
There are so many holiday dishes that are just so lovely, most of which I can’t eat anymore but I’d have to say above all others is trifle, sweet, creamy loveliness. And do you really have a recipe for non-dairy nog???? Can you please post it. I would be so grateful!
Harvesting from one’s own garden is nirvana for me. Aside from all the delicious food one can prepare for a holiday meal, my beverage of choice is always champagne. It elevates holidays as well as one’s mood. Cheers!!!!
As soon as cranberries are in season I make 3 batches of traditional cranberry sauce. I can enough to last the entire year and for gifts too. No matter what else is going on, making the cranberry sauce always takes me to a holiday place of mind. It is a wonderful way to begin the season!
Great giveaway! I am all about the side dishes, but Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving for me without pumpkin pie!
Butternut squash lasagne!
We always have mashed rutabaga. Nothing special about the actual recipe. Just some butter (I use Earth Balance) and salt and pepper. It is memorable because of my gramma. She was from Scotland and root veggies are a big deal there. So one year, rutabagas was what we found at the table and I have now passed it down 5 generations. And soon to be 6. Love them.
Rice pudding always makes me think of the holidays. Must be my Swedish roots!
My favorite holiday dish is a sweet potato casserole my mom always made with cranberries and a brown sugar and oat streusel. I’ve tried other, more, shall we say, sophisticated sweet potato sides, but that’s the one that tastes like home.
Love your blog and can’t wait to try these garden keeper’s pies. My favorite holiday dish is Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes with caper vinaigrette from Plenty – it has become a Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition in our family. Susi.
My absolute favorite holiday side dish is sweet potato souffle. Yum!
stuffing!
ah gosh, laura, you’re just the best. your posts are like books i can’t put down. i loved your thoughts on keeping a garden and i love these pies. i don’t think i have a favorite holiday dish but i love drinking brandied up eggnog with my parents around christmas. thanks for the beautiful reminder. :)
I love cranberry agrodolce, sweet, spicy and so delicious. It is not at all like a regular sweet cranberry sauce.
Every year I make special desserts. One tried and true is my recipe for candy cane macaroons…
What an astoundingly beautiful recipe! I loved what you wrote about gardening. My favorite side has to be just plain, classic mashed potatoes. Just so many warm memories evoked by that, of past holidays when I was younger. Thank you for the opportunity to own one of those gorgeous chopping blocks, as well.
I was really jazzed to enter this contest and then you whip out your Americans only clause. Pffffft. Yeah, I pfffft’d you.
Sautéed mushrooms and diced red peppers, with a dollop of sour cream, shredded gruyere, and seedy mustard, baked in circles of puff pastry.
I love sweet potatoes with pineapple and marshmallows.
Your food is honestly breathtaking. Everything about it; where it comes from, your flavors, your perspectives, your photography (!), and the vibrancy and verdancy that radiates out from ground to plate. It’s inspiring, really. Thank you. This recipe is a beauty; a definite keeper on my holiday table.
And as for my own favorite holiday dish? I’m a sucker for my grandmother’s cooking, all hailing directly from Germany (specifically her cookies at Christmas time)!
Those boards look beautiful!
My favorite side is dish is stuffing–ALWAYS stuffing… not that it’s ever stuffed in anything! We have an old traditional recipe and a large family, and while my dad cooks most of the meal, the stuffing is always my mom’s deal and she ends up making three or four different versions because of all the different dietary demands of our big ol’ weirdo family :) can’t wait!
What scrumptious looking pies! Lovely to see you used celery root (or celeriac as we call it here) – it’s such an underrated vegetable.
I’m in the UK so can’t enter the giveaway but that’s certainly a gorgeous chopping block.
This looks wonderful – I love celeriac too. And I must say, refreshing not to have another pumpkin/squash recipe for thanksgiving (not that we even celebrate it here in Australia!)
When I think of Thanksgiving I remember my Grandma’s “vegetable pie”. Now I think it sounds pretty gross, but when I was a kid I loved it. It was basically crust covered with cream cheese and covered with random raw veggies.
Love your blog and love getting the email when you gave a new post! My fave holiday dish would be corn pudding, but since you asked for dairy free my second choices would be mashed butternut squash or stuffing. Mmmmmm, I’m getting hungry!
What a beautiful chopping block!! My moms creamy baked horseradish cauliflower has been my favorite holiday dish for years, i make it every fall when i start to feel homesick.
I always feel the lack of green on the table, and not everyone in my family is sold on brussels sprouts, so I keep trying to work them into the mix. Simply pan fried with a little cheese (a la 101 Cookbooks) they are just my favorite.
I want to say my favorite seasonal dish consists of sweet potato, butternut squash healthy-goodness-wintery-comfort-health food, but really, the holidays are my grandmother’s cinnamon rolls. I was really indoctrinated into the practice of making them, of kneading, rising, waiting, worrying about the humidity in the air and how it will affect the yeast. It’s the holidays in a food for me. Thank you for offering the giveaway! Those boards and blocks sound dreamy.
Looks delicious! I’ll try it this week. One of my favorite holiday side dishes is chipolte roasted sweet potatoes.
I’ve adored that cutting board ever since I spied it on your Instagram! My favorite holiday dish has always been sweet potatoes. When I was a kid I made the recipe on the back of the Princella yams can (with shredded coconut and pecans). These days, I make fluffy whipped sweet potatoes with honey.
The color from the beets is fabulous! My favorite holiday dish, you adorable grandma, is 7 layer salad. It is a culinary atrocity, but I grew up with it and loved it as a kid. Makes me think of happy times when I eat it as an adult now at my family’s holiday gathering, even though I eat only a little, because really? Miracle whip on iceberg lettuce?
i love roasted sweet potatoes topped with cinnamon, butter, and brown sugar :)
I LOVE the idea of these garden keeper’s pies as a main holiday dish! I’ve never been a tofurkey gal (or even a turkey gal for that matter) either.
When I could still tolerate dairy, my absolute favorite holiday holiday dish growing up was my father’s egg-nog. He would stand in our kitchen and methodically separate eggs, measure sugar, and calmly whip up the cream while my siblings and I raucously played in the living room. He would secretly add a little Wild Turkey while my mother wasn’t watching (though she had to have smelled it!).
I love pumpkin desserts! Thanks so much for the chance to win this beautiful cutting board. :)
My favorite holiday dish is Pumpkin Chiffon Pie.. I am still trying to perfect my gelatin-free recipe. Someday…
A friend suggested I might like this post and she was right. Your peaceful joy and relaxed creativity shine through in your writing. Every family has their favorite Thanksgiving foods. One I remember from my childhood was a salad of sliced cucumbers, sliced onions, sour cream (thinned a bit with vinegar), salt, and pepper. Simple and tasty.
This is absolutely beautiful. Both the recipe and the photos!
A now required dish at the holidays is a version of sweet potato casserole with most of the butter and all of the cream removed from the recipe. There is a streusel topping that I use sparingly. I think I will need three of these this year so that everyone can get their fill and have a bit for leftovers the next day.
What a beautiful recipe! I consistently look forward to your new posts because not only is your writing thoughtful and peppered with bits of humor, but also your recipes are so inspiring that sometimes I can’t wait more than a day to run out to the market to gather ingredients! I’d have to say that my favorite holiday recipe is roasted sweet potatoes. My mom bakes them with just the right amount of spices, a little coconut oil, and a dash of maple syrup that the whole house illuminates with the tantalizing smell…
I love that you grew Celeriac! I threw some seeds in the ground a couple years back and then promptly gave up after they didn’t sprout. I’ll have to try again next year. Thanks for the inspiration!
Lovely pictures. Favorite holiday table addition: vegan mushroom gravy. You’ll never miss the drippings!
Perfect timing as I had just got my Veg Box delivered with squash, beets and celeriac in it. Made the recipe. Absolutely delicious. Mixed the celeriac 50:50 with regular potato and mashed it – really good! Didnt have any arrowroot but it didnt matter! :)
Two absolutely crucial components of my Thanksgiving table are:
– Cranberry Horseradish Relish – Raw cranberries chopped super fine with lots of horseradish and a bit of sugar and lemon juice. So delicious with Thanksgiving dinner, and even better with leftovers. It’s divine on sandwiches, too.
– Arugula Salad: A few years ago, I just happened to have a bunch of arugula in the fridge on Thanksgiving, and on a whim, I tossed it with some EVOO, white wine vinegar, sea salt and pepper. I was amazed by how it complimented, and cut through, the richness of the rest of the meal, and now I wouldn’t want to have Thanksgiving without it.
This looks gorgeous – I love the beautiful creamy topping!
I knew as soon as I saw this post on Pinterest that this would be thanksgiving dinner!Thank god for something other than cranberry sauce!
I’ve never tried celery root before – but I have tried cauliflower “mashed potatoes”. If anyone wants to try the recipe (it’s really good, plus it’s not MY recipe) it’s here –> http://kitsunetsukikitchen.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/cauliflower-mash/
Happy holidays!
It’s a classic answer, but my Mother’s wild rice stuffing is the best in the world…
I love roasted brussels sprouts! Actually, any sort of roasted fall veg!
First time to your site, from Simple Bites, and love the recipes and photos! And your “celery root” recipe got my full attention, as I too LOVE celeriac/celery root…love it mashed with potatoes, and even with kohlrabi mixed in, too — so I guess I love “sides” most of all!
Hey there,
Thanks so much for your blog- I’ve been reading it for almost a year now and it’s always such encouragement in the cooking, gardening overarching-life-wisdom areas. The few recipes of yours that I’ve tried have all been spectacular
Anyway, a new favorite holiday recipe of mine is something I learned from Smitten Kitchen- a pear, cranberry and gingersnap crumble- amazing! I’m sure there’s an easy way to make it vegan and gluten free, though I haven’t tried.
Thanks again for all you do here
green beans!
Stunning photos.
My favorite “holiday dish” is my dad’s Yorkshire pudding.
I hope to make this tonight for dinner.
My favorite holiday dish is cornbread dressing made with homemade veggie stock and chock full of celery and onion.
Gorgeousssss wow love The color of your filling – so perfect for autumn and thanksgiving. As for holiday dishes, my mom makes a Dutch mushroom starter for both thanksgiving and Christmas dinner — sliced mushrooms sautéed in a savory roux and then baked with breadcrumbs dotted with butter. Best served in traditional shell- shaped oven safe plates :) happy holidays
I will be making dinner for my whole fam, and they can not have Thanksgiving without sautéed green beans and slivered almonds! I hope to make a vegan pudding of some kind, with a chia seed base, for a lighter dessert!
Wow, these photos are way too gorgeous for words. I am so impressed! Also… looks waayyy too delicious. And it is super fun to read about your feelings about gardening– you are killin it in my eyes, because I tend to ruin everything I try to create in the garden!! Regardless… you’re a rockstar!!
Last year I made Susanne Goin’s Kale Dressing from Bon Appetit… Let me tell you! My family enjoyed it so much that after our traditional pie buffet, we all tucked in for seconds of dressing!! Fantastic!
Lovely recipe– will try with cauliflower mash as celery root is pricey here! And my favorite holiday dish has to be my mother’s dressing… homemade buttermilk biscuits and homemade cornbread mixed with the perfect amount of onion, celery, and seasoning, and drenched in just a little broth before going into the oven alongside the turkey. I recreate it every year, but it’s never quite as good as hers!
I think this dish is perfect for my family. We will pair it with one of my favorite thanksgiving dishes – curried butternut squash soup. Thank you.
This is definitely happening for us this Thanksgiving. My very favorite non-traditional Thanksgiving dish (one that changed my mind about brussels sprouts) was red grapes, walnuts and brussels sprouts roasted and drizzled with a balsamic vinegar. Thank you for this imaginative recipe!
Stuffed acorn squash is my favorite… With warming spices, veggies, greens, quinoa, chickpeas and slivered almond filling.
I love celery root… Got many from my CSA this year and I just might have to try my hand at it in my garden next summer.
My favorite holiday dish is traditional french-canadian meat pie, but made vegan. It’s usually haphazard but always involves tempeh, mashed potatoes and plenty of pepper. Very stick-to-your-ribs!
Amazing recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
My all-time favorite holiday side dish are lightly seasoned, roasted potatoes that my mom makes.
My new fall/winter holiday meal tradition is quince included in our dessert–in cobbler, sorbet, panforte, membrillo, poached…
I’ve just started gardening and love it already. I plan on enjoying celery root in next year’s harvest. My favorite holiday dish would have to be a wholesome pumpkin pie sweetened with maple syrup and enclosed a date-pecan crust. Yum! Love your blog.
Happy Holidays!
My favorite side dish is always the mashed potatoes!
the light in these photos is breathtaking. I can’t stop dreaming about that sun falling across the vegetables. And this garden keeper’s pie will be perfect for my thanksgiving table.
I dream of an own garden as well. One that I can grow beets and lettuce in. One that has a big apple tree heavy with fruit each fall. And currant bushes, one for each type: red, black, and white. Gooseberries would be fabulous as well. Yeah, gooseberries would be nice. Oh and chickens so I could have fresh eggs each morning. Maybe these will be just dreams but I take the freedom to dream big, especially after reading this post. I’m in love with these gorgeous pies! That filling is so vibrant.
Those photos are divine! Gardens are so elusive, I think that’s why I love them so much! Always learning, kind of like cooking in that way. Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Yum, and yum. I have never cooked celery root, but maybe I will after reading this stunning recipe :)
This looks lovely!! I have always wanted to start a garden but didn’t feel I had enough time :(
I made it and it is wonderful
I did add some red wine to filling — i like red wine and french lentils
and I used mashed yukon golds for the top
thank you!
This is practically unbeatable it is so good! My omnivore husband who doesn’t like beets at all loved this dish. It’s now on the “we can have this anytime” list. Amazing!
Not all blogs are created equal. I enjoy your writing.
I’ve been wanting to try this beautiful recipe for a while and just had it for dinner last night. I used carrots, parsnip, kumara and Beetroot for the filling. Absolutely Devine! Lots of compliments too – thank you!
I’ve been looking for a new celeriac recipe for Thanksgiving this year — I have a gratin I love, but I wanted something non-dairy this year. I think this will be it, especially since I’ve done pies like this successfully doing the filling and mash up the day beforehand, which will be a great help in the Thanksgiving whirlwind of cooking.
Hello! I absolutely love those individual dishes! I’m in the process of registering for my wedding (!) – do you know where you got them? Thanks, M
I was searching for ways to use up the celery root I have in the fridge and I came across this. I had a variety of other root vegetables on hand and decided to make it. I am not usually a huge fan of root veggies, but this was delicious! The celery root mash was amazing! I am so happy that I found your recipes. I will definitely be ordering your cookbook!
So glad that you enjoyed it, Erin. Thanks for leaving this thoughtful comment :)
-Laura
I just made this recipe tonight, however, the filling part was waaaaaaay too liquidy! i had to carefully dump out a LOT of liquid, was almost like a soup. i followed the directions to a TEE! what happened???
Absolutely delicious! I skipped the carrots and used a mixture of sweet potato and beet. So good! This will be my main dish for my family vegetarian Thanksgiving table.
This looks divine! As a fellow gardener I completely agree with you on the satisfaction and calmness that comes from tending to a vegetable garden. Not to mention the creativity it inspires in the kitchen. I’m currently growing some turnips and I think I’ll use those in place of the celery root here. Thank you for the inspiration and happy gardening!
This recipe is perfect! So many beautiful vegetables have been used. It makes me dream about having my own garden ^^