This Thanksgiving salad recipe of mixed bitter and spicy greens served with a hot savoury dressing is a perfectly impressive and colourful complement to your turkey at Thanksgiving dinner. As a bonus — this salad travels well and can be made ahead, just keep the roasted vegetables separate from the salad greens and dressing.
Thanksgiving salad is often relegated to an afterthought. Makes sense, kinda. Roasting the perfect turkey and making the perfect mashed potatoes, gravy, and other assortments of sides and sauces we have come to expect from a traditional Thanksgiving takes a lot of time and effort.
If you're looking for an amazing turkey recipe, my Dry-Brined & Smoked Turkey is out of this world flavourful by the way.
Never mind the housekeeping, decorating, and arranging that takes place for the Thanksgiving dinner.
Enter: the humble roasted vegetable(s), also some Parmesiano-Reggiano salad dressing, and an optional (but recommended) dusting of cured egg yolk.
The hot, tangy dressing relies on roasted garlic, bacon (or Proscuitto or guanciale) and (optional) Moroccan preserved lemons, and if you don't know what that is, it's not too late to make some preserved lemons yourself, I show you how here:
That and a mixture of bitter, sweet, and spicy greens makes the BEST Thanksgiving salad, one you will want to eat throughout the autumn and winter.
And even if you are not following some kind of low-carb or keto way of eating, I think an elevated Thanksgiving salad is a nice tradition to add on.
Choose Your Roasted Vegetables Wisely
This Thanksgiving salad is very dependant on a plethora of roasted vegetables for its robust hearty flavour.
Choose wisely — too many sweet pairing (like carrots and yams and butternut squash) can be overwhelming and cloying.
This is a perfect opportunity to use up whatever vegetables you have sitting in your fridge with no purpose. It is also an excuse to buy fresh seasonal produce that will always taste better.
I avoid yams, sweet potatoes, potatoes in general, and cauliflower. Everything else is fair game based on where you live and what you have access too.
Some of my favourite roasted vegetables for a Thanksgiving salad:
Carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, artichoke, Brussel sprouts, beets, cabbage, fennel, eggplant, parsnips radishes, rapini, zucchini.
Use at least two varieties.
One neat little addition is smoked tomatoes, which I show you how to make here:
Smoked Tomatoes on The Traeger Grill
The Importance of Mixed Sweet, Bitter, & Spicy Greens
I LOVE the abundance of unusual greens I grew in my garden allotment this past summer, so many spicy and bitter (mostly Asian) greens that were so flavourful, I would just regularly eat them on their own without any dressing.
Hit an Asian-centered grocery store if at all possible and try and find some varieties of Mizunas and similar greens.
Otherwise, just use a flavourful mixture — the natural sweetness of roasted vegetables pairs so incredibly with spicy and bitter. Avoid overly sweet salad mixes, but they will work in a pinch if that is all you have available.
Some Lettuce Suggestions:
- All of the Mizunas
- All of the Mustard Greens
- Wild Garlic Mustard (foraged)
- Arugula & Wild Arugula
- Belgian endive
- Frisee
- Spinach
Whatever you have on hand, use a mixture, the contrast of flavours, colours, and textures makes this beautiful salad look so enticing.
Thanksgiving Salad Dressing
This salad dressing is my absolute favourite. I make it weekly. The dressing is meant to be served hot or warm, but room temperature is perfectly fine too. For Thanksgiving, it will likely be room temperature with everything else going on, so don't worry.
I use bacon, Proscuitto, or guanciale interchangeably. All will yield delicious results.
Cured Egg Yolks?
This is an optional and entirely decadent final touch. With the Parmesano-Reggiano microplaned on top, you really don't need the cured egg yolks, it's just kind of a want.
I've seen cured egg yolks sold in Asian grocery stores. It's best to make them yourselves, and I will get into that in another post.
Parmesano or...?
I love a hearty dusting of real Parmesano-Reggiano on top of this salad. It's the best! However, if you don't have it, substitute with goat or feta cheese. You can also leave the cheese out entirely if you must.
Thanksgiving Salad of Roasted Vegetables
This Thanksgiving salad recipe of mixed bitter and spicy greens served with a hot savoury dressing is a perfectly impressive and colourful complement to your turkey at Thanksgiving dinner. As a bonus — this salad travels well and can be made ahead, just keep the roasted vegetables separate from the salad greens and dressing.
It is VERY DIFFICULT to give precise measurements for something like a salad. Amounts written are guidelines only and suitable as a side salad for 4 adults in the quantities mentioned. Use common sense and your personal tastes always.
Ingredients
For The Salad:
- 3 cups roasted vegetables.
A medley of vegetables for roasting. Choose at least two different ones and try to contrast sweeter veggies with more savoury varieties so as not to be too monotonous. Some examples:
Carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, artichoke, Brussel sprouts, beets, cabbage, fennel, eggplant, parsnips radishes, rapini, zucchini.
- 5 cups mixed salad greens
Use avariety of bitter, spicy, and sweet greens like various mizunas, arugula, mustards, endives, etc.
For The Salad Dressing:
- 1 Cup diced bacon, proscuitto, or guinciale ( I use them interchangeably)
- 1 tablespoon rinsed and finely minced Preserved Lemons (Optional
- 3 tablespoons finely minced fresh garlic
- 8 tablespoons olive oil (2 tablespoons per person is an approximate calculation)
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (1 tablespoon per person)
For Serving:
Parmesano-Reggiano, microplaned (highly recommended)
Freshly cracked black pepper
Cured egg-yolks, microplaned (Optional)
If you don't have Parmesan, you can use goat cheese or feta instead.
Conversley, you can leave the cheese out all-together or replace it with walnuts or pecans.
Instructions
- Combine your salad greens mixture, wash (if necessary) and set aside.
- In a large pan over low-medium heat, add your diced bacon/proscuitto/guianciale.
- Allow the fat to render out slowly and the meat to begin to turn crispy.
- Add the olive oil and allow to heat up.
- Add the diced garlic and stir until fragrant (about 60 seconds).
- Add the balsamic and stir until combined and slightly reduced (about 60 seconds).
- Remove from heat, stir in preserved lemons if using.
- Divide your salad greens equally on 4 plates or serve in a big bowl.
- Add the dressing and a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper (or to taste).
- Add a pinch of salt if necessary at this point (conversley serve salt on the side, even smoked salt)
- Toss well to coat.
- Serve the Parmesan at the table, allowing people to add it themselves in desired amount.
Notes
If you don't have Parmesan, you can use goat cheese or feta instead.
Conversley, you can leave the cheese out all-together or replace it with walnuts or pecans.
I want to take this to our Thanksgiving gathering but I'm confused as to whether it should be served warm or not. It says you can make ahead but it is titled as a hot dressing.
Hi Katie, you’re right, I could have been a lot clearer on that, I will update the recipe to avoid confusion. Thank you for letting me know.
Everything is make-ahead. The dressing is heated in order to reduce and emulsify the ingredients, BUT it is your choice whether you would like to serve it hot or reheat it before serving if the salad is traveling. Or just serve it room temperature.
If you’re taking this to a dinner, then it is honestly not necessary to serve warm unless you feel like it. If that is the case, a quick turn in the microwave for the dressing will suffice or on the stove-top.