Sweet veggies to be thankful for

Thanksgiving is approaching, and sweet potatoes are on a lot of menus. People love and/or love to hate the infamous recipes that involve marshmallows and sweet potatoes, but I felt like posting some alternative recipes from Southern Living Casseroles Cookbook (Jean Wickstrom, 1974, but mine is from the 1986 fourth printing) for sweetish veggies that might fit onto Thanksgiving menus. (At least, they might fit for people who don't gag on the sweet flavor/ stringy and/or mushy texture combo).

Yes-- I said "sweetish veggies" because they're not all sweet potatoes. The Scalloped Rutabaga and Apple Casserole might be good for families that want apple pie along with their pumpkin pie but would actually feel shame eating two pies at the same time (unlike my family when I was a kid, in which we'd cut pie into half-size slices so we could justify eating multiple types of pie at the same time for dessert).

This has got the requisite apples, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, but it's also got rutabaga and lacks a crust, so it doesn't need to count as dessert.

If you're more of a squash fan, this recipe gussies up butternut with butter, brown sugar, raisins, pecans, and molasses.

Again, it sounds desserty, but there's no crust, so it doesn't count as dessert!

For the ultimate dessert experience that's not dessert (excluding, of course, all the Jell-O based dishes crafted with marshmallows, cream cheese, bottles of soda, etc. that count as salads if they're served atop a lettuce leaf), there's Praline Yam Casserole with Orange Sauce, loaded up with brown sugar, butter, pecans, plenty of orange juice, and a touch of Grand Marnier.

It's definitely not dessert because it's a veggie-based casserole!

And if you are more of a sweet-and-sour fan than as straight-up extra dessert person, I also offer Sweet Potato-Apple-Sauerkraut Casserole.

Yep-- it's kind of a very-austere apple-sweet potato pie hybrid layered with sauerkraut. And illustrated with a random picture of mushrooms, of course.

Whatever is on your Thanksgiving table, I hope you enjoy it more than Henry and his wife like rutabagas! I will be enjoying the homemade rolls I make every year and staying the hell away from any sweet potatoes.