3 Thanksgiving sides to steal the show this holiday

Many cooks tend to serve the same Thanksgiving side dishes year after year after year. In my house, Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes, my Dad’s creamed spinach, oyster and bread stuffing, and my “famed” cranberry sauce. But I also feel the need to always include at least a few new side dishes to keep things fresh.

I recently returned from teaching a food writing class in Italy and found so much inspiration there. The first new recipe is for green olive breadsticks, which are perfect to serve before the meal accompanied by a bowl of good olive oil for dipping. But these breadsticks, which are really so much easier to make than you might think, are a great substitute for dinner rolls or bread.

For me, salad is a crucial element of the holiday meal. Everything tends to be so rich and heavy, and a good salad really lightens things up and refreshes. This one uses radicchio, a bitter chicory, topped with buttery roasted