1. Crab dip
Look, you’re going to have lots of sides and appetizers, right? And crab dip is always a favorite, yes? So why not just slide it into the Thanksgiving lineup?
There are plenty of good crab dip recipes out there; anything that involves a gooey mix of lump crab meat, cheese (we like parmesan, but you do you), cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and a few other flavors cannot go wrong. There’s also the matter of dipping – we’re fans of chunky pieces of baguette but again, there’s no wrong answer.
2. Lionfish fritters
You’re doing your part to help the ocean with this one, as lionfish are invasive to Florida’s seas. And they’re tasty!
There’s even a lionfish cookbook, published by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation. They’ve got great, simple recipes, including one for lionfish with avocado salsa. You cook the fish in a pan and pour over it salsa made of 1 diced tomato, 1 cubed avocado, 1 diced onion, 4 juiced limes, ½ cup cilantro, 1 seeded and diced jalapeno pepper, 2 tsp. salt, the juice of 2 limes, ½ tsp. of pepper, 2 tsp. of garlic powder and 2 tbsp. olive oil, combined in a bowl.
3. Shrimp with sweet potato & green beans
Sweet potatoes and green beans are Thanksgiving staples – and they also go great with shrimp. It’s as easy as it sounds – in a pan or skillet, cook the shrimp in olive oil and maybe garlic until they’re pink. Then set them aside and cook the chopped sweet potato and green beans. Combine them and – if you’re not counting calories on Thanksgiving – top with cheese.
