Don't forget Thanksgiving side dishes
There’s a lot at stake when you put together a Thanksgiving meal. For starters, you need to be a multitasker. There’s a turkey to roast and stuffing and gravy to make. Count on making that green bean casserole, too.
Thanksgiving is also a holiday of side dishes. It’s not enough to have just mashed potatoes and a single side vegetable. Folks look forward all year long to some of those holiday sides.
When making them, it’s best to pace yourself. Do as much of the prep work as possible in advance.
Plenty of those side dishes come in the form of casseroles and gratins, including today’s Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole. It’s creamy, and it’s pure comfort food.
For this recipe, I used a blend of cheddar and colby jack cheese, but any good melting cheese will work. Cauliflower is mild in flavor, so you can be daring and spice the dish up a bit. Use a mix of pepper jack with the cheddar or add a few pinches of cayenne.
Blanching the cauliflower shortens the baking time and rids it of excess water. Don’t skip the step of draining the cauliflower and pressing on it with a towel to soak up the moisture after it’s blanched. Excess moisture will make the dish soupy.
