Gotta Have Some Green Stuff

My Grandmother used to insist on having something green on her plate at each meal. Especially at a chinese buffet. She would always put 2-3 of those seasoned green beans on her plate because she "HAD to". It made her feel better about the fried eggroll and General Tso.

Anytime I have people over for dinner I always have the same quandry about the menu: lack of green veggie that everyone will eat. Sure, I could just pop open a can of green beans if I'm lazy, but if you're going through the trouble of having guests for dinner, you probably want it to look like you put forth some effort. Thus my quandry.
Roasted asparagus is good, but it gets cold before you can eat it.
Ditto for steamed broccoli.
Salad is... okay. But then you have to lay out bowls and that's another thing to wash.

So imagine how thrilled I was to find these recipes that were easy & quick and tasted great. They green up a dinner spread beautifully too! Broccoli slaw is supposed to be served cold, but the crunch isn't effected if you have it on the table for a little while for people to get seconds. Turnip greens are supposed to be served hot, so doing them in the crockpot is perfect. Throw the ingredients in and forget about them while you finish up everything else.

Broccoli Slaw
10 to 12 servings

2 bags (3-ounce) Oriental Ramen Noodle Soup
3 TBS low-fat butter substitute
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 bags (12-ounce) bags broccoli cole slaw (in the bagged salad section)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
Chopped green onions, for garnish

Dressing Mix:
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup brown or white sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 ramen noodle seasoning packet

Put the ramen noodles in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin while melting butter in a large skillet over low/medium heat. Add the crushed noodles and slivered almonds to the skillet and saute, stirring occasionally (keep temperature at low/medium heat). Meanwhile, whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Place the shredded broccoli into bowl and toss with the noodles, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Garnish with chopped green onions.

Happy Thanksgiving! I feel so blessed and thankful this year... and that Hope feeling still lingers. I hope you can take a moment between dinner preparations to think upon some of the things that YOU are thankful for.

This is at the top of my list: