Unless you’ve helped yourself to too many beverages before the feast begins every year for your entire life, you’ve probably noticed that Thanksgiving has quite a sweet theme. From the candied yams to the sour-but-not-more-than-sweet cranberry sauce, the sugary sensations get spread around many of the other dishes, making this annual family favorite quite the sweet affair.

With so many traditional dishes, it can be hard to find a good enough reason to add another to the spread.

But here it is – the reason you didn’t think existed. And its name is Ginger Molasses Root Vegetables.

Tis the season for root vegetables, despite the fact that they are often out shadowed by their squashling ground friends, and Thanksgiving is just the occasion to make the most of it. The backbone ingredients of this recipe aren’t exactly the type that have people drooling at their mention: turnips and parsnips are just about no kid’s favorite. But their sweet neighbor carrots and this amazing sugary tangy dressing are about to change that forever.

Ingredients:

2 pounds carrots + parsnips, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/8-inch-thick circles
1 pound turnips, peeled, halved, and cut into 1/8-inch-thick half-circles
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3 ounces), cut into pieces, divided
2 teaspoons grated garlic
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

How-to:

Step 1
Boil salted water, and fill another large bowl with ice water to wait. Add the carrots and parsnips to the boiling water first, then after 3 minutes, add the turnips to the mixture for another 2-3 minutes – make sure the veggies hang onto a little bit of crunch. Drain and drop veggies in the ice water. Then move them to a baking sheet, lined with paper towels, to pat dry.

Step 2
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet on medium heat until it sizzles, then add garlic and ginger. Stir often for about 2 minutes, when the fragrance should be more potent. Then add the vegetable mixture, molasses, 2 tablespoons of water, salt, pepper, and the leftover butter (2 tablespoons). Keep stirring vegetables for 3-4 minutes until thoroughly glazed. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with parsley!