It's All About Good Food for Good this Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, seize the moment to show your guests just how delicious sustainable, socially conscious eating can be. To help you curate your holiday feast, we’ve gathered nine recipes from Chefs Boot Camp alums, Waste Not contributors, and other friends working to make the world a better place, one delectable dumpling, gratin, or cake at a time. Take a look below and get to work crafting your own menu chock-full of good food for good.

Appetizers

Chicken Liver Dumplings (pictured above)
Start your feast off on an eco-friendly note. Chefs Boot Camp alum Lee Anne Wong matches chicken liver’s natural assertiveness with strong Chinese flavors, transforming the much-maligned offal into an app worth spoiling supper for.

Roasted Oysters with Parmigiano-Reggiano Rind Zabaglione 
The folks at Smart Catch point out that oysters are among the most sustainable shellfish, which is all the more reason to enjoy this decadent recipe from Matt Jenning’s Beard Award–nominated, New England–themed cookbook, Homegrown.

Turkey

James Beard's Roast Turkey
When it comes to the turkey, we’re not too stuffy (ha). Our namesake’s recipe relies on traditional aromatics and a highly seasoned dressing to yield a juicy, flavorful bird.

Sides

Smothered Beet, Carrot, and Turnip Greens 
If you’re roasting up some hearty fall roots for the holiday spread, don’t toss the tops—try using them up in this #WasteNot–approved recipe from Paul Fehribach of Chicago’s Big Jones.

Schmaltz Smashed Potatoes (pictured above)
Not that we needed an excuse to drape chicken fat gravy over fluffy mashed potatoes, but our friends at Chicago’s Honey Butter Fried Chicken point out that reusing animal fats is an excellent way to cut back on waste.

Beverly Brown's Potato Rolls 
In case you overestimate your guests’ potato consumption capabilities, don’t fret (although you may want to rethink your social circle). With this Waste Not recipe, you can transform those leftover mashed potatoes into buttery, golden rolls.

Swiss Chard Stem Gratin 
We’ve got nothing but love for green bean casserole, but this waste-conscious, bread crumb–topped gratin hits the spot so much harder.

Desserts

Leftover Donut Crème Brûlée 
If the breakfast treats your couch-surfing guests toted along have turned stale, put them to good use in this impossibly rich bread pudding–crème brûlée hybrid.

Natasha Pickowicz's Carrot Cake (pictured above)
The pastry luminary behind New York’s Café Altro Paradiso knows how to use her culinary talents for good. She served this crowd-pleasing confection, which takes some liberties by including pineapple jam and coconut, at the restaurant’s annual Planned Parenthood benefit.

Hungry for more? View our entire recipe collection. 

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Frank Guerriero is the media assistant at the Beard Foundation. Find him on Instagram.