This Thanksgiving will definitely be different. The guest list will be shorter,  the turkey smaller, the list of sides curtailed, and the inventory of leftovers larger. If “eternity” is two people and a ham, what is two people and a twenty-pound turkey? Of course, some people might ditch the traditional menu altogether, opting, instead, for a medley of favorites, some of them homemade and some of them  purchased ready made.

Let’s start with pizza. If pizza sounds good but ordering the usual sausage or mushroom/green pepper feels like heresy, Dimo’s Pizza in both Wrigleyville (3463 N. Clark Street, 773/525.4580) and Wicker Park (1515 N. Damen Ave. 773.525.4580) are doing a supplemental quartet of Thanksgiving themed pies.

The Green Bean Casserole pie is topped with plump green beans and  French fried onions nestled atop a cream of mushroom base, while

The Hunter offers a medley of venison sausage, ricotta, kale, fennel, cranberries and rainbow carrots over a butternut squash puree finished with a rich mushroom and shallot sauce.

Topped with a medley of wild mushrooms, kale, ricotta, fennel, cranberries, and rainbow carrots perched on a puree of butternut squash, The Gatherer is finished  with a French style pesto. The Vegan Gatherer includes the same toppings minus the ricotta.

And if you like everything about the traditional Thanksgiving dinner except the turkey, you can swap it for spinach lasagna at Bar Roma (5101 Clark St. 773.942.7572) in Andersonville. 

At Blind Faith Cafe, a vegetarian restaurant in Evanston (525 Dempster St 847.328.6875), the holiday dinner package includes shiitake walnut loaf, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry chutney and vegetable gravy. Yellow coconut curry and a vegetable gardein pot pie are also featured, along with sweets and breads like apple/peach cobbler, vegan pumpkin bread and corn bread muffins from the restaurant’s bakery.

Planning ahead is always a good idea, and there’s no time like the present to get started. Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, and the pandemic isn’t showing any signs of disappearing before then.

Pictures courtesy of Dimo’s