Last week on Modern Paleo’s new PaleoCooks list, I asked, “What did you make for Thanksgiving that you particularly enjoyed?” Here’s my answer:

We did a pot luck with friends who mostly eat paleo. I made the sweet potatoes and an appetizer.

The sweet potatoes were just roasted in their skins, then skinned and mashed with a fork — one batch with butter and salt, and the other batch with coconut oil and the zest and juice from one orange. They were super-easy and got rave reviews!

For an appetizer, I made olive tampenade, loosely following this recipe. I used 3 cans of black olives (drained and rinsed), about a half a head of garlic (which was too much, but still yummy), about 1/3 cup of sun dried tomatoes, about 2 tbsp olive oil, and the juice from one lemon. (I didn’t have anchovies on hand… or rather, I forgot to check.) Everything got processed in the food processor. (I did the garlic first, because I wanted to make sure that it was chopped fine.) I served it with sliced red, yellow, and orange peppers as delivery devices. It was very much enjoyed, and not too heavy. Plus, it only took about 15 minutes to assemble and make… and leftover olive tampenade is great to add to sautéed vegetables or fried eggs!

Oh, and I also made brussels sprouts cooked on the stovetop in a cup of cream. (That’s not for those who don’t do dairy, obviously!) They only take about 15 minutes to cook, and you want to reduce the cream so that it’s actually just gooey (not liquid) and a bit brown. Add some nutmeg, and you’re all good!

The whole dinner was excellent, I was particularly glad to be able to take a much-needed post-dinner nap:

Here’s the whole crew, before dinner: