My mom wants to make something healthy like a lentil salad but that doesn't feel very thanksgiving to me. what is another, more festive option?

I'm making this one : http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/heartland-chopped-salad.html The pomegranate and the Asian pair add a nice brightness to the heavy holiday meal

Gotta love healthy moms! A more festive, vegetarian option is our Butternut Squash Gnudi with Kale, Parmesan, and Pepitas (http://www.cooksscience.com/recipes/9268-butternut-squash-gnudi-with-kale-parmesan-and-pepitas/) It's very presentation worthy (see photo!). - Dan Souza

This salad has been a welcome addition to our Thanksgiving table several times in recent years: https://food52.com/recipes/24307-warm-red-cabbage-with-gorgonzola-and-bacon

Well, at the Thanksgiving dinner I attend, the dishes brought by guests run the gamut of traditional (eg: pumpkin pie) to unconventional and delicious (eg: gravlax, French country pate). Maybe it's because more than half of us didn't grow up in the U.S., but I don't think anyone's been particularly bothered by a dish or two that was untraditional. Isn't the most important thing about Thanksgiving is that you're together with the people you love, eating delicious food?

A lentil salad can be festive (use interesting tiny lentils and add roasted peppers, feta cheese, fresh herbs, etc.), or maybe she could consider a wild rice salad with dried cherries and pomegranate seeds from The New Veg. Cooking for Everyone.

If your Mom's definition (or one of them) includes beans, consider making Mollie Katzen's black bean soup from the original Moosewood cookbook. It is really (though she doesn't call it that) a delicious vegetarian version of the Brazilian dish feijoada. Katzen's version can serve as an opening course for all (omnivore or other).
http://www.popsugar.com/Mollie-Katzen-Moosewood-Brazilian-Black-Bean-Soup-2518436

I love this salad for Thanksgiving, and feel like it adds a lighter, yet so satisfying, dish for the table: https://food52.com/recipes/15584-northern-spy-s-kale-salad

One of the dishes on our Thanksgiving menu this year is this Farro Casserole with Cranberries, Squash, Kale and a Sage Béchamel: https://food52.com/recipes/39351-farro-casserole-with-cranberries-squash-kale-and-a-sage-bechamel I'm super excited about it. Might that fit the bill?