Let’s celebrate the end of an exhausting election season with a special Election Night dinner full of comfort food! And some terrible Biden puns.

I usually love the ritual of going to the polls on election day but this time already dropped off my ballot which was pretty great, too. What are you doing to celebrate Election Day?

Election Night 2020 Dinner Menu

Kamala Harris-sa Roasted Chicken

A whole chicken always feels a little more special and will make Election Day feel like the holiday it should be. Celebration-worthy roasted chicken, juicy with crispy skin glazed with harissa (spicy chili paste) and honey.  Served with chickpeas and lemon. Jump to recipe >

Joe Biden-ner Rolls with Build Back Honey Butter

Ok maybe this pun worked a little better said aloud. But they are the softest, lightest rolls ever and quite the serotonin hit for election-related stress. Jump to recipe >

Vote Blue Salad with Blueberries and Blue Cheese

With my all time favorite poppyseed dressing. Jump to recipe >

No Malar-key Lime Pie

Anyone who watched the debates has earned this. Jump to recipe >

Election Night 2020 Dinner Menu Recipes

Kamala Harris-sa Roasted Chicken

The level of spice here is pretty low and nothing to be afraid of – double the harissa if you are looking for something more significantly spicy! Harissa is easy to find at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, or online.

I roasted the chicken along with some chickpeas but feel free to swap for potatoes, sweet potatoes, or other vegetables. The juices from the chicken will make it soooo good.

• whole chicken
• 1 Tablespoon harissa
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 cans chickpeas, drained
• 2 lemons, quartered
• kosher salt or sea salt

Heat oven to 350 F.

Remove the giblets from the chicken and discard. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels (this will help get a crispy skin so don’t skip!).

In a small bowl, combine harissa, honey, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and garlic.

Place the chickpeas in a baking dish and toss with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt.

Place the chicken over the chickpeas. Using a pastry brush, coat the chicken with the harissa mixture. Lightly squeeze a few of the lemon wedges over the chicken and toss in with the chickpeas around the chicken. Season the chicken with a generous sprinkle of salt.

Transfer to the heated oven and cook uncovered for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, or until chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 F.

Remove from oven and spoon some of the drippings over the chicken. Let rest about 10 minutes before serving.

Joe Biden-ner Rolls

These rolls are super low maintenance and do not need any fussy rolling out or shaping. Recipe from my aunt Nancy, whose rolls are legendary.

For extra ease the dough can be made in a bread machine on the dough setting. Just put all wet ingredients on the bottom and use hot water.

Makes about 15 rolls.

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon yeast
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/4 cup flour

Combine the water, sugar, and yeast in a small bowl and set aside for about 10 minutes, until foamy.

In a large bowl combine all ingredients until the dough comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for about an hour.

Lightly grease a 1/4 sheet pan or 13×9 pan.

Pinch off dough into balls, briefly roll in your hands to round a bit and place onto baking sheet. Don’t worry about perfect shaping and rolls can (and should!) be close together in pan. Cover with towel and let rise another hour or so.

Heat oven to 350 F.

Bake rolls about 15 minutes until lightly browned.

Build Back Honey Butter

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2-3 Tablespoons honey

Stir until smooth. Add more honey if desired.

Vote Blue Salad

• baby spinach
• arugula
• blueberries
• blue cheese
• poppyseed dressing

No Malar-key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie usually has a graham cracker crust, but here I used shortbread-style crust for more of a “special occasion” spin. It’s also entirely possible that I forgot to buy graham crackers.

Key lime juice is available bottled, or regular lime juice is fine!

This needs time for chilling so it’s a good idea to make the night before. 

• 1 9-inch sweet tart shell (partially baked) or prepared graham cracker crust or pre-made graham cracker crust
• zest of 2 limes
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup key lime juice (or regular lime juice)
• 1 drop of green food coloring (optional)
• about 1 cup whipping cream, very cold
• about 3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar
• additional limes and/or lime zest (for decoration)

Heat oven to 325 F.

Combine the lime zest and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Beat with a handheld electric mixer for about 3 minutes. Mixture will thicken slightly and lighten in color. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat an additional 3 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Add drop of green food coloring if using.

Pour the mixture into the crust. Transfer to oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until mostly set with a little wobble in the middle.

Cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge for several hours or overnight.

With a handheld electric mixer, whip cream at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar to taste.

Top chilled pie with whipping cream and slices of limes and lime zest.