Are you wondering if your Thanksgiving can be as “festive” if you Eat Clean? Don’t worry. There are many ways to entertain and celebrate with flair, even when you choose to keep the menu fat free and clean. Why ruin all your hard work by noshing on foods that won’t size up?
Plan your menus ahead of time so you know what you are serving and can pull together the seasons freshest ingredients.
You can still have stuffing, sweet potatos and rolls along with cranberry sauce and applesauce. You just change up the way you make them. Of course, you always watch your portion sizes and follow the eat clean principles.
For starters, you can have shrimp coctail served on a bed of butter lettuce and prepared with seafood sauce and lemon wedges. You can also do hummus and and crackers as well. For dessert, you can go with recipes that are on the lighter side!
Pomegranate Fizz- I am a big punch person so I always like to have a punch bowel out with a fun drink. Here’s what will be on my table this year.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz pomegranate juice
- 1/2 to 1oz triple sec
- 5 oz chilled champagne
- Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
- 6-8 pomegranate seeds
- Grated lemon rind zest
Preparation:
- In a champagne flute pour the pomegranate juice. Add the liquer, if using, then the champagne or sparkling water. Top with a few pomegranate seeds and grated lemon rind.
- I am just going to make a larger batch and pour it into a punch bowl.
Pumpkin Hummus
Pumpkin is a great Thanksgiving tradition. So this year I am going to make this fabulous recipe along with food should taste good chips, and baked pita chips.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp pumpkin oil
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp ground pepper
- 15oz pumpkin (plain) baked or canned
- 4 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press
- 2 tbsp cilantro
Preparation:
- Place all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth.
- Spoon into a decorative stoneware serving bowl and serve chilled.
Shrimp Coctail
- 5 cooked jumbo shrimp per person
- Shredded iceberg lettuce-1 cup per serving
- Fresh whole lemons, cut into wedges, obvious seeds removed, 1/2 lemon per person.
- Coctail Sauce- buy a commercially made low-sodium variety or make your own. Coctail sauce is virtually fat free since its made of ketchup, horseradish and lemon juice. Just watch the sugar and salt.
Preparation:
- Count on 4 to 5 cooked jumbo shrimp for each person. Use a martini glass or another interesting glass dish for serving. Make a “nest” of shredded lettuce in each serving dish.
- Arrange 5 cooked jumbo shrimp on each nest of lettuce. Arrange lemon wedges with shrimp. Place a dollup of cotail sauce in the center of each serving. Serve ice cold.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cut into chunks.
- 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1/2 tsp and 1 pinch sea salt.
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock or water
- 1 tbsp pumpkin oil
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- white pepper
Preparation:
- Place sweet potatoes and parsnips in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and continue to cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat.
- Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Add stock or water, pumpkin oil, sea salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and white pepper. Mash potatoes and parsnips with a potato masher until smooth. Add more reserved cooking liquid if the potato mixture is too stiff. Transfer mashed vegetables to a cassarole dish that has been lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and keep warm in low oven. Serve hot!
Tip: this dish can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated until you need it. Then pop in the oven to warm.
Clean Eating Cornbread Stuffing
(Makes approximately 15 servings)
Ingredients
1 batch clean eating corn bread
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 large stalks celery, sliced
1 cup fresh cranberries (optional)
2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 large eggs
4 cups chicken broth, divided in half (you can substitute veggie broth, but I can’t vouch for the outcome as I haven’t tried it)
Directions
Prep: Bake Clean Eating Corn Bread with the following alterations:
• Omit corn kernels
• If you need a dairy free version, omit the Greek yogurt and replace with extra milk of choice. (Note, the texture will be very different, but it won’t matter for the stuffing recipe)
Allow cornbread to cool completely before using.
Slice into 1/2 inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 1 – Saute the onions, celery and cranberries in the olive oil.
Step 2 – As the oil dries up, add 1/4 cup of the chicken broth to the pan.
Step 3 – Stir in the spices and allow everything to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Step 4 – Just before removing the pan from the heat, stir in the remainder of the first half (2 cups) of chicken broth. Stir to combine well.
Step 5 – Pour the contents of the pan into the mixing bowl with the corn bread. Mix well and transfer to a casserole dish (9X13).
Step 6 – In the same mixing bowl, add the second half of the chicken broth (2 cups).
Step 7 – Beat in the eggs with a whisk and pour over the top of your casserole.
Step 8 – Be sure the egg mixture settles into the bread. You don’t want it sitting on top of the cornbread.
Step 9 – Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes, or until the casserole has a nice golden brown color to it.
Step 10 – Remove from oven, cut into 15 squares and allow to cool a bit before serving.
Eat and Enjoy!
(Makes 12 rolls)
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 pck. rapid-rise, highly active yeast
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 3/4 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F.)
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 3/4 cup almond milk (or soy, hemp, cow or rice will work too)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil + extra for coating dough
Directions
Prep – Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 1 – In a large mixing bowl, combine the honey and water and stir until honey is dissolved.
Step 2 – Add yeast to water/honey mixture and let stand until foamy (about 10 minutes)
Step 3 – In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Step 4 – Once the yeast mixture is foamy, add the oil and milk and stir briefly.
Step 5 – Add the flour to the liquid mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it gets thick enough to knead with your hands. (if you have a mixer, you can do this all in one bowl with a dough hook)
Step 6 – Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky, but firm and smooth. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour, 1 tbsp. at a time.
Step 7 – Coat the ball of dough in olive oil, cover the bowl with a towel and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.
Step 8 – Now break the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll into balls.
Step 9 – Place on an oiled cookie sheet, cover with a towel and let rise for 1 more hour.
Step 10 – Brush the rolls with a small amount of milk (whichever type you used), using a basting brush.
Step 11 – Bake rolls for approximately 40-50 minutes. They should have a nice golden brown crust when done.
Step 12 – Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack (if you can wait that long. Mine were half gone before they got cool enough to put in storage)
For more Thanksgiving Recipes visit: http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/thanksgiving-recipes/
Have a healthy and happy thanksgiving!
xoxoxox
Melanie