I have to admit Thanksgiving meal wasn't my favorite meal of the year growing up. (sorry mom)The canned cranberries, and pumpkin pie were not what I looked forward too. The TEXTURE of the pumpkin pie still gives me the creeps a bit. But when I started hosting my own thanksgivings, first for sad secret service agents who had to work over the holidays,(One of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes actually comes from one of those agents), (then for my extended family, since our house was the halfway point), I started to really love the meal itself. It was overwhelming at first to cook ALL those dishes, we borrowed neighbors ovens and cooked what seemed like all day and all night. After several years of borrowing different people's recipes, using neighbor's ovens, and planning a bit better we have found the GREATEST menu. Not so healthy, but so delicious and worth it in moderation.
Think visions of sour cream, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, delicious stuffing, the perfect pumpkin pie for Grant, yummy buttery rolls, green bean casserole from Paula Deen.
AND THEN the allergies and intolerances hit...the illnesses took over our perfected Thanksgiving menu, and we had to REDO everything. No more gluten, hardly any sugar, no dairy, no corn. So all the recipes I had perfected and carefully written down, half of my family can no longer have. So we had to start all over, so we can still have a delicious thanksgiving without making our sweet allergic to gluten, dairy, corn and a variety of other things (pepper, olive oil, tomatoes, strawberries) family feel left out.
I wanted to put together some recipes for those of you who might be having your first thanksgiving gluten or dairy-free. Because no one has time to scour the internets the night before to find something to make, because you probably wouldn't have the ingredients if you waited that long anyway. So here are a few I have found. I have not used all of them.
MAIN:
Turkey duh! (that's an easy one). Although pre-dairy allergy we used to load that turkey cavity with butter and herbs. Now just the herbs!
Organic Ham from Whole Foods
SIDES:
Rice Stuffing with bacon, apples and herbs
All Against Grain, Stuffing
Garlic mashed potatoes
Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cinnamon Butternut Squash, Pecans, and Cranberries
3 cups Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, yellow leaves removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, to taste
Roasted Butternut Squash:
1 and ½ pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed into 1-inch cubes (Yields about 4 cups of uncooked cubed butternut squash)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Other Ingredients:
2 cups pecan halves
1 cup dried cranberries
2-4 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease the foil-lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Make sure Brussels sprouts have trimmed ends and yellow leaves are removed. Then, slice all Brussels sprouts in half. In a medium bowl, combine halved Brussels sprouts, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt (to taste), and toss to combine. Place onto a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down, and roast in the oven at 400 F for about 20-25 minutes. During the last 5-10 minutes of roasting, turn them over for even browning, the cut sides should be nicely and partially charred but not blackened.
Roasted butternut squash:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease the foil-lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
In a medium bowl, combine cubed butternut squash (peeled and seeded),1 tablespoon of olive oil, maple syrup, and cinnamon, and toss to mix.
Place butternut squash in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning once half-way through baking, until softened.
_Note:_You can roast both Brussels sprouts and butternut squash on 2 separate baking sheets at the same time, on the same rack in the oven – that’s what I did.
Assembly:
In a large bowl, combine roasted Brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash, pecans, and cranberries, and mix to combine. (OPTIONAL): For more sweetness, add 2 or 4 tablespoons of maple syrup, if desired – do not add all maple syrup at once, start with 2 tablespoons, then add more, if desired, and toss with the salad ingredients to combine
*Cranberry Relish, a Family favorite. (I PROMISE, it is nothing like the canned cranberries) MAKE IT DAY BEFORE.
1lb of cranberries
2 large cans of mandarin oranges
1/4 cup raisins (run them through food processor)
1 1/2 cups of sugar (HOLY MOLY)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
orange zest
Directions: Finely chop cranberries and one can of mandarin oranges in food processor add raisins, sugar, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest and rest of whole orange sections.
(Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight)
BREAD:
Anna's Baked Breads (good when you add your own herbs to it)
DESSERT:
Salted Caramel Pecan Pie
Pumpkin pie recipe
Pumpkin Pie Recipe from All Against Grain
I hope you enjoy these. Let me know if you have any that you would add to the list.