TIPS FOR TURKEY DAY

TIPS FOR TURKEY DAY

The best part of Thanksgiving, is that as long as you have turkey, family, friends, and football, everything else can be easily swapped out.

If you want to make some swaps, but still keep the basic feel of Thanksgiving, here are my suggestions:

For mashed potatoes, I would do the cauliflower mash. See below.

Since yams or sweet potatoes are ok occasionally, I would say that this is the occasion. However, instead of a sugar laden casserole topped with marshmallows, I would stab the yams with a fork and put on an aluminum-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 until they are soft and oozing caramelized goodness. Then wait for them to cool and peel and smash with a little coconut milk. Refridgerate. (Can be done a day ahead) When you are ready to serve, mix in some cinnamon and top with toasted pecans.

Instead of canned, processed green bean casserole, I would take an orange and zest it. Zesting is basically peeling off only the orange part on the outside. Wash the orange and use a microplane or a zester and peel off the skin. Don’t use too much pressure or you’ll scrape up the white part (the pith) which is pretty bitter. Heat up the pan over medium heat and toast some almonds in it. Then take out the almonds and add olive oil. Cook the green beans and add in the orange zest and almonds and a little salt and pepper.

Homemade cranberry sauce is amazing. You’ll never go back. Add the juice from the orange you zested to a pot with a bag of cranberries, a cinnamon stick, an 8 oz bag of pitted dates you have chopped and a cup and a half of apple cider. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop. If the sauce is too runny, you can add a tsp or two of arrowroot. Remove the cinnamon stick. Let cool and refridgerate. Can be done a day or two before. Thanksgiving. (In face, this is better after chilling in the fridge for a few days to let all the flavors come together.)

You can always have bowls of nuts, deviled eggs, bowls of olives and other nibbles around too.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

CAULIFLOWER MASH

To substitute for mashed potatoes, I’m making a cauliflower mash. You can’t boil the cauliflower to make the mash or else it gets way too soggy and yuck.

Here’s what I do:

Cut the head of cauliflower into florets .

Put into a microwave-safe dish with about 304 tbs of water. Cover. Microwave for 3 minutes and stir. Microwave another 2 minutes. Check for softness. If not soft, microwave another minute or so.

Mash with a potato masher, or the stick blender.

Add salt to taste and some coconut milk for creaminess.