Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays, primarily because much of the celebration revolves around FOOD :). I love being in the kitchen with family, each of us cooking our favorite dish to share, music playing, and if we’re lucky – snow falling outside. I just love it. Each year, I try out new grain-free/dairy-free/real food ingredient dishes and lucky for me, my family always seems willing to try my new creations. Even when the dish turns out to be a total bust. Like the time I tried a new grain-free biscuit recipe and after everyone gave them a worthy bite, my brother claimed they would be perfect as hockey pucks! Oops …
This year, I thought it would be fun to share with you guys exactly what I’ll be cooking up on Thursday for our Thanksgiving dinner. Every recipe is grain-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and corn-free; using only real food ingredients. Each dish is nutrient-packed, metabolism boosting, and will make you feel GOOD after a big dinner, instead of ending up in a food coma.
‘Tis the time of year to be thankful and I’m beyond thankful for each of you!
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Creamy Pumpkin Sage Soup
Kale with Cranberries Salad
Coconut Oil-Basted Roasted Turkey with Cashew Cream Gravy
Brussels Sprouts with Sweet Potatoes and Bacon
Squash Pie
If you’d like the recipes, keep reading!
(makes 8 servings)
2 pumpkin pie pumpkins or 5 cups canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon butter, ghee or coconut oil
¾ cup shallots, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups organic vegetable broth
1 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400F. Using a sharp knife, cut the pumpkins in half. Scoop out seeds and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 1.5 hours until pumpkin edges are slightly brown. Using a large metal spoon, scoop cooked pumpkin flesh into a bowl. In a large pot over medium heat, saute oil and shallots for 4-5 minutes until tender. Stir in garlic and cook an additional minute. Stir in pumpkin flesh, vegetable broth, sage, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree directly in the pot. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender and working in batches of no more 2 cups, puree soup. Return soup to the pot, and heat through. Season with additional sea salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle with additional fresh sage. Enjoy!
2 bunches kale
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup dried, unsweetened cranberries
3 tablespoons olive oil
Steam the kale until it is bright green. Meanwhile, in a cast iron skillet, toast the pine nuts. Allow kale and pine nuts five minutes to cool, then toss together in a large bowl. Add dried cranberries and olive oil. Toss and serve.
(makes 6 to 8 servings)
Sea salt and pepper
1 fresh, organic 10- to 13-pound turkey, cleaned, washed, and patted dry
2 oranges, cut in half
1 lemon, cut in half
6 cloves garlic
2 bunches parsley
2 bunches thyme
2 bunches rosemary
2 bunches sage
2 large yellow onions, sliced into 2-inch thick pieces
Coconut oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4 bunches of carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces
Turkey bone broth (optional)
Preheat oven to 425F. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with two halves of an orange, ½ lemon, 3 cloves garlic, bunches of parsley, thyme, rosemary, and sage, and 2 slices of onion. Drizzle cavity with coconut oil. Stuff the neck cavity with 2 cloves garlic and ½ lemon. Stuff sage leaves and 2 cloves garlic underneath skin of breast. Brush the outside of the turkey with liberal amounts of coconut oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and thyme leaves. Tie the legs together with cooking twine and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey. Place cut carrots, rest of onion, 4 cloves of garlic, and remaining herbs and orange in the bottom of a large roasting dish. Toss with coconut oil and salt. Set turkey on top. Place turkey in oven for 10 minutes, then without opening the door, turn down the temperature to 325F and roast for 30 minutes more. Baste with juices every 15 minutes, roasting for a total of nearly 3 hours, or until the juices run clear when turkey is cut between the leg and the thigh. If juices run low, baste with turkey bone broth. Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Reserve drippings and onions for cashew cream gravy, if desired.
(makes 6 servings)
Pan drippings from coconut oil-basted turkey
1 to 2 cups turkey bone broth
1 shallot, chopped
2 small bunches sage, leaves chopped
3 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight in filtered water and then drained
¾ cup caramelized onions from turkey pan
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine pan drippings from cooked turkey with 1 cup bone broth, shallots, sage, garlic, and bay leaves in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and turn off heat. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and place mixture in blender with soaked cashews and caramelized onions. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and liberal amounts of freshly ground pepper. Dilute with more bone broth to thin, if necessary.
2 pounds brussel sprouts
2-3 Japanese sweet potatoes
1 pound bacon
2 garlic cloves, minced
Large glass pyrex dish
Sea salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400F. Trim your Brussels sprouts by removing the bottom edge, slicing the sprouts in half, and washing them in a sink with running water. Place in Pyrex dish. Dice sweet potatoes in small chunks, and cut the bacon into small bits. Place both in Pyrex dish. Mix everything together in the Pyrex dish. Season liberally with sea salt and pepper. Cook in oven until sweet potato chunks are soft (usually about 45 min-1 hour). Make sure to stir a few times during the cooking process.
(serves 8)
2 medium butternut squash, cut in half, seeded
3 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup raw honey or maple syrup (optional)
Bake squash in the oven at 350F for 40 minutes, until soft. Scoop squash out of skin, discarding skin. Place squash in food processor with butter (or oil), eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, sweetener sand salt. Puree until smooth and creamy. Place in a 9-inch tart pan or a casserole dish and bake at 350F for 40 minutes. This tastes JUST like pumpkin pie and is super delicious!
What are YOUR favorite Thanksgiving recipes? Are there any go-to family recipes that you want to share?
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