YCEW Thanksgiving Round-Up 2011

It's that time again!  Thanksgiving is around the corner, and boy am I excited.  I've been cooking up delicious fall meals for weeks in anticipation of my favorite holiday table, and now it's time to share possible recipes with you.  In this year's round-up you'll find many vegetarian/vegan items for your specialty guests as well.

Please be safe whether you're dining at family member's and friends' homes or eating out at your favorite restaurant.  Remember, if you've been invited somewhere, make sure that the host knows what your concerns are.  If you feel hesitant about the kitchen or the food then bring your own Thanksgiving meal packaged for yourself.  They invited you because they love your company, not because of what you eat!

Enjoy any one of these easy recipes and add them to your GF, allergy-friendly Turkey Day table.  You'll stuff yourself more than the turkey!

First Course:
Butternut Squash Soup with Leeks

Quick Bread:
Savory Biscuits

Alternative Main (for veggies)
Spaghetti Squash "Pasta" Bake


Sides:
Thanksgiving Fruit & Vegetable Medley
Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower (within post)
Butternut Squash Fries
Cranberry-Apple Chutney

Desserts:
Cranberry Tart
Pumpkin Applesauce Bundt Cake

Drink:
Spiced, mulled wine (within post)

Leftover Ideas:
Chicken & Biscuits (sub turkey)
Turkey with Snow Peas & Pickled Ginger

So what am I cooking this year?  Many of my past favorites and two new vegan desserts; if they succeed, they'll be up on the blog soon after.  

A very hearty Thanksgiving to all my wonderful readers!

The Best Side to Fall For

Genius blogger Cathy of What Would Cathy Eat? issued a Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge:  use her 10 Tips for a Heart-Healthy Thanksgiving to cook/bake our own healthy creation.

Now while Cathy is indeed calling this a "challenge" I was overwhelmed with all of the things I could make for this.  The tips which include ditching full fat dairies & meats, using whole grains, skimping on the salt, and using less sugar are tips I run my kitchen with on a daily basis.  I certainly wasn't stuck for recipes.

The tip I decided to enforce with this post was "Go overboard on veggies."  Considering my last two Thanksgivings had veggie only sides (no starch sides) I was ready to go crazy with the produce patch.  I decided to share the very best veggie Thanksgiving side that I've made.  It is full of flavor, color, and amazing fall staples, including fruit.  What it's not full of is fat, salt or sugar.  And though I do use oil, it's not a lot.  Here's a great tip for using less oil when cooking/sauteing: put your oil in a spray bottle and that way you can lightly coat your pan without dousing it in tbs of oil.

Although this side requires a few steps and a good deal of chopping, it only takes 35 minutes from beginning to end (chopping included.)  That's not bad for a Thanksgiving side dish!  The speed of this dish is due to my use of what I call flash sauteing: sauteing for only a couple of minutes until warm.

I recommend this be the last thing you cook and serve it up instantly.  I'd imagine the recipe below would be enough to act as sides for a family dinner.  Feel free to double the recipe to satisfy the company that undoubtedly comes with a holiday meal.  Also, you can mix the dish with green and serve up a hearty salad.

Thanksgiving Fruit & Vegetable Medley

Ingredients:

1/2 small butternut squash (You will only use half of 1 squash for this recipe.  Save the other side for another side dish or for soup.)

1 lb green beans, snapped horizontally in half

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 large gala apple, (peeled, core and cut into 4 sides.  Then length-wise, cut thin slices out of the sides)

3 oz pomegranate seeds

1/2 tbs lemon juice

herbs de provence to taste or fresh rosemary, thyme, sage blend

olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut butternut first in half horizontally, than each piece lengthwise to give you 4 pieces of squash.  

Peel the two squash pieces without the guts.  Be careful!  Squash is hard to peel and must be done with a sharp knife!

Cut the peeled squash piece into 2 pieces of about 1/2"-1" thickness.

Then cut pieces into small cubes of squash.  Repeat with other peeled squash pieces.

Spray/toss cubes lightly with olive oil and fold in a foil packet.

Place in oven for about 35 minutes.

In a large pan sprayed lightly with olive oil, saute green beans on medium heat until tender yet still al dente.  This should only take minutes.  Do not overcook!

Remove green beans from pan and set aside.

Saute red onion in same pan just until onions are sweating a bit and begin to get tender.  Do not brown!  You still want the onions to have tang and a bit of a crunch.  Remove onions and mix with green beans, set aside.

Toss apple with lemon juice and flash saute until apples are just warmed.  Do not overcook or you'll have another side dish- applesauce!

Remove apple and mix with other veggies, set aside.

Remove squash from oven when the 35 mins end (which should be around now.) 

Add squash to other vegetables and toss with care.  You don't want to squash the squash.

Sprinkle herbs and pomegranate seeds on top and toss again.

Finally you're done and ready to serve and enjoy!  Trust me, everyone will love this side dish.  It might even make you forget to reach for the stuffing first ;)

Perfect Pumpkin Applesauce Bundt Cake

More fall food, you say?  Why yes!  Readers, as you know, in the fall I'm all about the awesome autumn ingredients!

I'm going to get a little reminiscent here; this cake means a lot to me.  When I was first leaping off the gluten train, I felt lost and overwhelmed.  First I had to mourn the loss of conventional baked goods, then I had to figure out how to make GF baked goods.  This led to much kitchen trauma.  Gluten-free living wasn't as well publicized 5 years ago (forget about those poor people who had to go GF 20+ years ago!  They had to search high and low for info.)  Even in the last 2 years, I have seen leaps and bounds in availability in products and awareness in lifestyle.

So after much confusion regarding mixing flours and figuring out substitutions, I started baked away and failing.  Not just failing- failing wildly!  Unbaked cakes.  Burned on the outside cakes, undone in the middle.  Brick heavy baked goods.  Tasteless.  Odorless.  Odor-full.

Frustrated, I reached out on message boards to experienced GF bakers for help and consolation.  One genius baker suggested a fix to my unbaked cake debacle:  She used bundt pans for cakes because there was no center, so everything baked fully and well.  Looking back, I'm sure there was a scientific fix to this disaster, but I thought that was a brilliant idea!  I bought a bundt pan and tried again.  Success!  Happiness flooded my tired, frustrated GF body, and I nearly cried.  It was the moment I realized I could do this.  I could bake GF, and it would be okay.  Everything would be okay.

This Pumpkin-Applesauce Bundt Cake is the very first cake recipe I made-up (based on a basic regular cake recipe) and it not only baked beautifully, it tasted fantastic.  In fact, it's my highest rated public posted recipe on Food.com.  It was the first time I felt truly proud of making something from scratch.  This cake defines the beginning of my GF journey.

As an added bonus, I recently had the opportunity of sharing this cake recipe on the brilliant site Eating Rules which marked another one of my firsts:  a guest post.

So get ready to bake up and enjoy this moist, delicious superstar.  Feel free to add some festive chocolate glazing for a fantastic Halloween treat!

NOTE: Do NOT try and make this cake in any regular pan. Because of its moisture level, it will only cook normally in a bundt pan.

Pumpkin Applesauce Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar (I've been using Coconut Sugar these days, but any will do)

2 cups cooked/canned pure pumpkin

1 cup unsweetened natural applesauce

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 eggs

2 cups any all purpose gluten-free flour mix (I like to use a sorghum mix, yay whole grains!)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder (corn-free, Hain Pure Foods is great)

2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy.

Blend in sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, and oil by hand or with a mixer on low just until combined.  Do NOT overmix!

Add all dry ingredients, one at a time, blending together.

Pour batter into a greased, large bundt pan and bake for 1 hour.

Check with a toothpick/knife to make sure it's cooked through, cool, and enjoy!

Don't forget to freeze left-overs, wrapping in parchment paper before storing.

I hope this cake brings you as much joy as it brought me :)

Cranberries & Apples- A Perfect Match

I can never get over the joys of fall produce; I nearly yelped when fresh cranberries lined the display of my local grocery.  There is only one way to celebrate the arrival of cranberries: my Cranberry-Apple Chutney!  Now it's not technically a chutney in the traditional sense, where vegetables are cooked down with spices, but it has the same consistency and would not pass as a sauce or jam.  That's why I call it a chutney- don't hate ;)

There is so much to adore about this sumptuous side:

• The color is vibrant and immediately jazzes up every plate. 
• The fragrance is to die for.
• It's the perfect compliment to meats and veggies that need a little tang.
• What better way to get loads of fiber and antioxidants?

As always, this chutney is an extremely easy fix.  It takes at most about 30 minutes from start to finish, and the ingredients are affordable.  A little also goes a long way.

The flavor is adjustable depending upon what your tastes are.  I like this quite tart, quite.  My recipe is based on those specific tastes.  Please feel free to use more sugar to your tastes.  The best way to do that is to add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach a preferred flavor.  Same if you're a spice-a-holic:  feel free to up the spices a teaspoon at a time.  This recipe is mild-medium spiced.  The cranberry has an overpowering flavor, so you may decide you need more spice for them to shine through.

Cranberry-Apple Chutney

Ingredients:
2 small gala apples, peeled and diced or rough chopped
12 oz cranberries, rinsed and dried
6 tbs desired sugar (I prefer Coconut Sugar, always try to use Fair Trade!)
1 tbs Earth Balance Soy-Free or comparable fat (butter, margarine etc...)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Melt the Earth Balance (or fat) low heat in a medium saucepan.

Add apple, and stir to coat, sauteing until the apples become slightly tender but not browned.

Add cranberries and all spices stirring to combine.

Raise to medium-high heat, stirring constantly to avoid sticking.
Add sugar 1 tbs at a time, while stirring.
The cranberries will begin to break down due to the heat.  Give the pot a stir, wait about 30 seconds, and then re-stir, repeating so that the cranberries will break down evenly.
When all the cranberries are broken down and the mixture looks like this:

Taste the mixture.  Too tart?  Add more sugar one tbs at a time.  Not spiced enough?  Add more spices one tsp at a time.  Stir constantly.

When desired flavor is reached, remove mixture from stove and transfer to serving dish.  I like to let the dish cool to room temperature.  Feel free to serve hot or chill for a colder dish.

Ta-da, you're done!  Now didn't I tell you that was easy?

Fall's Here! Butternut Squash Fries Anyone?

It's fall again which means it's time for yummy autumn produce to line the aisles of your favorite farmer's markets and grocery stores.  I for one have been getting increasingly excited as the apples, squash, pumpkins and cranberries start rolling in.  How many amazing things can you make with all of these delicious ingredients?  Countless.  But let's start with a personal favorite:  Butternut Squash Fries.

This recipe is ridiculously easy; the only things you need are a super sharp knife and patients.  Although I love these fries, I hate cutting up raw butternut.  Probably because until this year, I didn't have a super sharp knife.  Please make sure when you're cutting up the squash that you protect yourself by making sure the squash is stable against a cutting surface and that your fingers and body are kept away from the knife, because you will be pushing against the produce. 

The end result is more than worth it!  This is a super healthy, vegan-friendly and allergy-free alternative to the potato fry craving.  You'll want to eat them all at once, so the only real problem with these fries is saving some for the next day ;)

Butternut Squash Fries

Ingredients:
1 medium/large Butternut Squash
1 small bunch fresh thyme (leaves detached from stems and chopped up)
1 small bunch fresh rosemary (leaves detached from stems and chopped up)
olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Peel the squash.
Cut in half and scoop out seeds/pulp; throw seeds/pulp away.
Cut the butternut into thin fry shapes.  Chunky steak fry shapes will need to cook longer.

Toss the fries in olive oil.
Transfer the fries to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet in one layer (or two sheets if they don't fit on one.)

Sprinkle with salt/pepper to taste.
Bake for about 25 minutes, flip fries over, then return to oven.
Bake for 10 more minutes and then sprinkle thyme and rosemary over the fries and return to oven.
Check in 5-10 more minutes.  When fries are soft (and they should be by then) remove from oven.
Transfer to serving dish and serve immediately.  If you cover them or reheat them in a microwave they will get soggier, just like real potato fries.

These are a delicious side dish for guests of all kinds and a vibrant addition to any plate.  It's also a great way to sneak in nutrients for picky eaters.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Let's Get Ready to Gobble!!!!

You got me again Mr. Holiday, you tricky tricky beast. Here you are, and here comes my need to share a social food-based gathering with the loved ones. Why am I not worried about this though? Because I insisted on cooking Thanksgiving. If you have an amazing, supportive family like I do, they're down for letting you make Thanksgiving your way.

I'd like to take a moment to thank my mother, just about a Saint, who has to shop/prep for the Thanksgiving meal since I arrive home early on Thursday morning (yay redeye flights.) I was on the phone with her for a total of 2-3 hours this weekend explaining ingredients to her and then having her read ingredients to me while at the supermarket when she was unsure if a product was safe. This was after a detailed email. There was a lot of preparation for this since I haven't really been home all that much since I've had to give up eating the "normal" way. She remarked to me about how challenging it must be for me to shop for food; she was exhausted from running between 3 grocery stores and frustrated from being unsure what was 100% safe or good to consume. She also saw, maybe for the first time, how unnecessarily random ingredients were thrown into certain foods when we tried to find me a balsamic vinaigrette without gluten or soy (you'd be surprised.) So Mom, one of the things I'm definitely thankful for is you and how hard you've worked to let me make you a meal that could be safe for all of us, and how hard you always work to help your kids out (and anyone else who may need help on the way.)

Now that we can stop cuing the violins, I'll continue. I hate to say it, but I feel most comfortable eating when I can control how it's made. This makes me sound like a control freak, but when you're trying to stay away from sooooooooo many ingredients it really just puts your mind at ease. That's probably why a lot of allergic and intolerant folks dread going to restaurants and social occasions such as dinner parties for fear of either getting sick or being the allergic one who sticks out like a sore thumb. Sure it's fun to be on the other end of gentle teasing, "Geez, Suz, you can't eat anything!" but it's only so much fun until it starts giving you a complex. If I couldn't eat anything, I would have nothing to blog about ;) I love cooking. And I love cooking Thanksgiving. It's definitely my favorite holiday to make!

I'm going to be experimenting with a mostly grain-free menu this year, the exception being a fantastic stuffing I'm trying for the first time courtesy of the genius Shauna at glutenfreegirl and her blog. Because I will be doing the other recipes from scratch and on the fly, I will post them after Thanksgiving. After all, I'm not going to post anything I haven't tested. The other challenge is my parents are kosher. We're eating turkey so no that means no dairy. Me adding cheese or butter for enhanced flavoring are out. I take this as a welcome challenge and am surprised that I was able to find a soy-free, dairy-free butter substitute (thank you Earth Balance.) I will use that substitute, veggie broth, or olive oil plus seasonings to make the flavors shine through. I have a good feeling about it :)

I went through my blog and found some recipes that could be a welcome alternative addition to a Thanksgiving table. Good luck for good cookin' all ;)

Soup:

Butternut Squash Soup w/Leeks

Side:

Quinoa w/Cranberries

Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower (within post)

Dessert:

Cranberry Tart

Pumpkin-Applesauce Bundt Cake

Beverage:

Spiced, mulled wine (within post)

Leftover Ideas:

Chicken & Biscuit Casserole (sub turkey)

Turkey & Snow Peas w/Pickled Ginger

Turkey Cheese Roll-Ups w/Tangy Slaw (within post)