Side dish mania for the holidays!
Thanksgiving really is one of my favorite holidays of the year. The "giving of thanks" for those in our lives, the time with family and friends, and the food. Oh yes, the food. Mashed potatoes...stuffing...gravy...mmmmm. YES, I will be cheating on Thanksgiving. And my stomach will get a little upset, I'll feel a little puffy, but that's okay. I'm willing to make the sacrifice. HOWEVER, I've planned out to make sure I fill up on some really tasty GOOD carb side dishes, so that my non-Paleo intake is severely reduced.
If you are in control of your Thanksgiving menu, or you're being asked to bring a side-dish, why not make it something delicious AND nutritious? I've got a few ideas for you - I'll be adding recipes over the next few weeks to give you some suggestions.
Before I go there, here are some tips to keep your eating a bit the wiser for the holidays, should you want to be cheating, but not so full bore that you want to puke for 4 days straight.
- Skip the bread. Thanksgiving is one time of year when you have things like stuffing/dressing, casseroles that only come out once a year, etc. Why waste the time and calories on slices of bread, when you can eat that any old time of year?
- Get your fill of protein. Someone didn't slave over that turkey for nothing, right?
- Variety is key. If you HAVE to have some of that macaroni and cheese - take just a little bit, and save room to try something new this year instead (like some of the other side dishes I'll suggest).
- If you're like me, wine is synonymous with Thanksgiving (or most days ending in y). Remember that you're getting calories and carbs through beverages, so be certain to also be getting some protein and fat in there. A carb-o-copia - for anyone whose been doing Paleo/Zone stuff for a while - won't exactly make you feel like a million bucks the next day.
- Keep desserts or other sugary dishes (candied sweet potatoes) to really small bites or two, if you can.
- Most of all, acknowledge and SAVOR the fact that yes, Thanksgiving is a celebration, and a day for you to not worry about most other things in life. However, if you've found that you're really sensitive to some food items, use some of these tips to keep the cheat a bit in check. Your tummy may thank you!
What are your plans for Thanksgiving? What is the one dish you can't wait to eat? How will you be handling cheats and what not?
Now, for the recipe time:
This is a variation on a side dish we had at Muss & Turner’s the other night. As a child I though Brussels sprouts were vile…now I can’t get enough of them!
Brussels Sprouts Slaw
1 cup large pecan halves - toasted
½ pound thick-cut bacon, cut into small pieces
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 ½ pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed
2 green onions, sliced thin
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F. Place pecans on small rimmed baking sheet. Bake nuts until toasted – about 5-10 minutes (be careful not to burn!).
Meanwhile, in a large saute’ pan, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Drain onto paper towels, and discard the extra bacon fat (or save for future use!).
Whisk mustard, vinegar, lemon juice and honey in small bowl; whisk in oil. Season with pepper.
Bring large pot of water to boil. Add Brussels sprouts. Cook until crisp-tender and still bright green, about 5 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water. Cool on paper towels. Using processor fitted with 1/8- to 1/4-inch slicing disk, slice Brussels sprouts. Transfer to large bowl. DO AHEAD: Dressing and Brussels sprouts can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately; chill.
Toss Brussels sprouts with enough dressing to coat. Let marinate 30 to 60 minutes. Mix in some pecans and bacon and green onions. Place slaw in serving bowl. Top with remaining pecans.
Variations: you can try some chopped up or shredded granny smith apples in this, or you could serve the slaw warm. To serve warm, instead of cooking sprouts in boiling water, shred first, then saute’ in large pan using remaining bacon grease (work in batches), until bright green but cooked through – about 8 minutes. Transfer sprouts to large bowl, toss with dressing, add onions and bacon and pecans, and serve.
Jules
Reader Comments (12)
Jules...this recipe sounds awesome. I LOVE Thanksgiving too...it's such a great time of year and I especially love the "smells" of Thanksgiving - all those wonderful spices, etc. Anyway, Barry and I are going to be in New Zealand for Thanksgiving this year so since we won't be celebrating this year in normal style we decided to make a Thanksgiving dinner this past weekend. I found a couple of recipes from "Clean Eating" magazine that I wanted to share. They were awesome. One of them is sort of a twist on your Brussel Sprouts recipe the other is a mushroom and leek stuffing without the bread. :-)
Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Figs
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces thick cut bacon chopped
1 pound Brussel Sprouts - stems trimmed
1 cup dried figs - stemmed and quartered
freshly ground pepper
Put a large skillet over medium heat and add oil, then bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally until it starts to crips (5 to 8 minutes).
Meanwhile put sprouts through a feed tube of a food processor equipped with a slicing attachment and shred. (you can also do this with a mandoline or a knife).
Add spouts, figs and 1/4 cup water to pan; sprinkle with pepper, turn heat to medium and cook undisturbed until sprouts and figs are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Turn heat to medium high and cook, stirring occasionally, until any remaining water evaportes.
Yields 4 servings
Mushroom and Leek Stuffing
1 pound portobello mushrooms, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 large leek, trimmed, halved lengthwise and chopped
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp onion powder
Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often until tender and lightly browned. Set mushrooms aside in a bowl.
Add carrots, celery, leek and cook until veggies are tender and lightly browned.
Add back mushrooms to veggie mixture and stir for a few minutes to get them hot.
I served this as a side dish rather than stuff it into the turkey. Not sure without the bread how it would work inside the turkey, but it was wonderful as a side dish....really nice spices in the mix.
Enjoy!
Ha ha ha...Rosemary...I was just reading Jules' post and thinking "But where is the bacon??" All of these sound very yummy. :)
Drew! Brussels sprouts have to have bacon...it's like sacrilege otherwise. See ingredient #2...I will say that the meat people at the Morningside Farmer's market have awesome slab-cut bacon. Back a few months ago I made these adorable little "BBT" (bacon, basil and tomato poppers) that were pretty fantastic. It's all in the bacon!
Ahhh...I see it now! Perfect!
I'm a mixer by nature...so my must have for bird day is a mixed up glob of the following:
Turkey, mashed taters, cornbread dressing, asparagus casserole & turkey gravy....BOOOHYAH!
I'm still trying to figure out how to "paleo" the asparagus casserole. If I can put my little brain around it...I'll be sure to post the recipe. It's kinda awesome.
FYI...someone was lucky enough to get a little glimpse of the brussel spout slaw last night (minus the nutes)....mmmmmmmm! Love the shroom/leaks recipe Rosemary
Hey Jules. James and I are off and on the paleo. But one item we absolutely love. It is the mashed cauliflower. Do you have any ideas on how to spice that up? Oh and by the way, my new drink of choice is an Americana with NO cream and NO sugar. Thanks for that insite.
Mmmmm, mashed cauliflower. Lunch today is a variation on shepherd's pie, served over the stuff. So good!
My advice: I find that cooking the cauliflower in gluten-free chicken stock (instead of water) adds some nice flavor and makes it not nearly as bland. Just be sure to check the sodium on the stock. I think Kitchen Basics makes one that's pretty good - and it's gluten free (not all stocks/broths are!). Of course homemade chicken stock is pretty darn good too. The batch I'm eating today included two cloves of chopped up garlic that I simmered in with the cauliflower, stock and some pepper, and a bit of smoked paprika. You can also go for some horseradish to give it some kick, sliced up green onions would be good, rosemary is ALWAYS good. Crumbled up bacon would make it pretty darn tasty, but isn't that bacon's sole purpose in life? Whole grain mustard would add a yummy flavor as well.
If you're getting tired of mashed cauliflower, cauliflower rice is another favorite of ours. Shred it in a food processor first, and then you can literally treat it like rice. We've sauteed it up before with a little wheat-free soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, scallions and garlic for an oriental flavor, and I've done a virtual spanish rice with a hefty amount of cumin, onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, chipotle, etc.
Who else has cauliflower ideas?!?!
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We're cooking mashed cauliflower on Thursday and I cannot WAIT to try it with bacon. Why, oh why, didn't I think of that sooner?
I made the brussel sprout slaw to bring to a Thanksgiving potluck at work today...I had over 15 people ask for the recipe and several comment how they never thought they'd like brussel sprouts...this one's a keeper!
I made the slaw last night at home and it was rockin! It's going to be in heavy rotation for a while!
As Matt said, he made this slaw for his Thanksgiving work potluck. He made it again for Thanksgiving with the family and it was awesome. 2 reasons I love this recipe: 1) it is super yummy, and 2) it actually gets my husband in the kitchen making an entire dish by himself. Now if I could only get him to shop for the ingredients too...