Happy Thanksgiving?

For this recipe, I have no words. Other than: I should have made this for Thanksgiving.

For realsies, pin this on your "Thanksgiving" board.

Cranberry-Orange Stuffed Acorn Squash

makes two

Inspired by Martha

1 acorn squash

2 tsp EVOO

1 sweet yellow onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic. minced

2 cups sliced brown mushrooms

1/4 c. walnuts, roughly chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme

3-4 medium sage leaves

1/4 c. dried cranberries

zest of 1/2 orange

1 cup cooked wild rice

salt and pepper to taste

Wash squash well - lots of nooks and crannies! Cut in half, scoop out goop, and roast face up, uncovered at 450F for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, saute garlic and onion in EVOO.

When soft, add mushrooms and saute for 4-6 minutes or until soft.

Chop walnuts.

Remove thyme leaves from sprig. Finely chop with the sage.

Remove squash from oven and scoop out about 1/3 c. of flesh from any thick edges.  Roughly chop.

Add nuts, sage, thyme, squash, and dried cranberries to onion/mushroom mixture.

Zest orange over the pan.

Add wild rice and mix.

Stuff mixture into squash halves. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until toasted. 

Remember that garlic cashew cream? Yeah, pour that stuff over.

Never too early for Thanksgiving meal planning :)

Sloppy Seconds

I hope everybody has recovered from holiday gluttony at this point. I was so sick of the starchy leftovers that I made a trip to TJ's a few days ago to stock up on my superfood necessities: berries, yogurt, spinach, tofu, quinoa, black beans, almond milk, etc. I couldn't handle all the thanksgiving reruns anymore.

I really stretched the leftovers this year.

First there were turkey enchiladas with black olives.

Delicious, yes. And a nice ethnic departure from the pilgrim food. And a great excuse for a Corona Light.

Then there was baked eggs over leftover sourdough stuffing.

Kind of an easy combo, yes, but it reduced the amount of stuffing hoarding space in the fridge. It also made a great lunch with a big green salad.

Then there was an extremely clever use of leftover gravy, vegetables, dinner rolls, and green bean casserole in a thanksgiving-inspired shepherd-ish pie.

However I have little desire to blog any of those recipes. Nobody cares about thanksgiving or leftovers at this point anyway, right? The fridge should be purged of leftovers by now, or you may be growing science experiments.

How about some delightful hummus? I've never made my own hummus before, but it was so easy and so delicious, I can't wait to do it again. All you need is a food processor or an efficient blender. I like my hummus extra tahini-y, but you could modify this recipe to your taste. You could also toss in a bit of tabasco to make it spicy, a bit of basil to make it herby, or a few cherry tomatoes to give it festive color. The possibilities are endless. Hummus is great as dip, spread on to veggie sandwiches, or as sauce on flatbread pizzas.

Basic Hummus
makes 2 cups


Ingredients

• One clove garlic
• One can garbanzo beans, drained - reserve a few for fancy garnish
• 3 heaping tbsp tahini
• 1-2 tbsp good, fruity, quality EVOO
• juice of one large lemon and one large lime
• 1 tsp sea salt

Instructions

• Process clove of garlic alone to mince it up so you don't get any unwelcome garlic chunks
• Add remaining ingredients
• Process until super smooth
• Garnish with a few whole beans and a drizzle of olive oil if you want to be fancypants, like me

It's hard to remember that just because the holidays are socially equated to loads and loads of tasty food, it doesn't give you a license to eat. It's important to treat your body well throughout the year and clue in to the "holy hell that's a lot of carbs" sirens that go off in your brain during the holiday season. I have to constantly remind myself that just because it's November/December, my metabolism has not changed. I know I will feel better about the holiday season if I do not indulge. On the flip side, I know that one or two indulgent meals won't derail me from my health and weight loss goals. Though the holidays are a challenging time for internalized fat kids like me, they really make me analyze my relationship with food.  (It's a pretty serious relationship. We're thinking July wedding.) 

David Sedaris, my favorite author of all time, summarizes the international fascination with food perfectly. In a story of international students trying to explain holiday traditions to members of other cultures, Sedaris writes,
"Faced with the challenge of explaining the cornerstone of Christianity, we did what any self-respecting group of people might do. We talked about food instead."
- Me Talk Pretty One day

Post Holiday

There should be term equivalent to hangover that relates to holiday food consumption. I have one lovely friend who refers to the teenage candy and pizza sleepover binge guilt as "sleepover gut". (Shout out Kare Kares!). This is what I feel like after a holiday. Like my guts got a workout of not-so-nutritious or moderate choices and I feel like crap. It's prob a combo of carb overload mixed with miscellaneous booze, excess sugar, and a lot of sitting around. It's adult sleepover gut, holiday edition. It's not like I'm forced into this pattern, but it has become a lethal family tradition over the years. Sit around, eat, sit around some more, eat some more, sit around a bit, go to sleep.

The fam had a great spread this year:

 This year my favorites included a spinach/cranberry/fat free feta salad and sourdough mushroom leek stuffing. Healthy options mostly!

However the family traditions always make it to the table. Even this demon, candied yams. We don't do the marshmallow thing, but that doesn't make it health food. Now don't get me wrong. These yams are ri-dic-u-lous. I always save room to eat one last, as dessert. They also make a great breakfast item. They've been on the table since I was a kid and they are going nowhere. As nutritiously devoid as they are, they are incredible.

Candied Yams

Makes one 9x13 tray of yams

4 WW P+ per one piece of yam (steep!)

Ingredients

• 4 large yams
• 1 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup light karo syrup
• 1/2 stick butter
• pinch of salt 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

• Scrub yams clean
• Boil in salted water until skins slip
• Drain, let cool to handle and skin the potatoes
• Cut each yam into 4 even pieces and place in two baking dishes
• While yams are boiling, combine sugar, butter, karo, cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, and vanilla in a sauce pan over medium low heat
• Boil away for about 20 minutes until frothy and caramely
• When ready, pour over yams evenly
• Bake at 350 F for about two hours, removing every 20 minutes to baste the yams
• These can be made ahead of time and frozen. They reheat excellently. 

No, not healthy. But necessary, yes. The holiday feast would not be the same without them!

Skinny Tortilla Soup

Today's recipe is the perfect pre-thanksgiving meal. It's not heavy and won't leave you feeling gross before you eat a 3,000 calorie dinner tomorrow evening (not including the booze). I wasn't kidding about the 3,000 calories. I won't lie, if you're one of those people that isn't against dinner foods for breakfast (i.e. leftover pizza, mashed potatoes, sushi?), then this tortilla soup is excellent for breakfast with an over-easy egg.

This version of tortilla soup utilizes Reduced Guilt tortilla chips from TJ's, though you could easily pick up another version of reduced calorie tortilla chips in baked form.

Truly, what makes restaurant tortilla soup dangerous is not the soup itself - it's the toppings! If you douse anything in large amounts of avocado, full fat sour cream, full fat cheese, and deep fried chips, it's going to be less than healthy. Case in point: taco salad. Argument over.

So, with recipe inspiration cred to Ms. Rachael Ray, I bring to you a skinnied up version of tort soup.

Skinny Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 2 chicken breasts, diced
• S&P
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 2 celery ribs, finely diced
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp coriander
• 2 c. reduced guilt/baked tortilla chips
• 1 quart chicken stock/broth
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
• Toppings of your liking:
• Fat free greek yogurt
• Hot sauce like Cholula or Tapatio
• Avocado, sliced
• Lime wedges
• Reduced fat shredded mexican blend cheese
• Reduced guilt/baked tortilla chips

Instructions

• In a soup pot, heat EVOO over med-high heat
• Season chicken with S&P, lightly brown in pot
• While chicken is browning, get together garlic, bell pep, onion, jalapeno, and celery
• Add all veg to pot along with cumin and coriander and a pinch more of salt
• Cook for a few minutes until veg starts to soften up, stirring frequently
• In the meantime, food process, or crush, the 2 cups of tortilla chips. This part is a little weird, but it's what thickens the soup and it makes it super good. So trust me.
• Add tortilla chip crumbs to pot, and stir to incorporate into the chicken/veg mixture
• Add broth, zest and juice of 1 lime (I throw in the limes after I squeeze out the juice. I like it limey)
• Let her simmer on low for 15 minutes for all the flavors to have a little party
• When ready to serve, throw in the cilantro and stir it up
• Ladle up and garnish to your liking

strangely delicious!

I served the soup with black bean quesadillas. This not only prevented me from gorging on chips, it also provided more protein in the meal. TJ's has blue corn tortillas that look cool, taste great, and are only 60 calories.

it's not a white balance problem.

This recipe is not super brothy like traditional tortilla soup because of the crushed chips. It's almost chowder-y because of the thickness. Highly recommended! You could always reduce the amount of crushed chips or increase the amount of broth to reach your desired soup thickness balance. It would also be a great way to utilize left over turkey after T-day! Just omit the chicken browning step and toss in the cooked turkey after the veg is browned. 

Happy Thanksgiving readers!