Thanksgiving Menu

• Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
• by amy

Holiday Bodyweight Challenge - Day 9

So, what is on your menu for Thanksgiving?  Are you bringing any paleo-yumminess to Grandma's house?  Or are you throwing wisdom and all your hard-fought gains out the window and stuffing your face with stuffing, pie, candied yams, and green bean casserole with that questionable sauce and topping?

We're sticking to our guns, probably much to the dismay of Neil's mom.  Don't think we'll be lacking though, as I like to indulge a bit on holidays too.  Here's our menu, and accompanying recipes, if there are any.  Many of these recipes are from the Whole9 Life blog, and are untried.  But that's the type of cook I am; I like to try new recipes for special events.  It's fun!  Remember that Melissa and Dallas of Whole9 fame are going to be visiting us in January for a Whole9 Nutrition Workshop.    What a great way to learn from the gurus themselves!!

Bon Appetit!!

Appetizers
*Proscuitto wrapped asparagus - just what it sounds like.  Very briefly steam asparagus spears (3 minutes or less), let drain and cool.  Wrap 2-3 stalks in a small piece of proscuitto.  Bake in a 400* oven for about 10 minutes
*Roasted Mussels - This looks like a yummy recipe, with the substitution of olive oil for butter if you don't do dairy.  Neil has made a different recipe in the past, and it was scrumptous!  But he did it, not me ...

Main Course
*Pork of some sort - OK, I have a confession to make.  I'm just not that big of a turkey fan.  We've tried local, pastured turkey, we've tried wild caught turkey, and of course the usual Kroger turkey.  The best turkey I've ever tasted was one that Neil smoked when we were first married.  Now that was a turkey worth eating.  But, I'd rather have some other yummy piece of meat.  I don't know exactly what we'll be having, but I'm thinking that I'll be heading out to Giles County to Mikie's 7th to see what they have available from their farm.
*Stuffing - not the kind you're thinking of.  This stuffing has walnuts, apples, celery, ground meat (the recipe calls for beef, but we're going for sausage, because everything is better with pork!), and herbs.  Can't wait to try it!
*Cranberry sauce - no sugar, but it has some figs in it for sweetness.  Eager to try it out!
*Roasted beets with pistachio butter - my mouth waters everytime I even think about this.  So, roast some beets.  Very good start.  While roasting, make a pistachio butter by pulsing 1/2c shelled pistachios in a food processor.  When nice and smooth, add some olive oil, starting with maybe 1T.  Alternate between 1t olive oil and 1t water until the desired consistency is met.  Slip the skins off the beets once cooked and cooled, and toss with some olive oil and S&P.  Serve the beets with the pistachio butter as a dip or spread.
*Salad - I'm a sucker for salad, even with a "fancy" meal.  We'll probably serve this before supper, but who knows.  I'm planning on some mixed greens, thinly sliced red onions, yummy sliced pears, some sort of nuts (lightly toasted pecans perhaps), and a light vinagarette.

Dessert - directly from Whole9

Apple “Pumpkin” Pie
by Pamela Barlett

Pamela’s Note:  This recipe uses the natural sweetness of the apples and yams to let you have a traditional pumpkin pie without the sugar.

Ingredients – Crust:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients – Pie Filling:

• 2 to 3 Apples (We recommend Honeycrisp, since they are on the slightly sweeter side)
• 1 3/4 cup steamed and pureed yam/sweet potato
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 nutmeg
• 2 beaten eggs
• 3/4 cup coconut milk

Directions:

For the crust:  Throughly mix all ingredients together except for the coconut flour. Add the coconut flour in and mix well to form dough. Knead dough for ~1 minute.  Roll dough out between sheets of wax paper until it’s big enough to fit the pie dish. In my experience transferring the pie crust usually results in it falling apart to some extent, so just plan on patching it up a little bit once you’ve transferred it.

For the filling:  Thinly slice, peel and core apples. Coat with cinnamon and stir. Set aside.  In a separate bowl, combine yam, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  Beat in eggs gently until just combined. Slowly add coconut milk until combined.

Layer apple slices and pumpkin filling in the pie dish. Bake in a 375 oven for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.