Saturday, November 13, 2010

Healthy Holiday Cooking Recap

Simple, satisfying, colorful, flavorful, festive and delicious! These healthy holiday recipes will become new family traditions and bring more whole veggies and fruit to your holiday table!

Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce
½ cup orange juice
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger or 1” piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
½ cup all natural orange marmalade
Agave nectar to taste (all natural sweetener)


Combine ingredients in a small pot and simmer over medium heat 10-15 minutes or until the cranberries burst open. Sauce will thicken a bit as it cools.


Mushroom Gravy

2 pints mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour (whole wheat or white)
1 tsp fresh thyme
16 oz broth or stock
½ heavy cream (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste


Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender and cooked down. Add one more Tbsp of olive oil and reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the flour and keep stirring until a light brown roux has formed. Pour in the broth or stock and scrape up the flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Increase heat to medium high, add thyme, cream, salt and pepper and allow to simmer 5-10 minutes or until gravy starts to thicken and can coat a spoon. Gravy will continue to thicken as it cools. Serve over steamed green beans for a lighter version of the classic green bean casserole.

Corn & Edamame Succotash
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Corn from 5 ears or 2 1-lb bags of frozen kernels
1 1-lb bag of frozen, shelled edemame (soy beans)
1 red bell pepper, small diced
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)


Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the onions and garlic until aromatic, about 3-4 minutes. Add corn, edamame and bell pepper. Season with cayenne and continue to