When it comes to food, we all know the dreaded feeling of the Holidays. We eat too much and drink too much. It’s not only how much you eat, but also what you eat.
For those who know me, I like to cook. I like to experiment with recipes; sometimes they turn out, sometimes they don’t. But hey, you live and you learn.
This year, I took Thanksgiving dinner into my own hands and added a few, healthy twists.
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 4 hours
Ingredients
Turkey
- Locally grown, no hormone, no antibiotic turkey purchased at Whole Foods. Not only does the meat taste better, your doing your body a favour. Recipe is based on a 4.7kg turkey.
- 1 tbsp of grassfed butter
- 2 tbsp of fresh rosemary
- 2 tbsp of fresh
- 2 tbsp of fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp of fresh ground ginger
- ½ tsp of freshly grated orange rind
- 3 celery stick
- 2 carrots
- 1 orange
- ½ onion
Sides
- Asparagus
- Fresh Beets
- Sweet Potatoes
- Vegetable spices
- 1 tbsp of lemon juice
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
Directions
- Clean the lovey turkey. Take out the neck, liver and heart. You can use this as flavour for gravy or stew. Melt the butter and mix it with the herbs, ginger, orange grind and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper. Coat the turkey with this mixture – both inside and out. Remember to flip it over and do the other side. Place the turkey in a roasting pan. Make sure it sits on a rack, so that it doesn’t stick.
- Turn your oven on and set for 350°. Chop up the celery, carrots, orange and onion. Stuff the turkey. I like to put some of the leftover stuffing on the bottom of the pan for flavour (great for gravy). Cover the roasting pan. Put the turkey in the oven and set your timer for 3hrs 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, boil the beets until they are soft. After, you can then shred them or use a blender to cut them up.
- Slice the sweet potatoes, pour some olive oil on them and add some spices. Place them on a rack, cover them with tin foil and put them in the oven, approximately 15 minutes before your timer goes off.
- When the timer goes off, take off the top of the roasting pan and place the turkey back in the oven for 30 minutes. In the meantime, clean up your asparagus, pour some olive oil on it and add spices if you like. Place it next to the sweet potatoes and undercover.
- Once all is done, you can use the gravy from the bottom of the turkey rack. Enjoy!
You can choose different substitutions for your meal. I chose beets because they are high in potassium, magnesium and vitamins A and B. And I love them! Sweet potatoes are my favourite. I eat them almost every day. They are high in vitamin A, C, B6, magnesium and copper. Asparagus is high in vitamin K and C, folate and selenium.
Remember, food should fit YOUR lifestyle. Play around with what works for you and your family. Happy Thanksgiving!
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