MORE THANKSGIVING

Written for the River Current Publication, November 23, 2012

These thoughts may be coming to you a little late, but I wanted to share one more of the Thanksgiving recipes that I enjoyed last weekend with my sister’s family in sunny California.  

The recipe is for a Whole-Wheat Dressing with Wild Rice.  I know we all have our own personal preference when it comes to holiday dressing (or does your family call it stuffing)?  

Whether you call it dressing or stuffing, this one is a little different than the others and I think well worth trying….and even better yet, it has lots of nutritional rewards as well! 

Whole-Wheat Dressing with Wild Rice

1/3 cup wild rice

2 Tbsp. olive oil

½ onion, finely chopped

3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 carrot, coarsely shredded

1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

1 Tbsp. fresh sage leaves

½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper

12 cups whole-wheat bread, cut into ½ inch cubes

2 ½  cups low-sodium organic chicken broth

ONE: In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of the chicken broth to a boil.  Add rice, reduce to a simmer and cook until most of the broth is absorbed and the rice is tender…about 50 minutes.

TWO:  While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a medium sized skillet.  Sauté all of the vegetables until tender.  Transfer veggie mixture to a large bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients:  bread, sage, thyme, pepper, wild rice; stirring gently to mix.  Slowly add the remaining broth until the mixture is nicely moistened.  Place mixture in a 9 X13 baking dish, which has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil.  Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Calories:  193, Total Fat: 5 g, Sat Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 27 g, Fiber: 3 g, Sugars: 6 g, Protein: 6 g, Sodium: 400 mg


Here’s one more little Thanksgiving idea for you.  When we were cleaning up the kitchen last weekend and wondering what to do with all of those leftovers, we decided to put everything in a baking dish and call it a Thanksgiving Sheppard Pie.  We simply started with a layer of gravy, the whole-wheat dressing, chunks of turkey, any remaining veggies, more gravy, and then the final layer was the leftover mashed potatoes.  How nice to tuck a comfort food into their fridge they could all enjoy later.  My brother-in-law later said, “It was a delicious Thanksgiving all over again”.