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Five friday favorites for making a turkey 11.7.14

I am in full Thanksgiving mode, cooking friends! This is the time I check all my equipment so I don’t have to fight the crowds in Williams-Sonoma the night before Thanksgiving because I can’t find my meat thermometer. Today I’m sharing my favorite essentials for cooking and serving a turkey!

Roasting Pan

A good roasting pan will properly cook your turkey and not allow the juices to burn. I highly recommend a stainless steel pan, as opposed to nonstick or aluminum. The bottom should be thick so you can put it on your burner to make gravy. I also prefer straight-sided roasters and not flared which take up more oven space. The roaster should have sturdy handles so you can carry the bird safely out of the oven.

Williams-Sonoma has a great selection of roasters here. If your oven is small, do not assume every roasted will fit. You may want to take measurements. This is the All-clad roaster I have and love. You will also need a v-shaped rack, but you do not need turkey lifters. I just use rubber gloves to flip the turkey and to carve.

Baster

I’m into basting the turkey every 20-30 minutes because I think it helps keep the bird moist. I do not, however, like to use plastic with hot foods. So I recommend a stainless steel turkey baster. Try and buy one that comes with a brush so you can clean the inside easily. I like this one by Aroma.

Meat Thermometer

The only way to determine whether the turkey is done is to test the temperature of the bird with a meat thermometer. You cannot go by a chart on the packaging of the turkey or even a recipe. Those provide good estimates, but there are too many variables that can affect how the turkey cooks. If you are not sure if your meat thermometer works, place the tip into boiling water (wear an oven mitt to protect your hand). If the temp reads 212 degrees (although not every thermometer goes that high,) your meat thermometer is accurate. If it’s off by a lot, you need a new one. I have had this inexpensive thermometer for many years and it’s great. Although I was so intrigued by this one from provisions.com that hooks up to my iPhone that I bought it. You get an alert when the turkey reaches the right temp. So no more trying to guesstimate. I’m going to try it out this week!

Cutting Board with Deep Grooves

It is not ideal to carve a turkey on a cutting board that is straight across with no grooves to catch the turkey juices which end up spilling onto your countertop, or worse, on you and your new shoes. Get yourself a nice big wood board with deep grooves so the juices stay put. I have one similar to this one by John Boos and I’ve had it for years. It is perfect for the job. This Boos board I found on amazon is a similar size and style, but also has hand grips on the side (for $20 more.) If you want a carving board that looks beautiful too, I love this one from provisions.com. It doesn’t have grooves, but instead slopes on an angle and collects run-off that way.

Carving Knife

I like a good sharp knife for carving the turkey that is about 8-10 inches long with a pointy tip, not a round one. You also want a straight edged blade and not a serrated blade which will tear the meat. This Wustof set is what I have been using for many, many years, and I think it does a great job. All knives, even very high quality ones, have to be sharpened regularly, though. If you haven’t taken yours to be sharpened in a while, now is a great time to do that because everyone else will want to do that the weekend before Thanksgiving. Your best bet is to go to a local cutlery store. If you don’t have one of those where you live, try a cooking store. Sharp knives are safer and much more enjoyable to use than dull!

Until next week!

Planning a happy thanksgiving 2014: 3 weeks and counting!

This post has been edited from the one originally published on Thursday, November 3, 2011.

If you followed the advice in my post last Thursday, perhaps you now have a general idea of how many guests you will be hosting on Thanksgiving. If not, it’s time to get on the phone and do some inviting! Do you have a good, balanced menu and have you taken guests up on their offers to bring something? This week we have a few more tasks that we can check off the list.

3 weeks before thanksgiving

Order the Turkey If you eat turkey on Thanksgiving, it’s a good idea to order it now. I have always ordered a fresh, free-range, organic turkey, because in my opinion it has a tasty turkey flavor and is better for you than most other alternatives. The only thing that may be better is a heritage turkey, which has a much stronger turkey flavor and supposed to be more moist. It will have less breast meat though and will be more expensive. If you want a heritage bird, you need to order this ASAP since they sell out fast. Avoid “self-basting” turkeys which are injected with anything from chicken fat to salt to chemicals. True, they are easier to cook, but I think they taste more like salt than turkey and they are just full of stuff you don’t want to feed your family.

Here are some questions that will help you decide what size to order:

How many ovens do you have? If you have one large oven that can accommodate two turkeys side by side and an extra oven to spare (you’re so lucky!), then you have the option of cooking two smaller birds versus one large one. But with two small ovens, you may not want them both being monopolized by turkeys.

Are your guests dark meat-eaters or white meat-eaters? You will get more white meat by weight from one large bird than from two smaller. Likewise, you will get more dark meat from two smaller birds than from one large one.

How big a turkey should you buy? The rule of thumb is one pound of turkey per person. So if you are expecting 16 guests, you should order a 16 pound turkey. That doesn’t mean that you will have 1 pound of meat per person, though. Personally, I think this is only a good rule if you don’t want leftovers, if your guests are not big eaters, and/or you have a good number of dark meat eaters versus all-white meat eaters. Two years ago I cooked two 17-pound turkeys for 20 adults and 5 kids and I had just enough leftovers for the five of us for dinner the next day. Last year I cooked two 18-pound turkeys for 24 adults and 5 kids and we had the same amount of leftovers. My point is that I think 1 1/4 pounds per person is a safer bet.

Do you have a bad back? What does this have to do with anything? A very large turkey is mighty challenging to keep pulling out of the oven to baste. I find two smaller turkeys much more manageable, if you have the oven space.

Planning Your Table Decor I don’t do anything fancy for my table decorations, but it’s nice to make the table look special. Now’s the time to check your linens for stains and make sure you have enough napkins, plates and glassware. I generally like to do something simple with fresh flowers in autumnal colors and add in a few of the kids’ Thanksgiving art projects from years past. The top image is a collection of pins from my Thanksgiving Pinterest board. I just adore Jenni Kayne’s table setting which is the largest image at the top of the post and below. Check out all her lovely holiday photos and ideas on her ripplustan.com blog — beautiful! But you can put out bowls of apples and pears or gourds and nuts, add in a few votive candles and it will look lovely. If tablescape isn’t your thing, you can always order from your local florist or full service market. Just get on it this week. The succulents glued onto pumpkin arrangements last quite a while, so why not enjoy them this month and not have to worry about doing it in two weeks!

Make your pie crusts and freeze them You can freeze them in disc form or roll them out, fit them into pie plates and freeze them, well wrapped.
Make your homemade stock and freeze it I use over a gallon of chicken stock on Thanksgiving for soup, stuffing and gravy.

Make your dry mixes for pie fillings, cornbread and other baked goods. Not only are there never enough ovens on Thanksgiving day, but there are never enough measuring cups and spoons either. I measure out the dry ingredients, store them in a glass jar and label each jar, e.g. “Dry Mix for 2 Pumpkin Pies.” I didn’t label them the first year I did this and let me tell you — pumpkin pie spices smell A LOT like apple pie spices.
Check your inventory of helpful tools and appliances Here’s my list of Thanksgiving essentials:

Instant-read thermometer — the only way to know if your turkey is ready.
Roasting pan(s) and rack(s)
Fat separator
Twine for trussing
Baster
Potato Ricer — for making the best mashed potatoes

More recipes to come, but look here for my Thanksgiving recipes. And also check out my Foodily page and Pinterest boards for more recipes and table decor ideas. Last but not least, I’ll be sharing lots of tips every day on Instagram so be sure to follow me there!

Endive leaves with grapes, hazelnuts and roquefort

What’s your feeling about hors d’oeuvres on Thanksgiving? I know most people (like me) spend so much time cooking so much food for arguably the biggest meal of the year. No one wants his or her guests to fill up before they’ve even had one bite of turkey. I get that. But I also like a little time to mingle and visit over a drink before sitting down. I like to stretch this dinner out a bit. It’s a little disheartening to cook for hours and hours, even days, only to have your guests inhale the food in 20 minutes.

So I like to have a one hour cocktail hour before Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing fancy, just some wine and sparkling water, possibly a fun mixed drink, but I do make a few nibbles. I really don’t want to offer a mini meal here, just a bite to whet the appetite and prevent any alcohol from going straight to anyone’s head. At the very least, a seasonal crudites platter with a dip or two is nice, as is a small cheeseboard.

For 20 years I have made this zucchini-gruyere tart. Delicious, delicious, delicious, but I’m over it. Don’t tell my husband, but I think it’s off this year’s menu in favor of what I think is the perfect light bite before Thanksgiving dinner. Look at these endive leaves with just a lovely little flavor party of grape, hazelnut and roquefort (a blue cheese made from sheep’s milk.) It’s like a perfect salad bite and these are beyond easy to make. I love, love, love them! Plus, you can substitute like crazy here — diced fig, pear or apple for the grape; almonds or pistachios for the hazelnuts; goat cheese, Pecorino or Manchego for the roquefort.

Wash your endive leaves the night before and keep them in a container or bag in the fridge. Make your dressing several days in advance. All that’s left to do here is ASSEMBLE. We love that word when we’re talking Thanksgiving.

I adore these hors d’oeuvres for any dinner party, not just Thanksgiving. I hate to say it, but December is right around the corner and that means holiday parties. Gasp! First things first, though. Let’s get those Thanksgiving menus figured out. More tips and helpful hints coming this Thursday, which to remind, is 3 weeks from Thanksgiving!

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Endive Leaves with Grapes, Hazelnuts and Roquefort

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes 24 pieces

Ingredients

3 firm, fresh heads of Belgian endive
Dressing (optional)
1 small shallot, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
¾ -1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons raw honey or 100% pure maple syrup
2 Tablespoons unpasteurized apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
¾ cup unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
⅓ pound of crumbled blue cheese such as Roquefort
12 grapes, halved or quartered, depending on size
½ cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted and salted if desired or sliced almonds

Instructions

Cut ½ inch off the bottom (root end) of each head of endive. Separate the leaves and keep under a damp paper towel in the refrigerator until ready to use, up to 4 hours.
Make the dressing if using. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl or a glass jar with a lid. This will make too much dressing for the hors d’oeuvre. Save what you don’t use for a salad.
Fill the white part of each endive leaf with a bite size crumble of blue cheese, a half of a grape and a pinch of chopped nuts. Drizzle with a touch of dressing if desired.

Planning a happy thanksgiving 2014: 4 weeks and counting!

This post has been edited from the original, which was published on October 27, 2011.

I adore Thanksgiving. I love the traditions, the food, the Macy’s parade on television while I am making my pies, the football games. I love moving the family room furniture after the last football game is over to extend the dining room table. I love hearing everyone share why he or she is grateful. I have cooked every Thanksgiving for the last 19 years, as well as dozens of Thanksgiving-themed cooking classes. I have made lots of mistakes and in the process learned a thing or two about how to execute and enjoy a very happy Thanksgiving. The key is being organized. Every Thursday from today until the big day, I will share my best tips, strategies and a few good recipes to set you up for a successful holiday. Let’s get started!

4 Weeks Before Thanksgiving

Guest list Now is a good time to invite family and friends for the holiday, even if they are regulars. I send an email out to all our guests with the schedule for the day, especially when we will sit down for dinner. We live on the West Coast, which means the second football game is over at 4:00. Anyone that wants to come for the earlier game is welcome to do so. There’s coffeecake, fruit and coffee in the morning. A mugful of soup and cornbread around noon; hors d’oeuvres at 3:00 pm and dinner is at 4:00 or whenever the game is over. You know that I pray for no overtime!
Plan your menu Planning the Thanksgiving menu requires a bit of strategy and balance. Make sure you have a balance of cooked and raw food (one thing I have learned is no matter how big your kitchen or how many ovens you have, it’s never enough on Thanksgiving!); protein, starches and vegetables (I find most Thanksgiving menus to be too starchy;) and ingredients (make sure not every recipe has dried fruit and nuts in it.) Know what dishes need an oven and when because if you’re making turkey and you have one oven, you won’t be baking too much in the hours before dinner.

Also, know your audience. I love trying new recipes, but my family looks forward to the same traditional standbys every year. There was almost a revolution when I took Breaded Cauliflower off the menu in 2007 ( I now serve it as an hors d’oeuvre.) So I compromise by making the classics (traditional roast turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie), but I also try out a new salad or vegetable side dish every year.

Also, just because you’re cooking overtime for Thanksgiving dinner, doesn’t mean your household won’t be needing dinner the night before and breakfast the morning of. Instead of ordering takeout pizza on Wednesday night, make and freeze a casserole in the weeks ahead or plan for your easiest 20-minute meal. The same goes for Thanksgiving day, especially if you have young children in the house. You can save your appetite and get by on a piece of fruit for the day, but your four-year-old cannot. I always make a pot of butternut squash soup the day before and a pan of cornbread to be served around noon to tide anyone over until the big meal.

Photocopy your recipes from books and magazines I remember my first Thanksgiving with a stack of cookbooks and magazines taking up valuable counter space and my wasting so much time looking up each recipe multiple times. Ugh! Put your photocopied recipes in sheet protectors and create a dedicated Thanksgiving or holiday binder organized by category. This just might be the most useful tip I give you.

Here’s what I am probably making this year:

Breakfast:

Coffeecake, fruit, coffee and tea

Lunch:

Butternut Squash Soup or Sweet Potato-Coconut Soup and Cornbread

Hors D’oeuvres:

Breaded Cauliflower with Tomato Dipping Sauce

Zucchini-Gruyere Tart

Endive Leaves with Grapes, Roquefort and Hazelnuts (recipe coming)

Dinner:

Traditional Roast Turkey with Gravy

Cranberry Sauce with Apples and Raspberries

Applesauce

Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

Whole Grain Stuffing with Mushrooms, Leeks and Herbs

Brussels Sprouts with Turkey Bacon and Dates

Maple-Mustard Roasted Vegetables

Roasted Delicata Squash and Apple Salad or Butternut Squash Salad and/or Brussels Sprout Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing (my husband’s favorite)

Non-dairy Green Bean Casserole with Shiitake Bacon (teaching this in my classes this month)

Dessert:

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

Chocolate Coconut Tart from Coco Bakes LA (I preordered this already)

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Freshly Whipped Cream

Winter Fruit Salad

Click here for loads of Thanksgiving recipe ideas!

Thanksgiving

Sweet potato-apple-ginger juice recipe

I have been in a bit of a juice rut lately, making the same ones over and over again. The bad news is that this boredom with my juice caused me to be less motivated to actually juice, and therefore I have been missing out on of the things that puts a spring in my step and makes me feel healthy. My typical juice consists of greens (romaine, spinach, kale, or parsley or a combo), celery, apple, carrot, ginger and/or fresh turmeric. Very good, but the same formula day in and day out was making me bored.

My friend and holistic nutritionist, Elissa Goodman, who is also a juicing queen, mentioned that she juices sweet potatoes. I honestly never considered juicing sweet potatoes. Roasting them and blending them into a smoothie is as close as I have come. But I was curious about how they would juice, so I went for it and was just pleased as punch. Sweet potatoes are JUICY!

It’s kind of like juicing a carrot, with a lovely mild sweetness. So I started playing around and created a new, very different juice, one more seasonal for fall. Sweet potatoes and apple go hand in hand, so I put those together. But I personally don’t care for overly sweet juices, so I added some celery to create some more liquid without sugar. And then I boosted the flavor some more with fresh ginger and a small nub of turmeric. The first time around I made the juice fairly spicy, which I loved, but the hubby thought was too gingery. The second time, it was total perfection.

The cinnamon is a really fun addition. You can add a pinch of ground cinnamon, but I don’t love the powderiness since it doesn’t dissolve. I had great results steeping a cinnamon stick in the juice. SO, so yummy.

I made a huge pitcher of this juice for a breakfast meeting and I served it over ice with a cinnamon stick in each glass. It was such a huge hit and I was so happy to share something so healthful. Everything in this juice is super anti-inflammatory, especially the sweet potatoes, ginger and turmeric. Sweet potatoes are also very rich in Vitamin C, E, B6 and Beta-carotene, which is amazing for your skin, eyes and hair.

I am going to keep playing with this base. I had a juice recently at Sage Organic Bistro in Culver City with grapefruit in it that was outstanding and I’m thinking it might work nicely here, too. I’m also considering making a huge batch for Thanksgiving and adding a drop of alcohol to make a fun cocktail.

I haven’t had a ton of experience working with different juicers, so I can’t make a good recommendation as to which to buy if you’re in the market for one. I have an Omega, which is very nice, but the feed tube is so small that it’s a little too much work cutting everything into small enough pieces. I have the Breville at our house in Park City and that is a breeze to use. There’s a lot of controversy about juicers that juice slowly versus fast and the vitamins being compromised, but as Kris Carr, the doyenne of juicing, says, “the best juicer is the one you’ll use.” Williams-Sonoma has a nice selection of juicers here if you’re thinking about buying one.

I’d love to hear what juicer you have and what you love or hate about it. I’d also be curious if you have a favorite fall juice. I’m motivated again!

5.0 from 11 reviews

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Sweet Potato-Apple-Ginger Juice

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes about 12 ounces

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, peeled (about 10-12 ounces) -- you don't have to peel the sweet potato, but the skin darkens the color of the juice
1” piece of fresh ginger or more if you like it spicy
4” piece of fresh turmeric (if you can find it)
1 medium apple or Fuyu persimmon
2 stalks celery
cinnamon stick

Instructions

Juice all ingredients except cinnamon stick. Be sure to juice the ginger and turmeric early on so you can flush out those juices with something high water like the celery.
Place the cinnamon stick in a glass and pour juice on top. Allow to steep for a few minutes or refrigerate the juice with the cinnamon stick until you want to consume it.
Always store juice in the smallest container possible with little or no air at the top so that the juice stays fresher for longer. Store up to 2 days in the refrigerator. Separation will occur, so shake before serving.

apple celery cinnamon ginger sweet potatoes turmeric

Whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip bars (refined sugar-free)

Halloween is next week and it is a big day for treats! I’ll admit, the last few years I haven’t posted any sweets before Halloween because I figured there’s plenty of candy to go around. Who needs another food from the sugar category? Upon rethinking, I’ve decided there is room for higher quality treats, especially when the options might otherwise be supermarket cupcakes with artificially-colored frosting, marshmallow ghosts or candy corn brownies. Yikes! I can’t handle it and neither can my blood sugar, mood and skin.

It’s really hard to avoid sugar on Halloween, but keep in mind this is when a lot of people fall into the downward spiral of eating dessert too often. First comes Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then pre-Christmas parties, etc. Just putting it out there to be a little mindful when your kids’ trick or treat baskets tempt you.

My kids and my husband are bonkers for these pumpkin chocolate chips bars. Or maybe they’re like pumpkin chocolate chip blondies, because they’re kind of dense. They’re definitely not the same texture of a muffin, which is spongy and light. These are super moist, flavorful, just sweet enough with the perfect amount of chocolate chips. But if you don’t like chocolate (and we’re friends?), use currants or chopped pecans instead. In my opinion (and that’s all you get around here,) the key to pumpkin desserts is the combination of spices. And for me, the spices in this recipe are perfect with both the pumpkin and the chocolate chips, too– predominantly cinnamon with nutmeg and a touch of cloves for spiciness. I taught these in my cooking classes 2 years ago and they were a huge hit!

I make these with either whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour. Both are delicious. And I always make the cake with coconut sugar, which is minimally processed and unrefined. But if you can’t find it, the recipe works with white sugar, too. The photo above shows one cake made with coconut sugar (left) and one made with cane sugar (right.) I can’t tell the difference in taste, honestly.

You can make your own pumpkin puree very easily. Click here for the how-to. And whereas making your own from scratch is always best, sometimes we just don’t have the time. There are a few good brands of organic pumpkin in BPA-free packages. I do prefer tetrapaks over cans, though. I buy Farmers Market brand organic pumpkin in tetrapaks from Whole Foods or amazon.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes a 13 x 9 cake, or 24 3 x 1⅔-inch bars

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour (or GF flour mix + ½ tsp. xanthan gum)
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder (or omit to make these denser)
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup coconut palm sugar, pure maple syrup or cane sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ¾ cup or 1 15-ounce box/can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) click here to make your own
6 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate chips (just shy of 1 cup)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and line a 9” x 13” pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to hang over the sides (the length of the pan).
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, spices, salt, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine well. Stir in pumpkin.
Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing on low until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack and when removing the bars, lift the parchment paper and transfer to a platter to cut and serve.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

If you want to make a smaller cake in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch pan, cut all the ingredients in half.

chocolate chips pumpkin

Cauliflower mashed potatoes recipe

My husband has no choice but to eat what I make every night because there are no other options and the man does not cook. That said, if I’m being totally honest, I think he would rather eat lasagne and cheeseburgers over quinoa and brown rice bakes. I do, however, think he appreciates how my cooking makes him feel, which is “not gross” and he has definitely come to like plant foods and veggies more and more. But there are certain occasions when he just wants me to leave things be, like Thanksgiving. Not to worry, I’m not starting to post Thanksgiving recipes yet. We still have 6 1/2 weeks to go for that. But who’s counting?

When I suggested either eliminating regular mashed potatoes from the Thanksgiving menu or replacing them with cauliflower mashed potatoes, he stood up and exclaimed, “NOW you’re taking this too far!” He may have even pointed his finger in the air, I can’t remember. Ok, I got the message. But, I haven’t made “Thanksgiving” mashed potatoes on any other day of the year since then, instead I have used this Cauliflower Mashed Potato recipe. And guess what? Everyone loves it! They’re creamy, light and hardly taste at all like cauliflower.

It’s not that mashed potatoes are so terrible for you. I wouldn’t put them in the class of Twinkies and Diet Coke, for example. But potatoes without the peel aren’t a 10/10 and all that half-an-half and butter make mashed potatoes a very rich, not necessarily super digestible, dish. But cauliflower puree made from just cauliflower doesn’t have the same body (too thin) as regular mashed potatoes and I’m not fooling anyone with that one. A combo of cauliflower and potatoes is what my family and I like best and I love that it is definitely more healthful and arguably waaaay easier to make than regular mashed potatoes if you have a food processor or an immersion blender.

I have been talking up cauliflower as the “new kale” for some time and truthfully, I think cauliflower is much more versatile than kale. Last night I made cauliflower “steaks.” I’ve used cold steamed cauliflower in smoothies. There are recipes for cauliflower alfredo sauce, and so on. The best part is that cauliflower is a rock star plant food rich in Vitamin C, folate, Vitamin K, fiber, antioxidants as well as several anti-cancer phyto-chemicals like sulforaphane and plant sterols such as indole-3-carbinol, which appears to function as an anti-estrogen agent.

I serve this the same way I would regular mashed potatoes, with poultry or beef or saucy roasted vegetables. I also count this as a starch, even though it’s mostly cauliflower, and I would serve a green veggie on the side. And if you want to make this up to two hours in advance, just keep it warm over a double boiler. That’s also the trick I use for making mashed potatoes in advance on Thanksgiving. Ooops. I wrote the T-word again. Plenty of time until then, I swear. First post coming in 2 1/2 weeks!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 medium-large head of cauliflower, about 2 ¼ pounds, cut into florets (about 5 cups)
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
kosher salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (optional, but makes them taste better)
½ teaspoon of sea salt or to taste

Instructions

Place cauliflower, potatoes and a big pinch of kosher salt in a large pot and add enough water to come just below the top of the vegetables.
Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower to a simmer. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
Drain cauliflower and potatoes and transfer to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add butter and salt and process until smooth. Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.

butter cauliflower potatoes

Turkey and pinto bean sloppy joes recipe (vegetarian version, too!)

Last summer, my son came home after two weeks at sleep-away camp and couldn’t wait to tell me about an amazing food that I obviously had never heard of or eaten. He assumed this because if I had ever enjoyed such culinary perfection, I would have surely been delighting my family with it over and over again. “Mom, you’re not going to believe this thing I ate at camp! I tried to remember everything about it so that you can make it at home! It’s called…a sloppy joe!” Should I have admitted I grew up in the 70’s and saw more than my share of Manwich commercials? And that I have actually personally never eaten a sloppy joe in my life? Because really the thought of sweet beef chili on a hamburger bun never spoke to me.

But it spoke to Mr. Picky! And when Mr. Picky likes something, I mobilize into action! A classic sloppy joe is a sandwich (specifically on a hamburger bun) with a loose, seasoned ground beef and tomato filling. It’s called “sloppy” because it’s kind of a mess to eat. I came up with this version of a sloppy joe using ground turkey instead of beef and stretching the protein with some pinto beans, which I know is not traditional, but I couldn’t help myself. And since Mr. Picky loves beans, I figured it was safe. I also deviated a little from regular sloppy joes by cutting way down on the added sweeteners and by not using ketchup as my base. I think I came up with a very tasty and nutritious dish whether you can call it a sloppy joe or not! All I care about is that Mr. Picky goes crazy for it and always begs me to put it in a thermos the next day for his lunch.

I do toast up some hamburger buns for my hubby and the kids, but I like to eat the sloppy joe mixture on top of some cooked grains, like brown rice or quinoa. That’s how I can still make one meal but adapt it to appeal to everyone. Usually I’ll serve a green salad or cole slaw on the side and I’m done. You can adapt this recipe is by subbing 1 pound of crumbled tempeh for the ground turkey and you’ll have a great (even better I think) vegetarian option. Feel free to sub sweet bell peppers for the green or add a grated carrot into the mixture or double the meat and omit the beans if you want.

It’s a really easy dinner, and it reheats beautifully if you want to make it in the morning or the day before. It actually freezes well, too. Something I did recently was to make the sloppy joe mixture after school, transfer it to my slow cooker and keep it on the warm setting until we all came home for “one of the best dinners ever in my life, Mommy.” Winner!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Turkey and Pinto Beans Sloppy Joes

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
1-2 Tablespoons cold-pressed, unrefined extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cup diced onion
½ green bell pepper, diced or sweet bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 ½ cups cooked pinto beans or 1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed (click here to learn how to cook beans from scratch)
1 18-ounce jar crushed tomatoes or tomato puree (I like Jovial organic tomatoes in glass jars.)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (look for vegan or gluten-free versions if you need)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
accompaniments: toasted hamburger buns or cooked grains such as brown rice, millet or quinoa

Instructions

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey and brown, breaking up the meat into small crumbles until just cooked through. Drain and reserve in a separate bowl.
In the same skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions, pepper and garlic until onion is tender and translucent.
Add turkey back to the skillet and add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Notes

You can also make a vegetarian version by subbing 1 pound of crumbled tempeh for the turkey and using a vegan worcestershire sauce. Just saute the tempeh where you would saute the meat in Step 1. Tempeh is not as moist as meat though, so you may need to add a few tablespoons of water or vegetable stock with the tomatoes. My family likes the sloppy joes on toasted hamburger buns with sliced dill pickles.

You can also make this more spicy with a little cayenne or hot sauce.

ground turkey onion peppers pinto beans tomatoes