ArcaMax

Most people think the Thanksgiving turkey dinner is the most intimidating meal to make. I never understood that.

For Thanksgiving there was always a crowd at my childhood home. At least a dozen people, often more. My mother would get the biggest turkey she could buy, probably 25 pounds or so. It would barely fit in the oven, (and of course there was only one oven).

Sides would be baked acorn squash and boiled green beans. Baked potatoes would be wedged in the oven around the turkey. There’d be a fruit plate and pies purchased at the local baker. Nothing fancy but the day still felt like a celebration.

My mother taught me, by example, not to be intimidated by such a big dinner. I just saw it as normal.

So, I’m always entertained when I see and hear all the ruckus about the Thanksgiving meal – everyone debating how to cook their turkey, what gourmet sides to offer along with the venerable green bean casserole and what ever happened to Grandma’s pumpkin pie recipe!

Today I’m going to focus on a few Turkey Tips I found that might shed some light on elements of the controversy. My goal is to lessen the hassle and the worry.

Let’s start with even before the turkey hits the oven...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Green Bean Casserole

Everyone loves the green bean casserole with the mushroom soup and the crispy onions on top. Trouble is it’s so bad for you. Mushroom soup from a can…can we say “processed food?” Danger! So I have come up with one that doesn’t take much longer to make, it’s real food; not processed food and you’ll still get that wonderful green bean casserole taste. Instead of using those really unhealthy onion crisps we will be making deep fried shallots. They taste so good!

Servings: Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the Crispy Shallot Topping: ½ cup of coconut oil (find this in the health food section of most stores)
½ cup of shallots cut into little rings (use more if you want more topping)

For the Green Beans and Sauce:
2 pounds of fresh green beans, trimmed. You can use them whole or cut them into 1-inch pieces.
2 Tbl of butter or ghee
2 Tbl of gravy flour (this is a lighter flour but you can use regular flour, too)
2 cups of whipping cream
2 Tbl of Bragg’s Aminos
salt and pepper to taste
dash of cayenne (this is optional; I just like mine to have a teeny bit of zip)

For the Mushrooms:
2 Tbl of butter
1 lb of sliced mushrooms

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the coconut oil in a small fry pan or sauce pan. When it’s hot add the onion strings a few at time ’til the whole ½ cup is loaded in. Fry until they are golden brown and take them out of the oil and drain on paper towels.

Be careful. You’ll be tempted to eat them all before the casserole goes into the oven. They are so good!

Heat water in a large sauce pan. Put in the beans. Cook them on a low boil for five minutes. Then immediately transfer them into a bowl and pour cold water over them so they quit cooking.

In a sauce pan add the butter and flour. When the butter melts, carefully stir the flour around. You are making a thickener for your sauce. Then slowly add the whipping cream. Keep stirring while you add it. Doing this will keep your sauce from getting lumpy. Add the Bragg’s Aminos and a bit of sea salt and grated pepper. Cook the sauce, stirring fairly frequently on medium high. You want the sauce to bubble and begin to thicken. While the sauce is cooking you can cook the mushrooms.

Cut half of the mushrooms into small dice. The other half you can leave as slices. Sauté the mushroom mixture in the butter until it begins to brown the mushrooms on the edges.

Assembly:

Put the green beans in a 9-by-13-inch ovenproof pan.

Add the mushroom mixture on top and stir them up.

When the sauce has thickened, taste it to see if you want to add the cayenne or even a little more salt and pepper. Sprinkle any extra seasonings over the top of the bean/mushroom mixture. Stir to mix it up.

Bake in your oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Top with the crispy shallots before you serve.

If you are making this for a holiday dinner you can bake it a day ahead of time and just reheat it or you can put the assembled casserole in the refrigerator covered. Then take it out and bake it the day of but keep in mind it will be very cold so it might take a bit longer to heat up. Add 10 minutes to cooking time. Keep the shallots in an airtight baggie or container.

The casserole heats up very well as a leftover option, too.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola