Eat Comfy, Go Lightly

 

One more last-minute thanksgiving recipe - it's a good thing this dish takes just a few minutes to throw together!  

Kale is one of my favorite vegetables.  It has beautiful big, sturdy leaves, and it holds it's own with so many different flavors.  It's also incredibly healthy; in the same vegetable family as broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts.  I love it in soups, salads, and just wilted with some olive oil and garlic.  In this recipe, the kale is quickly wilted and braised, and wonderful sweet flavors from the onions and cranberries and great crunchy texture from the almonds are added in.  It's healthy, quick and… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: kale with caramelized onions, almonds and dried cranberries. | 1 Comment

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and as one of our last Thanksgiving recipes we have a delicious creamed corn casserole recipe for you. Usually creamed corn is made with a heavy cream so it turns out to be really unhealthy for you but with a few simple tricks this dish can really be made into something healthy and delicious.

Creamed Corn Casserole: 1 ¾ cup soy milk 1 pound frozen corn kernels 1 teaspoon Splenda 2 1/2 teaspoons flour ¼ cup fat free yogurt 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: creamed corn casserole | 5 Comments

Roasted vegetables are always my favorite side dish(thanksgiving or not), and this dish takes delicious roasted vegetables and adds maple-ginger quinoa to the mix.  In case you've never tried it, quinoa tastes like a slightly nuttier cous cous.  It's actually a berry, not a grain, and it packs a lot of protein.  It's a great grain alternative for anyone who has a gluten allergy, and it's great for vegetarians who won't be getting protein from the turkey.  Most important though, it tastes great, and it makes the regular roasted vegetable side-dish much more satisfying.

Remember to rinse the quinoa before cooking it.  You can buy pre-rinsed packages of quinoa… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: maple-ginger quinoa with roasted vegetables.

Making your own cranberry sauce is a great way to infuse your thanksgiving meal with personality, and it's also a great way to cut some of your thanksgiving sugar intake.  There's no reason not to make your own cranberry sauce; it takes all of 20 minutes and your home will smell amazing as guests start arriving!

Using agave nectar (a natural sweetener from the agave plant) instead of sugar allows you to cut the sugar in cranberry sauce by about half.  That's because agave nectar tastes sweeter than sugar, even though it's lower on the glycemic index.  Adding apples and some orange juice not only makes the flavor/texture more… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: agave cranberry sauce with apple and spices.

It isn't thanksgiving without stuffing.  When you think about it though, traditional stuffing really is a bunch of empty calories.  The base is usually white bread, and there's usually a ton of butter involved.  There's no reason why stuffing needs to be unhealthy.  This stuffing is made with whole-grain bread, a ton of veggies, a bit of olive oil, spices and some granny smith apple, which gives it an amazing kick and totally balances the flavors.  

I absolutely love this stuffing just as it is, but if you'd like to use this recipe as a healthy base and personalize it with your favorite stuffing ingredients, I'm sure it… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: delicious whole-grain stuffing. | 2 Comments

Often times the brussel sprout is the forgotten vegetable because people think it is bitter and dread eating it. But these can be the perfect side dish at thanksgiving if they are made right. The secret to  making them delicious and bringing out their sweetness is roasting them and use balsamic vinegar as a marinade to bring out their sweetness. They are honestly delicious!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts 1 pound brussel sprouts 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (optional)Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: a side of roasted brussel sprouts

A galette (or crostata, in Italian) is a rustic tart.  I love it when foods are described by the word "rustic," because that basically means that they don't need to look perfect, but somehow, they still come out looking elegant and incredibly appealing.  A galette looks so pretty, but because it's a rustic tart, it can be put together quickly and easily.  I think that makes it perfect for entertaining, when there's a ton going on in the kitchen.

The nice thing about this galette recipe (besides the fact that it's partially whole-wheat, contains no butter, and very little sugar...) is that it's so versatile.  While I made a… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: healthy pear galette. | 8 Comments

To continue with our Thanksgiving themed menu here is a new twist on your traditional green bean casserole. Sometimes there is just too much heavy and good food on the table and I always find that the green bean casserole just puts me over the edge. So instead of making your traditional green bean casserole, I put a refreshing and light twist on our green beans. I think this is just what you need on your Thanksgiving plate to make you feel good again. The almonds and zip of lemon leaves you feeling refreshed and light. Hope you enjoy! Green beans with almonds and lemon 1 pound fresh green beans with ends trimmed 1 tablespoon lemon zest… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: yummy green beans with a lemon zip | 4 Comments

Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, and delicious food.  Eating great food over the holidays is something we all look forward to.  But it's the feeling after eating all that great food that we dread.  That "I have to start my diet" feeling, or wondering "why did I eat so much, AGAIN?!?"

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Tudy and I decided to do a healthy Thanksgiving recipe each day until the holiday.  Of course, it's hard to replace all of your family favorites with healthy alternatives, and we're not suggesting that you do.  We do think it's pretty reasonable to work in a few healthy dishes, and… continue reading planning a thin thanksgiving: "candied" yams. | 2 Comments

Last night I blogged about making some good homemade chili and of course the perfect accompaniment to chili is cornbread. Usually I just make my cornbread out of a box, but yesterday I wanted to make my cornbread low fat and also wanted it to have a higher nutritional value so I made it from scratch. I didn't use any oil or butter and also added in some frozen corn kernels. I must say it was quite delicious and really easy to make! Cornbread 1 cup yellow corn meal 1 cup all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 egg 1 egg white 1 cup vanilla rice milk or vanilla soy milk 1… continue reading A lighter side of corn bread