Food

A Recipe for Success

How to enjoy your Thanksgiving without sacrificing health

Thanksgiving is a holiday meant for being thankful for family, friends and good health. So, why do most people end up with belly aches and sugar-spiking regret after the celebratory feast?

Emily Snyder knows a thing or two about food. With a degree in food science and nutrition, she has tons of advice for how to have a healthful and delicious Thanksgiving. Her suggestions and ideas prove you don’t have to take the taste out of food to make it better for your body.

“My favorite Thanksgiving item is definitely sweet potato casserole,” Snyder says. “I like to have the leftovers for breakfast the next day. I eat it cold, topped with blackberries and almond butter.”

Snyder’s sweet potato casserole tips:

Roast sweet potatoes whole before combining them with other ingredients. This Emily Snyder allows the natural sugars to caramelize so you don’t have to add any versus just adding more sugar from the additional sugar to your recipe. marshmallows.”

Score each sweet potato a few Coconut sugar also has a slightly times with a knife and roast them at 400 lower glycemic index than table sugar degrees Fahrenheit for an hour. and provides a molasses flavoring, lik-

Instead of marshmallow topping, ened to brown sugar. whip up a homemade streusel. Combine chopped walnuts, pecans, old Stuffed on stuffing fashioned oats and a bit of coconut sugar. Incorporate it with melted butter and One of the biggest problems people a pinch of sea salt. face at the table is overeating. It’s impor-

“This streusel topping is more nutri- tant not to eat to the point that you feel a ent-dense and also enjoyable,” Snyder stomach ache coming on or you’re too says. “It allows for a bit of additional fiber stuffed to move from the couch and soand healthy fat from the oats and nuts cialize with the family.

“I think it’s important to listen to your body and try to eat intuitively,” Snyder says. “Put small portions of your favorites on a plate and assess yourself as you’re eating so that when you’re finished you can tell if your body wants more.”

She insists people shouldn’t worry about what others are eating and to never beat yourself up for getting a little carried away.

“You deserve to eat your favorite holiday foods and still feel good,” Snyder says. “Mental health is just as important as physical health, and a healthy relationship with food is part of that.”

Sodi-yum

A Thanksgiving feast can call for a lot of butter and salt – probably more than the average person needs. Snyder recommends replacing some, not all, with fresh herbs and citrus. She suggests using only a fraction of butter a recipe calls for and supplementing it with fresh herbs and onion or garlic.

“Sage is a classic herb that I think of during the holiday season,” she says, “and you can’t go wrong with a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice.”

Sweet talk

One of the must-haves for any feast is cranberry sauce. You can reduce your sugar intake without sacrificing the delicious staple by boiling your homemade recipe for a long amount of time. This will cook off some sugar. If you’re missing some flavor, add squeezed orange.

Vegan Green Bean Casserole Recipe courtesy of eatthelove.com

Ingredients

1 cup raw cashews 3 large shallots, sliced into 1⁄8 inch thickness ¼ cup almond meal or flour 1 tsp. arrowroot flour (or cornstarch) ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper ½ tsp. kosher salt 7 tbsp. olive oil, divided 10 oz. white or brown button mushrooms, sliced 1 medium onion, chopped 6 medium cloves of garlic, minced or pressed 1 ½ lbs. fresh green beans, tips snipped off 3 sprigs of fresh thyme 1 fresh bay leaf or 2 dry bay leaves 1 cup vegetable stock Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

Place cashews in a bowl and cover with water until submerged. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for eight hours. Drain and rinse thoroughly and blend in a blender with 1/2 cup of water. Blend until a thick creamy consistency.

Line a baking sheet with paper towels and place shallot slices in a medium bowl. Sprinkle almond meal, arrowroot flour, ground pepper and salt over shallots. Toss evenly.

Heat three tbsp. oil in a large pan and add coated shallots to dry them, stirring until golden brown. Move them to the baking sheet.

Add two tbsp. oil to pan and sauté sliced mushrooms until brown. Pour mushrooms into a bowl and set aside.

Add final two tbsp. oil to the large pan and cook onions until softened. Add garlic, green beans, thyme, bay leaves, pureed cashews and vegetable stock. Stir until beans are tender. Add mushrooms and cook for another five minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove thyme and bay leaves before plating and sprinkle fried shallots over before serving.

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“The key here may just be portion size,” Snyder says. “If cranberry sauce is your thing, then enjoy it and pay attention to your body’s fullness cues. Personally, I like to get my Thanksgiving sugar from the pie!”

Eat and enjoy

Overall, health experts insist that part of making healthy choices at the table is making sure your relationship with food is at its best. There should never be any punishment or shame when it comes to making unhealthy choices, and calories, carb counts and fat percentage shouldn’t dominate your thoughts. Enjoy your favorite foods, listen to your body, give thanks for your loved ones and dig in.

Mallory Arnold is an editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@ cityscenemediagroup.com.

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