You can go healthy, and still go big this year with this alternate thanksgiving menu – low histamine, low oxalate, paleo, gluten free, and dairy free.

Menu

White Wine & Thyme Cashew Turkey Gravy (Paleo, GF)

Savory Stuffing (Paleo, GF, dairy free optional)

Secret Cranberry Sauce (Paleo, Vegan, GF)

Grain Free Dinner Roll (Paleo, GF)

Green Bean Casserole (Paleo, Vegan, GF)

Pumpkin Pie (Paleo, Vegan, GF)

For even more healthy Thanksgiving tips, check out some other ideas of mine.

Savory Stuffing

1 pound ground pork
4 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 small granny smith apples, diced
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup chick broth

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook ground pork with chili powder and red pepper flakes, mix thoroughly. Toss into a 13 x 9 baking pan.

In the same pan you cooked the ground pork, cook the celery, onion, red pepper, and mushrooms, along with the poultry seasoning, and salt & pepper. Cook until the veggies are soft, then toss into the same baking 13 x 9 pan.

Next, add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the stove top pan and cook the diced apples and pecans, until the they are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Toss into the baking pan along with the meat and veggies.

Mix everything together and spread out into the pan evenly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and chicken stock. Pour mixture on top of stuffing mix.

Bake covered for about 30 minutes, uncovering the pan the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Grain Free Dinner Butter Rolls

1 cup almond flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup tapioca or arrowroot (plus 1-2 tbs. more, if needed)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter or olive oil
1 beaten egg

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, and tapioca. Pour in water and butter, mixing until blended. Add beaten egg and stir again. If the mixture is too wet, add 1-2 tbs. more almond flour as needed.

Grease a baking sheet or cover it with parchment paper or a Silpat liner. Grease your hands and roll the dough into 7-8 balls. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until just turning golden on the bottom.

Pumpkin Pie

For the crust:

1½ cup almond flour
¾ cup crushed raw pecans
¼ cup organic raisins
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp raw honey
1 tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
¼ tsp ground allspice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F

Add all the ingredients to your food processor and process until well combined.

Transfer to a well greased removable bottom deep pie dish and spread gently and evenly to the bottom and sides of the pan with a rubber spatula to form a crust.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, reshape by pressing gently as needed (the crust might poof a little) with a rubber spatula. Set aside.

For the filling:

2 cups pumpkin purée
1 cup full fat coconut milk
½ cup date paste (or pureed dates)
2 tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp cardamom
½ tsp lime zest

Instructions

Add all the ingredients to the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth and creamy, about one minute.

Transfer to the reserved pie crust.

Bake in a 350°F oven for 35-40 minutes, until filling is set and top gets slightly darker.

Turn off the oven and crack the door open. Allow pie to cool for a couple of hours, then take it out of the oven and let it cool completely before transferring it to the refrigerator, where you will leave it to cool for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

For the crumble:

¼ cup crushed raw pecans
¼ cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp raw honey

Instructions

Add shredded coconut, raisins, pecans, salt and cinnamon to your food processor and pulse a few times until the texture resembles that of raw oatmeal. Transfer to a small nonstick pan and toast over medium heat until slightly fragrant, about 30-45 seconds.

Add honey and stir until honey is completely melted and small clusters begin to form.

Remove to a plate and allow to cool completely. Sprinkle over pie.

Cran-Apple Sauce

Two 12-ounce bags of organic cranberries
3 large organic apples that have been peeled (a sweet variety)
1/2 cup water
One cinnamon stick
Lemon juice – a few squirts from a fresh lemon
1/4 cup honey

Instructions

Pour the cranberries into a strainer and rinse under running water.

In a 3-quart pot add the cranberries and the 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer until the berries are soft and mushy.

Pour the cooked cranberries back into the strainer with a large pot underneath.

With a firm spatula force the berries through, in order to remove the skins.

Place all the sauce back into the pot and put aside.

Chop the apples into small pieces.

Squirt the apples with the lemon juice.

Add the cinnamon stick to the pot.

Pour the apples into the pot with cranberries and place back on stove to simmer.

Cook and stir this mixture until the apples are very small chunks. This requires a lot of stirring (wear an apron!)

Remove from heat and cool.

Remove the cinnamon stick.

Add the honey (be sure to wait until the mixture has cooled before adding raw honey) to taste (it may take more than 1/4 cup.)

White Wine & Thyme Cashew Grain-Free Gravy

2 cups soaked raw cashews (1 1/2 cups un-soaked)
2 1/2 to 3 cups chicken, turkey or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil, ghee or other oil
1 medium sized onion (about 1 1/2 cups chopped)
4-5 large garlic cloves
1/2 or more cup organic dry white wine (or 1/2 cup broth instead of wine)
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme or more to taste
1 tsp sea salt or more to taste (less if using already salted broth).
Coarse ground pepper to taste
Garlic powder if desired, to taste

Instructions

Soak the cashews for 4 hours then rinse and drain. Transfer to food processor.

Pull the thyme (or other herb) off of the stems then smash the leaves with a large knife. You want to release the oils of the herb. Set aside.

Dice the onion & garlic then using a large frying pan, sauté the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, cook until caramelized. This will help give your gravy a nice rich color and flavor.

Transfer the onion/garlic mixture to food processor with the cashews. Set the pan aside for later use, do not clean it yet, you’ll want all that goodness for flavor.

Add 2 cups of broth to the food processor.

Blend till smooth, as smooth as you can get it. This may take 3-5 min.

Pour the cashew mixture back into the pan that you cooked the onions and garlic in. Add the thyme and cook the cashew mixture over a medium heat for a few minutes or until it thickens and darkens up a little bit. Stir/whisk constantly so that it doesn’t burn.

Whisk in the wine, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Again keep stirring letting it thicken for a few minutes. This helps develop a richer flavor. Add the left-over chicken broth to reach desired thickness.

Green Bean Casserole

1 1/2 cups of gravy
2 lbs. French filet green beans
1/2 lb. of mushrooms
2 tablespoons oil of choice
1/2 cup coconut oil, olive oil organic palm shortening or ghee
8-10 shallots (approx. 1 1/4 lbs.)

Instructions

Peel and slice the shallots into thin rings.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan or frying pan over medium/low heat until it gets to around 220 degrees.

Reduce the heat to low, then add the shallots and cook for 30 40 min or until they reach a golden brown color. Stir occasionally to ensure even browning.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sauté the mushrooms in the olive oil or till soft.

Blanch the green beans in boiling salted water for around 2 min. Drain. If you are ready to go and cook it right away then move on to the next step. If you are not going to cook immediately, you will need to shock the beans in a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking; then proceed when ready.

In a large bowl, combine the mushrooms, green beans and gravy. Mix together.

Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and top with crispy shallots.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 min or till the gravy begins to bubble.

 

Dr. Noe King