I don’t know about you and your family, but from where I come from in Southeast Michigan, we really don’t have any healthy Thanksgiving side dishes, as most of us consider the Holiday season a time to indulge and not worry about whether something is healthy.
In fact, deep-frying the turkey has become a popular tradition for many folks, especially those tailgating at the Detroit Lions’ annual Thanksgiving game, so much so that fire departments are very busy putting out grease fires from amateurs trying to deep-fry a turkey without proper precautions or knowledge.
With the intense dry conditions and risks of fires in California, I wonder if they deep fry their turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner as well. I am going to guess that it is not as popular, especially since they tend to eat healthier than we do in the Midwest.
According to a Reader’s Digest most popular side dish poll, “In a major stuffing landslide, an incredible 42 states ranked it their favorite dish.
2. Mashed potatoes
3. Sweet potatoes
4. Mac and cheese
5. Green bean casserole
As you’ll see below, stuffing rules the day in most parts of the country. And in a few states, folks just couldn’t decide on their faves, so you’ll see a tie in several spots.
Alabama: Stuffing
Alaska: Stuffing
Arizona: Stuffing
Arkansas: Stuffing
California: Stuffing
Colorado: Stuffing
Connecticut: Stuffing
Delaware: Stuffing and mashed potatoes (tie)
Florida: Mac and cheese
Georgia: Stuffing
Hawaii: Stuffing
Idaho: Stuffing and mashed potatoes (tie)
Illinois: Stuffing and mashed potatoes (tie)
Indiana: Mashed potatoes
Iowa: Mashed potatoes
Kansas: Mashed potatoes
Kentucky: Stuffing
Louisiana: Stuffing
Maine: Stuffing
Maryland: Stuffing, sweet potatoes and mac and cheese (tie)
Massachusetts: Stuffing
Michigan: Stuffing
Minnesota: Stuffing
Mississippi: Stuffing
Missouri: Stuffing
Montana: Stuffing
Nebraska: Stuffing
Nevada: Stuffing
New Hampshire: Stuffing
New Jersey: Stuffing
New Mexico: Mashed potatoes
New York: Mac and cheese
North Carolina: Stuffing
North Dakota: Stuffing
Ohio: Stuffing
Oklahoma: Stuffing
Oregon: Stuffing
Pennsylvania: Stuffing
Rhode Island: Stuffing
South Carolina: Stuffing
South Dakota: Stuffing
Tennessee: Stuffing
Texas: Stuffing
Utah: Mashed potatoes
Vermont: Stuffing
Virginia: Stuffing
Washington: Mashed potatoes
West Virginia: Stuffing
Wisconsin: Stuffing
Wyoming: Stuffing,”.
Well, I guess those of us in the Midwest area are not the only folks uninterested in healthy side dishes at Thanksgiving! However, I did learn that California does have a healthier version (of course) that is made with homemade cornbread instead of the traditional, full-flavored, fattening stuffing we make in my household.
(Photo Credit: North Carolina county government news article)
Healthy Thanksgiving desserts
My youngest son is heavily into weightlifting and healthy eating lately, so I can at least try to make a semi-healthy dessert to complement our Thanksgiving dinner. Actually, he has always been my healthiest eater among the two sons, and I, too, make great efforts to eat a clean, healthier diet.
In fact, we have both been really into apples lately (me for fiber and he for natural sweetness in his oatmeal), and that’s a good thing since we live in Michigan and it is harvest season, so the apples are very fresh.
Instead of traditional apple pie, here’s what I am planning for dessert this year:
Apple Crisp
Ingredients
⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
⅔ cup plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Pour in melted butter and stir in.
- Add flour and stir until evenly combined. The mixture should be forming crumbs and hold together when pinched.
- Scatter over top of cakes, breads, and fruit desserts before baking. Top with powdered sugar for serving.
For a healthier version, I will drizzle with locally harvested honey and top with homemade churned French vanilla ice cream. Yes, I know that ice cream does not have less fat than whipped topping, but it is a cleaner, more natural alternative with no added chemicals.
Best turkey recipe
Okay, we have discussed healthy holiday meal options, but now let’s talk about those down-home family favorites. Unfortunately, I lost my mom to complications of diabetes when she was only fifty-eight years old, and she passed away on December 12th, which was awful as Christmas was a mere twelve days away.
However, our last holiday together was Thanksgiving, and she made sure I knew how to make the turkey dinner the way she did, since it was my favorite. She was a phenomenal cook who put a lot of love and seasoning into her recipes.
Here are the recipes for my mom’s turkey and stuffing (or as some call it, dressing):
Ingredients
- 8 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 tbsp./30 mL dried)
- 1/4 cup (50 mL) olive oil
- 1 tbsp. (15 mL) coarse salt
- 1 tsp. (5 mL) black pepper
- 12 to 15 lb. (5.5 to 7 kg) whole turkey, fully defrosted if frozen
Cooking Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
- In a small bowl or in a food processor, mash together garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt, and pepper until a thick paste forms.
- By hand, gently pull the skin away from the turkey breast at the front of the breast (near the neck opening) to form a sort of pocket. Rub some of the rosemary garlic paste onto the breast meat under the skin, reaching in as far as you can without tearing the skin. Rub the remaining rosemary-garlic paste all over the turkey’s skin and into the cavity.
Add the stuffing, if you’re using it, and place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and tie the legs together with kitchen string.
- Place the turkey into the preheated oven. Do not cover the pan. Roast, basting every 15 to 20 minutes with the pan juices, until a meat thermometer inserted into the inner thigh reaches 170 degrees F (77 degrees C) and the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked with a skewer.
This will take anywhere from 3 to 4-1/4 hours (depending on the size of the turkey and whether it is stuffed or not). The only sure way to know if the turkey is cooked is to use a meat thermometer. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the turkey rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes before carving.
- Serve turkey with pan juices or use the juices to make gravy (recipe follows).
Ingredients
- 1 oven-ready turkey – about 12 lbs
- 2 sticks of butter
- 1 orange, zested and halved
- 2 large onions, peeled, one halved and one thickly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 sprig rosemary, leaves pulled off and finely chopped
- olive oil
- sea salt flakes, to sprinkle
- 2 glasses of white wine (we use red)
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 cup of chicken stock
- chopped rosemary
- Heat the roaster or oven to 450 degrees. Mix the butter with the garlic and season well. Gently push your fingers under the turkey’s skin, starting from the neck end of the bird, easing the skin away from the flesh over both the breast and tops of the drumsticks – you’ll have to slide your whole hand in to reach this far.
Spread the seasoned butter under the skin, push it as far in as you can, then smooth the skin back into place. Put the onion halves, the orange, and the bay leaves in the turkey cavity.
- Mix the garlic and rosemary with enough olive oil to make a paste, rub it over the turkey’s skin, and sprinkle with salt flakes.
- Arrange the sliced onion at the bottom of a large roasting tin to act as a trivet for the bird, then pour in the wine. Set the turkey on top and cover both the bird and tin completely with foil to make a tent.
Blast the turkey at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, then lower the temp to 300 degrees. Then, cook the turkey for 20 minutes per pound, basting once or twice every hour. Take the turkey out and turn the heat back up to 450 degrees. Remove the foil and return for another 30 minutes, or until the skin is golden.
To test if it is cooked, pierce the fattest part of the thigh with a skewer – the juices that run out should be clear, not pink; keep cooking if the juices are pink and check every 10 minutes. If you like your turkey meat almost falling off the bones, test by wiggling the leg – it should give slightly if the meat is ready to come away from the bones.
- Rest the turkey, loosely covered with foil, for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour before serving (this will also free up the oven for the parsnips and stuffing).
- To make the gravy, pour away any excess fat from the roasting tin, but keep the onion slices; a fat separator will help with this. Set the tin over a medium heat, then sprinkle over the flour.
Stir through and cook for 2 minutes, turning the onion over in the mixture to extract the flavor. Slowly stir in the wine, stock, juices, and a little chopped rosemary.
Bring to a boil, scraping bits from the bottom, then simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes. Set aside in a gravy bowl. Serve with turkey.
STUFFING
Melt one stick of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cups each of diced onions and celery, and one tablespoon each of minced sage and thyme; add salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add 3 cups of turkey or chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Beat two eggs with 1/4 cup chopped parsley in a large bowl; add 16 cups cubed stale white bread, then pour in the vegetable-broth mixture and toss.
Transfer to a buttered baking dish and dot with butter. Cover and bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees F; uncover and bake until golden, for 30 more minutes. (Or stuff in your turkey and bake.)
Healthy side dish variety across states
In conclusion, whether you go for healthy options or a family favorite with lots of butter, cooking with love and lots of spices, in my opinion, is the way to go.
Happy Holidays!