Roasted Beet Dip

This is the perfect starter if you serve appetizers before your Thanksgiving meal, but it’s really great anytime of year as an alternative to hummus for dipping and snacking. This has been a MAJOR crowd pleaser at the past couple of dinner parties I’ve had, and for that reason, I’m posting the recipe here for you all to enjoy! Roasting the beets before blending them adds a rich, sweet, earthy flavor that is so deliciously satisfying. Serve this up with some thick-cut roasted delicata squash or sweet potato fries. Or consider just serving it next to some store bought hummus, crackers, celery, and carrots for a sophisticated twist on a crudite platter. Your guests will be impressed!

Health Benefits of Beets:

• Beets are rich in betalains (a phytonutrient responsible for the pigmentation in beets), which have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

• Beets help keep your liver healthy so it can continue to get rid of toxins in your body

• They are naturally sweet, especially after roasting, and eating sweet vegetables and fruits can reduce your sugar cravings

• They have high levels of phyto-nitrates, which helps your body lower and maintain healthy blood pressure levels. These phyto-nitrates also boost athletic performance and brain function.

• They are full of essential nutrients and minerals, like magnesium, potassium, copper, iron, phosphorus, Vitamins A, B, and C
  

Ingredients

• 4-5 medium sized beets, washed and dried

• 1 clove of garlic

• Juice from half of a lemon

• ¼ cup of good quality olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375

• Cut beets into ¼ inch wedges and mix with a drizzle of olive oil, some salt and pepper

• Roast at 375 for 45 min to an hour, until soft when poked with fork

• Put roasted beets with remainder of ingredients in a blender and pulse until a paste forms

• If mixture needs more moisture, add some olive oil, water, or lemon juice until it reaches the consistency you like

Ingredients needed

Beets ready to be roasted

Served here with roasted delicata squash

Beet dip served next to hummus and leftover chimichurri sauce

Grain Free Stuffing

For anyone who is eating gluten-free, paleo, or wants a healthier substitute for stuffing, this recipe is for you! It’s packed with the essential Thanksgiving flavors, like sage, rosemary, thyme, and garlic. It’s filling and will help make you feel “stuffed” with the starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and parsnips. Finally, the fattiness from the sausage rounds out all the flavors to make this hearty stuffing the perfect pairing for your turkey dinner. Not to mention, it’s simple to make and you can prep it in advance to clear up some oven space!

Ingredients

• 1 lb of organic pork sausage without the casing, crumbled

• 3 large sweet potatoes

• 8-10 parsnips

• 2 yellow onions, peeled and diced

• 2 apples (honeycrisp or another tart variety), peeled and cut into cubes

• 5 stalks of celery, washed and cut into ½ inch pieces

• 6 cloves of garlic, minced

• 7-8 tbsp of olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil

• 1 tbsp dried sage (or 2 tbsp fresh)

• 2 tsp salt

• 1sp dried rosemary

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

• Heat oven to 375

• Wash and peel turnips; cut into ½ inch wide pieces

• Wash and dry sweet potatoes; cut into ½ inch wide pieces

• Coat the sweet potatoes and turnips in about half the oil and half the spices; then roast on two separate baking dishes so vegetables are in an even layer; roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until vegetables are soft when poked with a fork and a little browned

• When root vegetables are cooking, heat oil in a pan over medium heat

• Add sausage and stir; once browned, remove from pan into a bowl

• Add remainder of the oil and add onions and celery; stir and cook until softened

• Add remainder of the spices and apple and cook for 3-4 minutes

• Mix together ALL ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately (or make ahead and warm in the oven before serving)

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion

Another super simple and flavorful side to add to your Thanksgiving meal plan! Maybe you are sensing a pattern here; I love great tasting food, but I don’t feel the need to slave over a dish for hours and hours. My thoughts are, as long as you have high quality, local, and seasonal ingredients (as often as possible), you should only use a handful of other ingredients so as to highlight and enhance the flavors, rather than cover them up! That, and, there’s many other things I need to do throughout the day and can’t spend it all in the kitchen. Pretty sure that’ll resonate with most of you :)

For this side dish, any type of squash will work, but my favorite are butternut and delicata. The smooth, buttery flavor of the squash compliments the sweetness of the roasted onion. Not only does it taste great, but it looks great too!

Easy substitutions:

• You can swap the red onion for a yellow onion

• You can simply roast the squash with coconut oil and a sprinkling of cinnamon for a sweeter flavor profile

• You can try roasting the squash with apple, cinnamon, and sage as well!

Ingredients

• 1 medium/large butternut squash

• 1 large red onion

• 2 tbsp avocado oil

• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary (or 1 tbsp dried)

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• Cut off ends of butternut squash and carefully slice the skin away

• Halve the squash, scoop the seeds, then cut into ¼ inch pieces

• Peel and halve the red onion; cut into ¼ inch wedges

• Drizzle with avocado oil

• Add salt, pepper, and rosemary

• Bake for 45 mins or until browned and soft when poked with a fork

Preparing the squash

Roasted and ready to be served

Accompanied here by grilled steak, chimichurri sauce, broccoli, rustic bread, and salad

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon, Lemon, and Capers

This Thanksgiving side is so quick to make, and so flavorful! It uses all the fall flavors, for a tangy and savory dish. The fat from the bacon adds a smoky and salty flavor that can’t be beat. It’s balanced by the acidity of lemon and capers for a full-bodied, yet guilt-free taste. There are many substitutions you can make to adjust the flavor and make it your own. For example, you can skip on the lemons and capers, and then garnish with fresh pomegranate seeds. You can also sub pancetta for bacon, or maybe even toss the end product in a light white wine vinaigrette! One thing to keep in mind is that this recipe serves about 4 people, so you might want to double it for a larger crowd!

Ingredients

• 15-20 medium sized brussel sprouts

• 4 strips of good quality bacon

• One lemon, halved

• 2 tbsp avocado oil

• 2 tbsp of capers, drained

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• Chop ends off brussels and halve them

• Cut strips of bacon into ¼ inch slices

• Slice half of the lemon into wedges

• Assemble all ingredients in baking dish

• Drizzle with avocado oil

• Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over mixture

• Add salt and pepper

• Roast for 40 minutes

• Add capers

• Roast another 5 minutes or until sprouts and bacon look browned and crispy

Ready to go in the oven

Crispy, roasted, and ready to eat!

AIP Pumpkin Bars

I am completely pumpkin obsessed! However, for the past month, I’ve been on a strict autoimmune paleo (AIP) healing protocol, which is basically an intense elimination diet. The reason for it is to heal my Leaky Gut and try to prevent getting a full-blown autoimmune disease, especially since I already have hypothyroidism. It was super challenging for me to get my pumpkin fix because of the restrictions I was facing in my diet, but thankfully I found inspiration from AIP bloggers to create these DELICIOUS pumpkinny treats. I even served them at a girls night last week and they were a huge success! They are guilt free and easy to make. Enjoy :)

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas

• ½ cup pure pumpkin puree

• ⅓  cup coconut oil (melted)

• 3 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 cup tigernut flour (https://thrivemarket.com/p/organic-gemini-organic-tigernut-flour)

• ¼ cup coconut flour

• 1 tbsp cinnamon

• ½ tbsp pumpkin pie spice (for non-AIP - otherwise ½ more tbsp cinnamon)

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• ½ tsp baking soda

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Grease an 8x8 baking dish with coconut oil

• Mash bananas in a bowl with a fork

• Add pumpkin puree and mix

• Add coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and mix

• In a separate bowl, add coconut flour, tigernut flour, baking soda, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and mix well

• Combine all ingredients and mix well

• Spread mixture in baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes

• Let cool before serving