Restorative Cuisine
Sonia Nikolic

Gluten Free - Paleo
Serves 8

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and cranberries are popping up everywhere. Growing up we had the traditional cranberry sauce which was delicious but this year I decided to do something a bit different.
This sauce is sweet, tart, and tangy… everything you’ve always wanted from a cranberry sauce! It has a few surprising ingredients such as figs and mustard. It has a zesty bite that will warm you up and get you asking for more! Believe me, you’ll want to put this on just about everything.
Intrigued yet? It’s full of good for you spices. Let’s take a look.

• Ginger gives it that bright bite that will set it apart from your traditional cranberry sauce. Also ginger is so good for you! Check out why you want to eat this root here. 
• Cinnamon. Nothing says the holidays like cinnamon. It’s warm and comforting, just the smell brings back so many memories.
• Orange will make your sauce extra bright and who doesn’t want some vitamin C while you’re at it?
• Figs are a great way to sweeten the sauce. Dried fig seeds have this extra crunchy texture which will taste like pop rocks! For those of you from the 80s, you know what I’m talking about!

CAN CRANBERRY SAUCE BE MADE AHEAD OF TIME? One of my favorite things about this sauce is the you can make it AHEAD OF TIME. That’s right, no more scrambling on Thanksgiving day to get everything done. You can even make this a week ahead so why not start the weekend before Thanksgiving so you have one less thing to worry about?
WHAT IS CRANBERRY SAUCE GOOD WITH? This sauce is good on so many things. Little secret, I actually made duck for Thanksgiving this year. I’m not a huge turkey fan and my oven is tiny so I figured why not do something else. A bird is a bird, right?? Here are some ideas on how to use your sauce.

• If you eat dairy, this would pair well on top of some warm brie.
• This sauce goes well with a variety of meats. Of course turkey would be tasty but try it out on duck, lamb, pork chops, chicken, or meatballs.
• You can spike it by adding a bit of Grand Marnier. It will boost the flavor but avoid if you have kiddos partaking!
• Use it as a sandwich spread for you Thanksgiving leftovers!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 1 2 inch ginger piece, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 medium orange
• 5 dried figs, chopped
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 10 oz cranberries frozen or fresh

Instructions

• With a vegetable peeler, peel off orange skin. Be careful to not peel off the pith too. Chop up the orange peels. Cut the orange in half and juice.
• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium. Cook shallot and ginger, stirring occasionally, until shallot is translucent, about 3 minutes.
• Add cinnamon and stir one minute. Mix in orange juice and chopped peels, figs, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, and 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer.
• Add cranberries and cook until they start to burst. Stir for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens.
• Once cool season with salt and pepper.​ 

Jessica Rath
​I know of three other vegans in the Greater Abiquiu Area. I bet there are many more people who are curious and would like to give it a try, if they had some guidance and inspiration. For example, my baking skills greatly improved after I learned about this fantastic egg substitute: Mix 1 tablespoon ground flax seed with about 3 - 4 tablespoons of water in a small cup (it should be quite liquid) and let sit for 5 minutes or so. It will become quite gelatinous. Use whenever a recipe asks for 1 egg; increase flax/water amount accordingly when more eggs are required.

This rich, moist, chocolaty cake may be the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving Dinner; it is delicious!
 
Vegan Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Dry ingredients:
2 c flour
½ rolled oats
pinch of salt
1 TS baking powder
½ TS baking soda
2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c chopped walnuts
1 c  vegan chocolate chips (Trader Joe’s)

Wet ingredients:
1 TS ground flax seed, mixed with some water
½ c vegetable oil
¾ c brown (organic) sugar
1 c soy milk
1 c juice from cherries
1 tea spoon vanilla
1 glass jar canned cherries (Trader Joe’s)

Mix first 8 dry ingredients in a larger bowl.
In a smaller bowl, beat oil and sugar with a wire whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add flax-seed mix, vanilla, and soy milk. Empty the cherries into a strainer over a small bowl, saving the juice. Add 1 c of juice (or more) to liquid mix.

Prepare baking form: rub a bit of vegan butter onto bottom and sides of a spring form, then dust with flour. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour liquid mix into dry ingredients, mix well, then add the cherries. It should have the consistency of thick mud; add a bit of juice or milk if too dry. Pour into spring form.

Bake about 50 - 60 min., test that it’s done. Let cool a bit, then open the spring on the side of the form so that cake can cool. I always cover everything with a clean white cotton cloth, to absorb any moisture.

Sprinkle organic powdered sugar on top, or – use vegan whipping cream! Or – use vegan Cool Whip, available at Sprouts in Frozen section.

​One of the best things about our traditional American Thanksgiving dinner is the choice of leftovers and the creative uses to which such leftovers can be put.  Thanksgiving evening, shortly after we think, “I can’t eat another thing,” we may find ourselves heading to the kitchen and opening the fridge to see what would make a quick snack.  For me, that is usually a leftover biscuit split in half, dabbed with mayo, and filled with a small piece of cold turkey and topped with a spoonful of cranberry sauce.
 
My favorite leftover, however, is Turkey Carcass Soup.  Making it also clears out the fridge a bit.  Though not as rich as a traditional bone broth because the turkey bones have given up most of their goodness during the roasting process, this soup is satisfying because of the addition of fresh vegetables, frozen corn, and wild rice.  It became even more filling the year I decided to make croutons from leftover stuffing.
 
The morning after Thanksgiving, while the Turkey Carcass Soup was simmering gently on the stove, perfuming the whole house, and working up appetites for lunch, I was rearranging the fridge.  “What can I do with all this leftover stuffing?” I wondered.  I transferred it to a large rectangular baking dish and baked it until crisp and cut it into small squares for topping the soup.  Ever since, these croutons have been part of this soup recipe, which I hope you will try this Thanksgiving.

A New Mexico friend—when she lived on a small farm in Michigan—threw a star-gazing party most every August during the Persied Meteor Showers.  Friends from several states would arrive in campers and trucks loaded with food.  One year, three turkeys were brought—my smoked turkey, a roasted turkey, and one made on site on a Weber grill.  After a long, sumptuous outdoor feast and lots of oohs and aahs as we watched the meteors, several women gathered in the farm-house kitchen and began stripping the turkey carcasses of meat, and all during the night a large stock pot simmered with turkey bones and meat and lots of vegetables.  The first person to waken was expected to enter the kitchen and turn on the huge coffee pot already filled with water and coffee.  As I crawled out of my pup tent, I realized I was the only person there to see the sun rise.  Walking up the steps to the kitchen, I was overwhelmed with the smell of turkey carcass soup.  Sometimes I think I can still smell it.  Yes, I know I can!

Julie Talatinian via Carol Bondy
From “Sunset Less Than 7 Ingredients” via Mary Helen Bondy
 
The first time I remember having this at my mother in law Mary Helen’s and she made it with Spaghetti Squash instead of the Linguine in deference to Brian’s gluten free diet.   Since then I’ve had it with Linguine and Rice noodles but my favorite remains the Spaghetti Squash.  But really the sauce is so delicious you can put it on anything!

8 oz Linguine or Spaghetti (or 1 Spaghetti Squash)
1/3 lb thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4 “ strips (or packaged chopped prosciutto)
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup thinly sliced green onions with tops
3 oz jar pimiento stuffed green olives drained and chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes
           
Cook Pasta al dente, Drain and place in a warmed bowl or Poke holes in spaghetti squash and cook at ….. for one hour
 
Meanwhile, combine prosciutto and oil in a large frying pan.   Cook, stirring over a medium high heat until proscuitto is lightly browned (approximately 3 minutes.)   Add onions and cook, stirring until limp (the onions, not you) (approximately 2 minutes)   Add olives and tomatoes and cook, shaking pan often, until olives are hot (approximately 2 minutes)
 
If using spaghetti squash, bake until soft, remove seeds and with a fork scrape out the “noodles” into a bowl.   Pour prosciutto mixture over noodles and toss well.   Transfer to warm serving bowl and top with grated parmesan cheese.
 
Makes two to four servings.   (Usually I double this recipe)
 
Per serving:   387 calories, 798 mg sodium