ZESTY CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH FIGS

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.​