Turkey
Rolls
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole
Pumpkin Pie
Something with Chocolate :)
Turkey:
Smoked by Dan, our friend who owns a food truck in town. Good thing, because if I was responsible for cooking that 10 pound bird, we might not have had Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving. Maybe just a bunch of sides. Ha! But as it turned out, I pulled everything out of the oven at the same time. Could not have planned that better myself! I'm actually not even sure how that worked out so perfectly....because I didn't give it that much forethought. But I'm thankful it did!!
Rolls:
Hands down the BEST Paleo rolls I've ever had. I've had a few Paleo breads but this is by far the closest to the real thing. The texture!!! Perfect. I might make up a couple of batches of these and freeze them as dough balls to pull out for dinners from time to time. They are so quick and easy to make but to have some pre-made would be AWESOME! I also might try swapping the olive oil for some Kerrygold butter. Then it technically wouldn't be Paleo due to the dairy but this is when I am A-OK with adding some good fats via dairy from those Irish pasture raised cows. DELISH!!
Ingredients:
1 cup tapioca flour (starch)
1/4 – 1/3 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large egg, whisked
1 large egg, whisked
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the tapioca flour (you can substitute arrowroot flour/starch) with the salt and 1/4 cup of the coconut flour in a medium bowl. Mix well.
Pour in oil and warm water and stir. Add the whisked egg and continue mixing until well combined.
If the mixture is too thin add one or two more tablespoons of coconut flour – one tablespoon at a time – until the mixture is a soft but somewhat sticky dough.
Scoop out about two tablespoons of the dough and roll into balls. You will be making about 8-10 rolls. Use extra tapioca flour in the palms of your hands so the dough does not stick.
Place each roll of dough onto a greased baking pan, parchment paper or one covered with a Silpat
Bake for 35 minutes
Green Bean Casserole:
This was so amazing and there was no sacrifice on flavor with this recipe. Although I shed many tears while chopping all the onions, garlic, and scallions, I would happily do it all over again for this delicious side dish. This looks lengthy but it isn't that hard once you get going. You could probably prep this the day before as well, all but the caramelized onions.
Ingredients:
1 lb Fresh Green Beans
1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/2 cups almond milk
8 oz Roughly Chopped Mushrooms
4 oz Bacon (about 5 large strips)
1 cup Thinly Sliced Yellow Onions
1/2 cup Finely Chopped Shallots (about 3 shallots)
3 Cloves Garlic Minced
3 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cracked black pepper
2 tbsp EVOO
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Onion Topping:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Aluminum foil
Drizzle 1 tbsp EVOO on the thinly sliced yellow onions and sprinkle with 1 tsp sea salt.
Massage the EVOO and salt evenly into the onions with your hands.
Spread the onions out on the baking sheet evenly.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350F, stirring/flipping every 10 minutes.
You’re looking for a brown/crispy texture.
[Note: cook for an additional 5+ minutes if they aren’t crispy enough].
Green Beans:
Put a large pot of water and salt on high heat and bring to a boil.
Trim the green beans and cut in half and add to the water when it starts boiling.
Boil for 5 minutes then strain the water and set green beans aside in a separate bowl.
Filling:
Roughly chop the bacon and add to a sauté pan on high heat.
Lightly crisp the bacon then add the chopped shallots.
Once the shallots are slightly clear, add the minced garlic.
After a few minutes, add the mushrooms and continue to stir on medium/high heat.
When the mushrooms have cooked down and have a golden color, remove the entire bacon/scallion/garlic/mushroom mixture and place aside in a separate bowl.
Cream:
In the pot you boiled the green beans in, place over med/low heat and add 1 tbsp EVOO and 1 cup of the almond milk and stir with a metal whisk.
Add half of the almond meal and whisk until it dissolves.
Carefully add the rest of the almond milk and almond meal, whisking the mixture together over a medium simmer.
Add 2 tsp sea salt and the 2 tsp pepper.
Whisk until the gravy thickens slightly to the texture of heavy cream.
Reduce the heat and add the bacon/mushroom mixture then stir.
Add the green beans to the sauté pan and stir.
Pour the entire mixture into a medium-sized casserole dish.
Cover with aluminum foil & the lid (if you have one) and bake at 350F for 15 minutes.
Remove the foil/lid and sprinkle the dried onions evenly on top.
Place back in oven for 5 minutes at 350F uncovered.
Sweet Potato Casserole:
This was my fourth time to make a Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole. This wasn't my favorite version so I will be hunting for the first one we (my hubby and I) ever made because it was quite a bit tastier than this one but this one isn't bad either. Although I doubled the Maple Syrup and added a bit extra on the spices because I remembered from the last time I made this that it was lacking in flavor and sweetness. I prepped the sweet potato mixture the day before and stored it in the casserole dish I was going to bake it in. I mixed up the topping just before it was time to bake it.
Ingredients:
4 large sweet potatoes Pecan Topping:
1/2 cup canned coconut milk 3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 Tbsp. coconut oil 1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 Tbsp. maple syrup (double this) 1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp nutmeg
juice of half an orange
Bake potatoes in oven at 350 degrees for an hour and a half or until done. Scoop out potatoes and place in a large mixing bowl with all other ingredients (except pecan topping ingredients). Adjust seasonings to taste.
In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients until pecans are well coated.
Dump sweet potatoes into an oven safe dish and top with pecans.
Bake in preheated oven until topping is browned--about 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Pumpkin Pie:
Call me crazy but Pumpkin Pie is not one of my must haves. I made it for the hubs and I was quite content with this recipe. Definitely a keeper. This recipe came from Danielle Walker's website:here.
The whipped cream was the cream (the hard stuff on top) from a can of coconut milk (opened and placed in fridge overnight) mixed well with some maple syrup and vanilla to taste.
Something Chocolate:
I made two things. Sun Butter Bars and Almond Bark out of Ghiradeli dark chocolate. The Sun Butter bars sadly went into the trash. Pretty gross if you ask me but I guess I'm just too used to almond butter or peanut butter. I bet those bars would have been amazing with peanut butter! I might be making some of those in the near future. I know PB isn't exactly Paleo either but it is one more exception I am ok with from time to time. Recipe here.
The Almond Bark was delicious and beyond easy to make. Just melt the chocolate, stir in the almonds, pour over wax paper on a cookie sheet, refrigerate til hard, break into pieces and CONSUME. Yum.
And that was our Thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen. All the flavors of Thanksgiving with a healthy twist! Next year I plan on making Paleo Stuffing but I just didn't get my act together fast enough to prep some paleo bread a few days ahead of time. Next year though. And maybe some kind of sub for mac n cheese for the kids. And their big kid parents. :)
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