Welcome to Thanksgiving in Chrissy’s Kitchen!! From now until the big day, I’ll be posting my favorite clean, creative recipes for comforting, yummy Thanksgiving dishes that will wow your guests, friends and families. I PROMISE that NO ONE will know they’re good for them! (Imagine their surprise when there’s no food coma after your meal!!...that’s something I always really dreaded after the big meal...) I’ll move through stuffing, veggies, potatoes and desserts before we get to this wonderful holiday. I don’t get to spend the day with my family this year because I’ll be cooking in the kitchen at work but that’s ok!! It’s a wonderful way to share love & gratitude with lots of people and my favorite way to express that is with food!! So here we go!
I’m starting with my favorite stuffing: it’s grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and, as always, Savory & Sweet...my favorite kind of recipe. As always, post your comments, photos and feedback (especially if you do any practice runs!) Enjoy!
Chef’s Notes: I buy the yummiest chicken bacon at Shoprite (Al Fresco brand) and I use Trader Joe’s chicken sausage but Shoprite also sells Al Fresco brand chicken sausage. For this recipe, remove the sausage from the casing and crumble it up. Also, there’s no bread in this stuffing but few free to add some. I’d use Ezekiel bread or Dave’s Killer Bread (Good Seed). Just be sure to toast it and dry it out completely...basically turn it into croutons so that it will hold up to the moisture. You may have to add a little more chicken broth if you add bread. Additionally, you can add diced pumpkin or diced butternut squash to this recipe or completely replace the sweet potatoes with either or both. Just be sure to adjust the measurements so that you wind up with roughly the same volumes or you may have to double the recipe. And finally, the honey/maple syrup are optional but the calories and sugar are somewhat negligible when you divide it out among the whole recipe and it REALLY helps to caramelize the apples and potatoes and provide an amazing sweet counterbalance to the savory bacon and sausage. I’d go for it!! (Or at least use the stevia option!)
Ingredients-
• 4 slices chicken bacon
• ½ cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 lb sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium apples, chopped (red, green or both!)
• 3 heads celery, chopped
• 1 lb ground chicken sausage, removed from casing and crumbled)
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp dried sage
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup (optional, or use 1 tbsp granulated stevia with 1 tbsp water)
Directions-
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a large pan, fry bacon until crispy. Remove and set aside, leaving bacon fat in the pan. To the pan, add chopped almonds, mushrooms and crumbled sausage. Stir while cooking until the mixture is heated through and the mushrooms starts to soften and brown.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, sage, salt and pepper.
3. In a seperate bowl, toss the apples, potatoes & celery with the honey or maple syrup (or with the stevia and water).
3. In a large casserole dish, combine the sausage/mushroom mixture with the sweet potatoes, apples, and celery. Then crumble the cooked bacon over the mixture. Then pour the seasoned chicken broth over the top. Stir well to combine the mixture.
4. Bake stuffing for 40 to 50 minutes at 400F and until the vegetables are tender.
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