Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
you’re safe, you’re not on my menu today
I am thankful for so many things in my life 🙂 I like to take a moment or two every day to count my blessings, I feel it sets the tone for the day and sometimes even lifts a gloomy mood. Today I am thankful for my friends, my family back home in Switzerland, my adopted family in NY (Nelson’s fam), my health, being in a position to inspire others to lead a healthier life, my ability to create great food and share it with others, the roof over my head, having a job, and living in a free country (huge).
What are you thankful for?
Since it was just going to be me this year, I made a roast chicken, not a turkey for ‘Thanks Giving’. With my work schedule, (yesss! Boot Camp Friday morning at 5:30 am, while the rest of you still wait in line for those elusive deals at the department store) going somewhere other than my own kitchen, just wasn’t going to happen this year. I am glad to say that Nelson’s Dad is doing somewhat better though and there’s hope he might get released from the hospital back to the nursing home soon.
So having all sunny day to myself, I slept in (yay, don’t get to do that very often), had a leisurely breakfast and a not so traditional Thanks Giving feast!
On the menu:
- Roast chicken with wild rice stuffing (I had gotten an organic, pastured chicken at the Fairgrounds Farmers Market) enough for 2 people, or one plus leftovers 😉
- Roasted vegetables (carrots, asparagus, parsnips and onions, lazily used as a roasting rack for the chicken= adds flavor to the chicken, and the chicken in turn adds flavor to the veggies, added plus: no extra pan to clean)
(I ended up skipping these two, got too tired from the back splash tiling adventure, and realized, I’d have food for a week)
- Fresh homemade cranberry sauce
- Streuseled sweet potato casserole
- And for desert: Egg Nog Ice Cream with Caramellini
The advantages of having a Thanksgiving by yourself? I ate the skin off the chicken while carving it, it was soooo good, like the best, crispiest skin ever. Ha! try explaining that to dinner guests “Well, it’s this new thing at the grocery store… you know, ‘skinless chicken’ , muuuch healthier.”
It’s kinda hard to take a pretty picture of stuffing, it’s just so … brown
Wild Rice Stuffing:
makes 3 cups, enough to stuff 1 chicken, plus some extra you can cook on the side. If using for a turkey, triple or quadruple the recipe.
- 1/4 cup wild rice, uncooked (see note)
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted or cooked chestnuts
- 1/4 cup chopped dried plums
- 2 slices of toast bread,(I used Ezekiel brand) toasted, torn into rough pieces
- 1 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
- 2 tsp fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp salt
Note: alternately use either a store bought wild rice mix, the wild rice will be pre-cooked and the process will take less time or use 1 cup of leftover cooked wild rice
Directions
- In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water and the wild rice to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered until cooked through about 45 minutes
- Don’t drain (unless the wild rice is still swimming in water, then drain off excess) add the chopped chestnuts and chopped plums, spices and salt, cover and let stand for about 20 minutes to soften.
- Stir in bread crumbs, mix with a fork
- Stuff the chicken cavity, roast the chicken, then remove the stuffing and serve alongside the bird (or add chicken stock until desired moistness is reached and reheat in the oven.
I was really debating adding cranberries to the stuffing, for a all in one kinda deal, maybe next time…
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