Mini Turkey Day

The other night I had the itch to prepare a mini Thanksgiving dinner. We always travel over Thanksgiving, so I never get to cook. I decided to cook up some frozen chicken tenderloins instead of turkey because it was what I had on-hand. I found a healthy stuffing recipe in my cookbook, 200 under 200: 200 recipes under 200 calories. I already had a bag of fresh cranberries and then prepared a gravy to bring it all together. See recipes below.

APPLE ONION STUFFING
INGREDIENTS
· 6 slices of light bread (preferably 40 to 45 calories per slice)
· 4 cups Fuji apples (I used Jonagolds), chopped
· 2 cups sweet onion, chopped
· 1 cup celery, chopped
· 1/3 cup fat free chicken broth at room temperature, more if needed
· 1/4 cup golden raisins
· 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
· 1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
· 1 tbsp. light whipped butter
· 1 tbsp. shallots, minced
· 1 tsp. garlic, minced
· 1/4 tsp. salt
· salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
· preheat oven to 350 degrees.
· lightly toast bread slices and cut into cubes. Set aside.
· melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add celery, onion, shallots, garlic, and salt. Saute veggies for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.
· remove pot from heat and add apples, raisins, and parsley. Mix well. Add broth and egg substitute, and stir thoroughly.
· spray baking dish with nonstick spray. Transfer veggie mixture to baking dish. Add bread cubes and fold in gently. The bread cubes should be moist, but not saturated. Add a few extra tablespoons of chicken broth to coat, if needed.
· let stuffing mixture sit at room temperature for several minutes, allowing bread cubes to absorb the moisture.
· cover with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and, using a fork, gently fluff and rearrange stuffing. Return to oven, uncovered. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until top is golden brown.
· while stuffing is still warm, mix gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

makes 8 servings

I thought it would be quick and easy, but it did take a couple of hours including cleanup. Once the stuffing came out of the oven, I have to give it a quick sample. I loved the crunchy top layer and the sweetness of the apple and raisins. The onion and celery gave the stuffing that classic Thanksgiving "stuffing taste".

To go with my stuffing, I also made grilled chicken tenderloin to go on top of the stuffing with gravy. What's turkey day without gravy?

GRAVY
INGREDIENTS
· 1/4 cup all purpose flour
· 2 tsp. butter (or dripping from turkey)- which I didn't have because I used chicken tenders instead.
· salt and pepper to taste
· 3 tbsp. white wine
· 2 cups of chicken broth
· 1/4 cup skim milk
· bay leaf

DIRECTIONS
· melt butter just below medium heat in a pan
· sprinkle flour and whisk in with butter making a rue
· cook flour until golden brown
· add chicken broth and bay leaf; whisk with flour to break down and dissolve
· let simmer for a few minutes
· add white wine, simmer
· once gravy has thickened a bit, add skim milk
· add salt and pepper to taste
· keep cooking for desired thickness

This was my first attempt to make gravy. I make sauces pretty often, so I was pretty comfortable. I found a few low-fat recipes on the internet and then decided what ingredients to use based on what I had around the house.

FRESH CRANBERRY SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
· one bag fresh cranberries
· one cup water
· one cup of granulated sugar
· one tsp. orange zest

DIRECTIONS
· rinse cranberries thoroughly
· bring water and sugar to a boil over the stove top
· add in cranberries once the sugar is dissolved
· let simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low heat
· cool down
· mix in orange zest
· place in the fridge to cool down before serving

This tangy and sweet cranberry sauce is better than anything out of the can. The orange zest added a nice complexity. It's bright color is absolutely gorgeous. Served alongside my warm apple onion stuffing, this cranberry sauce held its own.

When a dish has many components, I find myself getting really stressed out about getting them all completed at the same time. For some reason, I kept it all together this night and everything was completed at the exact same time. I was pretty proud of myself. My mini Turkey Day was a success!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family and friends. Take time to think about what you are most thankful for this holiday season. I know what I'm thankful and I am going to make sure they all know it!

Enjoy!