I’m thrilled to bring you a guest post from one of my favorite bloggers, Trudy from Veggie num num. Because Trudy is Australian, she wasn’t that familiar with American Thanksgiving dishes. So I pointed her to the traditional green bean casserole, usually loaded with saturated fat and sodium, and topped with deep-fried onions. I’m sure making a healthy version was a major challenge, but she really came through. Her casserole is creamy and mushroom-y, and has a great crispy topping – yet it’s totally heart-healthy. Brilliant!

What a wonderful idea to provide healthy and tasty recipes for everyone to enjoy this holiday season! I love Cathy’s flair and enthusiasm for bringing honest healthy food to the table and sharing wonderfully delicious recipes on What Would Cathy Eat.

I’m so happy to be guest posting here today and sharing my version of the traditional green bean casserole. I only hope that as an Aussie I managed to rec-create a dish you’ll love to share with your family this Thanksgiving.

Farm-fresh greens bean are layered with sautéed mushrooms and a creamy walnut sauce and topped with crispy baked red onions tossed in quinoa flakes and almonds. I hope you’ll enjoy this tasty and healthy casserole. And thanks so much Cathy for the opportunity to share a little recipe with you all. Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Green Bean & Mushroom Casserole

For the casserole filling:

1 pound (550g) fresh green beans
3½ ounces (100g) raw walnuts, soaked (preferably overnight or for at least 30 minutes)
1 tablespoon tahini paste
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used rice milk; use dairy milk if you prefer)
½ pound (240g) cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon organic canola oil
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon tamari or soy sauce (use tamari for gluten-free version)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon plain unbleached flour (use sweet rice flour or a gluten-free flour mix for a gluten-free version)
2 bay leaves

For the topping:

1 medium red onion, sliced into thin rounds
½ cup quinoa flakes
¼ cup flaked (sliced) almonds
2 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Heat the oven to 350 degrees (176°C).

Top and tail the green beans and steam for about three minutes, until bright green. Remove from heat and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Drain and set aside.

Prepare the topping: Separate the sliced onion into rings and toss with the quinoa flakes, almonds, olive oil and marjoram.

Drain the walnuts and blend in a food processor with the tahini and half the milk, until smooth and creamy.

Heat the canola and olive oils over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the mushrooms, tamari or soy and cayenne pepper. Continue to toss, cooking the mushrooms evenly until soft and golden. Add the flour and cook, stirring, over a low heat for one more minute.

Add the walnut mixture, the remainder of the milk, and bay leaves. Bring to a very gentle simmer and allow to reduce and thicken over low heat for a few minutes, stirring. Once the sauce has thickened, season with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt to taste, and remove the bay leaves.

Arrange the steamed green beans in a good-sized casserole dish, top with the mushroom sauce and then the onion topping.

Bake for around 20 minutes, until it’s bubbling hot and the top is nicely golden.

Serves 6-8 as a side

Other healthy green bean recipes you might like:

• Steamed Green Beans and Carrots with Charmoula Sauce from Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Green Beans with Pickled Shallots from With Style and Grace
• Green Beans with Lemon and Almonds from Wandering Spice

Join the
Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge!

Cabbage and beets are truly under-appreciated vegetables. Which is a shame, because they are both tailor-made for Thanksgiving! The dish I’m sharing today is not only easy to prepare, it can be made in advance and brings both color and nutrition to the holiday table.

I usually make red cabbage with apples, but here I’ve married cabbage with beets and leeks. Some full-bodied red wine and a hint of maple syrup add just enough sweetness to balance out the earthiness of the vegetables.

I like this cooked until the vegetables are very soft, but if you cook it a long time, the color of the cabbage does fade a bit (hence the raw ingredient photo here.) You can cook it less if you want the cabbage to keep more of its texture and color. But in any case, no one will be complaining about the aesthetics when they’re wolfing this stuff down on Thanksgiving. I made a huge amount of it for my pre-Thanksgiving dinner the other day, and my friends kept on going back for more.

Note that the beets in the photo are pink and white stripped chioggia beets because I grew those – but if you use red ones your dish will have a deeper color.

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Braised Red Cabbage, Beets and Leeks

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 large leeks, thinly sliced
1 medium head red cabbage, thinly sliced
3 medium red beets, shredded on the large holes of a box grater
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1½ cups water
2 tablespoons maple syrup, or more to taste
1½ cups full-bodied red wine (I used a Primitivo)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the leeks and cook, for about 3 minutes, until leeks are softened. Stir in the cabbage and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently for 25-40 minutes or until the cabbage as tender as you like it. Taste it and see if you think it needs a little extra oomph – if it does, toss in a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar during the last minute of cooking time.

Serves 8

A few other great red cabbage recipes you should check out:

• Braised Red Cabbage from In Erika’s Kitchen
• Spinach, Orange and Red Cabbage Salad from Veg Kitchen
• Beet, Red Cabbage and Carrot Salad from Cook and Be Merry
• Cabbage and Apples from A Couple Cooks

Join the
Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge!

When I saw a recipe for a colorful rice pilaf with butternut squash, cranberries and pecans on A Communal Table, I knew it was destined for my Thanksgiving menu. When I made a batch for my pre-Thanksgiving run-through, I discovered that it’s even better than I had hoped, garnering a lot of “wows” from my trusty tasters.

I made a few tweaks, most importantly using all wild rice rather than a wild rice mix, which has just a bit of wild rice, and generally not even the real thing at that. For truly wild rice, look for the stuff harvested by hand from lakes in Minnesota and Canada. It’s a big cut above the cultivated variety (which may also be produced in Minnesota, so the state isn’t the only criteria here.)

The dressing used here is a revelation, and I give all the credit to A Communal Table. With lemon and orange juices, fresh ginger and spices, it provides a shock of flavor. I think I’ll be finding many other uses for it.

And in case you haven’t noticed, this pilaf is 100% guilt-free. Wild rice (which is actually a grass) is vegan, gluten free, high in protein and fiber, and low in fat. So it’s an ideal recipe for my Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge.

I prefer this served as a warm pilaf, although it also makes a delicious salad if you want to prepare it in advance (be sure to bring it to at least room temperature before serving).

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Wild Rice Pilaf with Butternut Squash, Cranberries and Pecans

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes
2 cups wild rice, rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock (or half water, half stock)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dried cranberries
¼ cup warm water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional but good!)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the butternut squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the squash on two baking sheets. Roast until tender and starting to brown, about 20 minutes (check earlier if your pieces are very small).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet. Sauté the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes.

Place the dried cranberries in a bowl with the warm water and vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining olive oil, lemon zest, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, orange juice, lemon juice and fresh ginger.

Place the wild rice and stock in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, or until some of the grains start to split. The rice should still be quite chewy. Drain thoroughly and place in a large bowl.

Add the onions and garlic, cranberries, parsley, pecans and dressing to the wild rice and stir. Gently mix in the roasted squash. Serve warm if possible, or at room temperature.

Serves 8

I usually make my Brussels sprouts with a maple-mustard sauce, but I was inspired by this recipe from Leafy Greens and Me. The sherry-mustard vinaigrette, which I’ve adapted, makes for a sophisticated take on Brussels sprouts. Slightly sweet, but with the distinctive tang of mustard and the depth of sherry vinegar. Delicious!

There are so many reasons why I think Brussels sprouts are the perfect Thanksgiving vegetable. Of course, they’re incredibly good for you. Not only are they very high in vitamin C and folic acid, they contain glucosinolates, powerful detoxifying compounds that may have cancer prevention benefits.

But from a Thanksgiving cook’s perspective, Brussels sprouts are great because they can be made ahead of time and are delicious served at room temperature – especially when coated with a vinaigrette. Having side dishes done ahead of time is the secret to a stress-free Thanksgiving.

Now, I know there are sprout haters out there – but I hope you’ll give them another shot with this recipe. Roasting brings out the sprouts’ sweetness, and this sauce is irresistible.

Cathy’s Confession: The photo above is not of these particular Brussels sprouts. It’s an outtake from last year’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple-Mustard Glaze. I tried photographing today’s recipe but, well…it was a bust. They looked exactly like the ones in this image, I swear!

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sherry-Mustard Vinaigrette

2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons finely minced shallot
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup aged sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon coarse-ground Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons agave nectar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small skillet or saucepan. Add shallot and garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

Stir in vinegar, thyme, mustard and agave. Simmer on medium heat until reduced by about half (about 4 minutes).

Remove from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with pepper. Pour the dressing into a serving bowl.

Toss the brussels sprouts with the  remaining tablespoon of olive oil and place on a large baking sheet. Roast the brussels sprouts until very dark and just tender, about 40 minutes.

Toss with the vinaigrette and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. But my heart – and yours – deserves better than the usual artery-clogging fare. I’m out to prove that you can enjoy an amazing feast this Thanksgiving, without all of the saturated fat and salt. This is my Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge, and you’re invited to participate – and maybe even win a great holiday cookbook!

Food Bloggers: Simply make a healthy Thanksgiving dish using my 10 Tips for a Heart-Healthy Thanksgiving as your guide (not hard and fast rules), then post it on your blog. Link to this page and download the Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge badge for your post or sidebar. Be sure to leave a comment below with a link to your post, and I’ll include you on a roundup of participants on November 22. I’ll also throw your name into the hat for the giveaway of Myra Kornfeld’s The Healthy Hedonist Holidays or Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas (your choice – winner will be selected randomly, on November 25.)

Non-bloggers: Post a comment below about how you plan to lighten up your Thanksgiving menu. I’d love to hear your ideas … whether you’re just using soy milk in your mashed potatoes or have a devious plan to fool your family into eating vegan stuffing. One commenter will be randomly chosen for a second book.

10 Tips For A Heart-Healthy Thanksgiving

1. Say no to butter, heavy cream and full-fat cheese
Instead of butter – or heaven forbid, shortening – make heart-healthy choices like extra virgin olive oil, high-oleic safflower oil, organic canola oil or macadamia nut oil. This goes for the outside of the turkey, sautéing vegetables, enriching stuffing, and baking pies (see Tip #9). To replace heavy cream in soups or sauces, try evaporated skim milk or MimicCreme.  Fat-free yogurt and sour cream can be used in mashed potatoes, creamy dips, soups, sauces and more. If a recipe calls for whole milk, use skim, soy or almond milk.  There are many reduced-fat cheeses available, and fat-free ricotta and feta are surprisingly good (albeit processed, hypocritically violating Tip#10.)

2. Ditch the fatty  meats
Sausage stuffing? Bacon-wrapped turkey? No, you really don’t the extra saturated fat on this already-decadent day. For your stuffing, consider crumbled Field Roast vegetarian sausages (although they are super high in sodium, so use sparingly). The smoked apple variety is particularly well suited for Thanksgiving. Wild mushrooms (fresh or dried) can also lend a wonderfully meaty flavor. Smoked paprika can add a bacon-y taste, too. And if you’re cooking a turkey, be sure to remove any extra globs of fat before you roast (leave the skin on of course, but don’t eat it.)

3. Use whole grains
Less white flour = fewer empty calories and carbs. White whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour are superior substitutes. Use them for your baking, and try whole grain breads for your stuffing. Find ways to work in whole grains like quinoa and barley into the meal – there’s no rule that stuffing has to be made with bread, and gluten-free folks will appreciate an alternative, too.

4. Look beyond the turkey
If there are any vegetarians at your table, they deserve more than a plain hunk of tofu. With vegetarian entrees that serve as centerpieces in their own right, you’ll have hardcore meat eaters straying from the turkey platter. Festive stuffed pumpkin or squash, smoky maple seitan sausages, wild mushroom strudel … the possibilities are endless.

5. Cut down on the salt
Start with one third the amount that would be used in a traditional recipe (except for baking recipes) and go from there. You’ll be surprised that you don’t miss the excessive amount. Use lemon juice to brighten the flavors of vegetables, which will reduce the need for salt.  If you are using commercial broths, be sure to look for the lowest sodium brands you can find.

6. Watch the sugar
Sure you’re going to eat pie this Thanksgiving, and I’m all for that (as long you follow the guidelines below – see Tip #9). But to make up for it, reduce or eliminate the sugar in other places, such as in your sweet potatoes and cranberries. Try chopping and roasting sweet potatoes with savory herbs and spices instead of making a traditional sugary sweet casserole, and serve a less-sweet (but no less delicious) cranberry sauce. Bring sweetness to the table with naturally sweet vegetables like beets and with fresh fruit in salads. And remember, sugars also come from carbs, so do yourself a favor and don’t serve bread with your meal. It’s really the last thing you need, especially with bread stuffing.

7. Go overboard on vegetables
Mashed potatoes don’t count, people!  Instead of one vegetable side dish, why not serve four or five?  Green salads are often missing on the Thanksgiving table, and it’s a shame – bitter greens like watercress, arugula and radicchio are holiday naturals, especially when combined with seasonal fruits and nuts. Be sure to make some superstar vegetables like kale, brussels sprouts and broccoli so you can load up on antioxidants. Remember, the more vegetables on your plate, the less carbs and sugar you’ll eat during the meal. And speaking of mashed potatoes, try replacing half the potatoes with more nutritious vegetables like cauliflower, carrots or even beets.

8. De-fat your gravy
If you’re a meat eater, turkey gravy is an essential. But it doesn’t have to be made with loads of turkey fat. Here’s the Mayo Clinic’s method for low fat turkey gravy. Of course, you can also make a rich, flavorful vegetarian gravy that will knock the meat eaters’ socks off.

9. Lighten up dessert
Pie is a holiday practically a requirement. But here are some guidelines. Fruit pies tend to be better choices, but it is also possible to make a heart-healthy pumpkin pie.  Whatever pie you make, be sure the crust is heart-healthy and not full of butter or shortening.  Use whole wheat pastry flour for at least half of the amount called for. Skip the step of dotting fruit pie fillings with butter, it is simply not necessary. Instead of a top and bottom crust, try a top-only crust – and if you cut it into rough pieces and patch it together, you’ve got a pandowdy.  If you really want to lighten up your Thanksgiving dinner, baked apples are a delicious but often-ignored light dessert alternative.

10. Avoid processed foods
Processed foods tend to be high in salt, calories and unhealthy fats. Use Eating Rules’ October: Unprocessed guidelines: “If you pick up something with a label (and if it doesn’t have a label, it’s probably unprocessed), and find an ingredient you’d never use in your kitchen and couldn’t possibly make yourself from the whole form, it’s processed.”

Get the word out!

• Use Twitter (hastag #healthythanks) and Facebook to let people know about the Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge and my 10 Tips for a Healthy Thanksgiving. Here’s the short link:  http://wp.me/p12us2-1ig

• Send the 10 Tips for a Heart-Healthy Thanksgiving to friends and family

• Put the Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge badge on your blog, Facebook page, email signature or anywhere else

Look forward to great recipes for a healthy holiday.

Of course, I will also be bringing you a number of new holiday recipes in the coming weeks, along with favorites from some of my healthy blogging buddies. With those recipes and the ones from other Challenge participants, I hope we’ll all have healthiest – and most delicious – Thanksgiving ever.

This is the story of a cake gone horribly wrong…and yet wonderfully right.

I was going to a dinner party and wanted to  impress everyone with my vegan chocolate layer cake.  However, I was impatient and didn’t wait long enough for the cake to cool. So when I went to place the top layer on the bottom one, all hell broke loose. The middle part had stuck to the pan, causing the center of the cake be a bit sunken. Worst of all, the layer broke apart as I tried to transfer it. Some of it fell off in big chunks…I literally had to piece it together on top of the bottom layer. It was one hot mess of a cake.

Now, normally I would get downright panicked over this turn of events. Luckily, my friend Janet was with me. She had a great sense of humor and had me laughing instead of crying.  I smeared frosting over the whole thing, and even though there were big holes and it was ugly as sin, I decided to take it to the dinner party anyway. People may have laughed when I brought the pitiful thing to the table. But the crowd’s snickers soon turned to cries of joy as they tasted it.

This isn’t just one of the best vegan cakes I’ve ever  made, it’s one of my favorite cakes of any kind. The cake itself is tender and richly dark, with a subtle coffee undertone. The recipe is a slight variation on “Wacky Cake“, which dates back to the 1940s. The frosting takes the humble cake to a whole new level of sophistication – it’s pure chocolate heaven. I got the idea from a ganache recipe on The Tasty Nest. Combining chocolate, maple syrup and non-dairy milk is a brilliant idea. This frosting makes me wonder why anyone makes the buttercream kind at all. A lovely variation is to use raspberry jam between the two layers of the cake, and use all of the frosting on the top and sides.

Words of wisdom: cool your cake completely and  use parchment paper on the bottom of your pan so it doesn’t stick. Or, make this as a single-layer cake in a 9×13″ pan and avoid the layer stress altogether. Either way,  you will be very happy.

Though it’s vegan, this cake is still a splurge, with white flour and lots of sugar. Consider it a special occasion dessert!

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Vegan Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting

For the cake:

3 cups unbleached white flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (the better quality, the better your cake will be)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup organic canola oil
1 cup cold brewed coffee
1 cup cold water (or more coffee)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

For the ganache:

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
6 ounces 72% dark chocolate (Sharffen Berger bittersweet is great here)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

For optional raspberry filling:

1/4 cup raspberry preserves

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking oil spray, then place a circle of parchment paper in each pan and spray again.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. In another bowl, mix the oil, water, coffee and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a spoon just until combined. Add the vinegar and stir just until it’s evenly distributed in the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until it springs back when lightly touched in the middle. Set aside to cool.

Place frosting ingredients in a small pot, heat gently and stir until the chocolate is totally melted.  Cool until it’s the right texture for spreading. If it seems too runny, put it in the freezer for a few minutes.

When the cakes have cooled, put a serving plate on the pan and and carefully invert. Remove the parchment paper. Spread a small amount of frosting (or the raspberry jam) over the top. Place a flat plate on the pan containing the second layer, invert and remove the parchment. Repeat the process with another plate so the rounded side is up.  Transfer it onto the bottom layer. Spread the frosting over the top and sides of the cake.

Serve immediately or leave lightly covered at room temperature and serve later or the next day.

Serves 8

Hope you’ll let your friends know about this great cake! Show me some button love, below.