Sheri’s Rants #2

Christmas 1963

THE HOLIDAYS!!  DECEMBER 2008

I was recently reflecting on my health progression through Holidays past. I remember my first Holidays on my own – I was a vegetarian and relied on whole grains, honey, soy products, cheese, and a smattering of fruits and veggies. I baked a lot in those days, and in fact ran a small health food bakery for a short time. My holiday food menus reflected meat substitution and consisted of elaborate veggie loaves (with TVP) and stuffed tofu. I relied heavily on the baked goods.

As my realities about my personal health changed, so did my menus – and over the years I gravitated back to turkey (BRM – ‘before red meat’) and my turkey stuffing fell victim to my ever-changing experiments on my health. I started out with store-bought whole grain bread, and another year began baking my bread specifically for my turkey stuffing (loaded with herbs and onions), then another year moved into rice-based stuffing.
The last couple of years I prepared a root-vegetable based turkey stuffing that I wasn’t all that crazy about, and this year I finally lit on a quinoa stuffing recipe that is simple and, once roasted in the turkey, reminds me of all I loved in turkeys dressings in the past.
Here’s the recipe:

Santa Sebastian

Quinoa Turkey Stuffing
4 oz quinoa
1 lg onion, chopped
1.5 oz butter (or coconut oil, extra virgin)
12 oz celery, finely chopped
1 large apple, roughly chopped
4 oz chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisens
freshly ground black pepper

Cover quinoa with water in pan, bring to boil and simmer 15 minutes, covered, until soft and drain.
Saute everything else in the butter or oil, mix with the quinoa, and stuff the bird. This is enough for a 17-20 lb bird. (uh, yea, even for just 2 people I roast a bird that big.  It feeds me for a week and I get protective of it.)

Another holiday food that has gone through several incarnations for me is the cranberry relish, which I adore. The last few years I’ve been using a simple raw recipe, but this year got real creative and I am loving this, the flavors are intricate and sublime:

Cherry Cranberry Relish
1/2 c agave syrup
3/4 c water
1/2 c port wine
1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg
heat the above to boil and add:
1/2 cup tart dried cherries
and boil for one minute.
Add:
12 oz cranberries, fresh
and simmer until they pop. Remove from the heat , and add:
1 tsp freshly grated orange zest

Cool, and then chill. Better after it sits a day, due to the cherry flavor.

My favorite pie is a raw pumpkin tart made with a nut crust that contains absolutely NO pumpkin and wins over the most strict of pumpkin pie afficianados. Clients of GT can find this recipe in the recipe section of Genesis, I highly recommend it!

Hope your holidays are a culinary adventure!

Sheri Lynn