November 21, 2009



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Photo by Miki Duisterhof

Luscious!

Recipes by Joanne Weir, November & December 2007

The biggest meal of the year doesn’t have to be a bust for your waistline. Focus on fresh and seasonal for a healthy take on traditional favorites




Thanksgiving is the one day a year when even those who don’t cook a whole lot pull out all the stops. What would the holiday be without your mother’s stuffing recipe (even if it calls for two whole sticks of butter)? Or the creamed onions, candied yams, mashed potatoes with heavy cream? Then there’s Aunt Edna’s pecan pie—made with lard, but who really wants to know? Is it any wonder most of us gain a full five pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s? (Lucky we don’t gain five on this one day alone!) There’s a better way. We asked culinary superstar Joanne Weir, host of PBS’s Joanne Weir’s Cooking Class, to give the classics a subtle slim-down—painlessly. Lower in fat and calories than most holiday fare, these recipes shed none of the flavor this feast demands. You’ll want to serve them all year round.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup With Honey-Pecan Butter
Roast Turkey With Dried Apples and Corn Bread Stuffing
Oven-Roasted Autumn Vegetables
Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes
Wilted Baby Spinach With Raisins and Pine Nuts
Cranberry Upside-down Cake