Low Carb Thanksgiving Recipes

[Naja]

It's about time for us to start thinking of all the wonderful things we get to eat around the holidays on this WOE. Share your favorite Thanksgiving recipes here. You can also take a peek into Low Carb Cooking Lessons for some great ideas from last year's Thanksgiving collection. Extra yummy stuff that gets posted on this thread will be archived over there for permanent preservation.

http://atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/viewforum.php?f=51

One of my absolute favorites is turkey skin with a dash of garlic salt on it. Mmmm. Best part of the turkey.

I've been doing a bodybuilder's diet with is both low carb and low fat, and the food sucks rather a lot. I'm celebrating Thanksgiving by going back to Atkins eating for the holidays. It's going to be absolutely delicious and I'm really looking forward to it. Big, juicy, dripping portion of turkey thigh for me to start with, then some cauliflower "mashed potatoes", cranberry sauce with Splenda, and maybe a low carb pumpkin pie with nutty almond flour crust for dessert. Yum.

[Desertthorn]

Hi Naja, saw you on but you were gone before I could PM you. Did you survive all the weather?
I just cooked a Japanese pumpkin for the first time and it was delicious and low carb according to my new low carb magazine. Its called Kobacha or something like that. Its shaped like a pumpkin but the skin is green and striped. I just baked it, but I bet it could be used as a pumpkin substitute or even winter squash sub.

[Naja]

Hi Naja, saw you on but you were gone before I could PM you. Did you survive all the weather?
I just cooked a Japanese pumpkin for the first time and it was delicious and low carb according to my new low carb magazine. Its called Kobacha or something like that. Its shaped like a pumpkin but the skin is green and striped. I just baked it, but I bet it could be used as a pumpkin substitute or even winter squash sub.

Hole in my roof but otherwise all is well.

I have very fond memories of kabocha squash. We used to cook it with soy sauce, sugar and ginger and serve it in flavorful cubes. I'd substitute Splenda now, if I could find any of this stuff. It's a bit hard to come by in Florida. Acorn squash is a good substitute but the other winter squashes lack the density and intense flavor I remember from kabocha.

http://japanesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa102102a.htm

http://www.hybridseed.co.nz/html/buttercup___kabocha_.html

Sugar/carb content can vary a lot depending on the method of production. Here is an interesting web page I found which discusses how one farm's production of organic kabocha is much higher in sugars and carbs than the Japanese government standard for this vegetable.

http://www.grantfarms.com/farms/products/

[Heidi3]

My parrots tossed seeds off my balcony when they were sorting what they wanted to eat ...well I ended up growing three large kobocha squash!!! they are so heavy compared to size!!! I have gotten them at the farmers market in the past but they were never this heavy!!! I plan to save seeds because they are just beautiful and apparently hardy....are they close enough to a pumpkin that they may be eaten on induction?....what about a white pumpkin? can they be eaten on induction....is a pumpkin a pumpkin or are these varieties more of a squash?...

[Heidi3]

Greek Meat stuffing

here is a stuffing that mygirlfriend in Providence (who happens to be Greek) makes every year for her family...they had us for Thanksgiving one year when I was back east and I was stunned at how wonderful this tasted!!! I am not a fan of ground meat but this is very good...savory and makes a nice low carb choice for stuffing!......


Meat Stuffing for the Turkey....thanks Angela! NOT INDUCTION FRIENDLY

2 Onions, chopped 2 tbs Chopped fresh parsley
1 Stalk celery, chopped 1 tbs Chopped fresh dill
2 tbs Butter 3/4 lb Roasted chestnuts, peeled (you can use pecans or walnuts or just leave the nuts out if you are on induction but the tast is not as good)
1 lb ground round or lamb -and coarsely chopped
Liver from turkey,(I leave the liver out...too many anatomy classes to eat liver sorry)
1/4 lb pine nuts chopped
1/2 c cranberries rough chopped
1 lb mild fresh sausage
1/2 c Dry red wine
2 tbs Tomato paste
2 eggs
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Brown onions and celery in butter. Add beef, liver, and sausage cook
until brown. Add wine and tomato paste, then herbs, and simmer until meat is tender and everything is thickened.... Add nuts, cranberries...... Cool a bit then add the raw eggs Stuff
loosely into the turkey. Stuffs a 10-12 pound turkey.

[MotherOfGizmo]

That sounds pretty yummy nurselady, I have never had a meat stuffing.

[Desertthorn]

Great recipe idea Naja, since the typhoons, the prices for veggies in Japan are going up like your oil prices. ($10.00 a head for lettuce) I think I am going to buy more roots and pumpkins and will certainly try it cooked in Soy.

[Naja]

Re: Greek Meat stuffing

2 tbs Butter 3/4 lb Roasted chestnuts, peeled (you can use pecans or walnuts or just leave the nuts out if you are on induction but the tast is not as good)

The most Atkins friendly chestnut substitute would be small cubes of oven roasted rutabaga. The texture will be similar and so will the slightly nutty taste.

[Naja]

are they close enough to a pumpkin that they may be eaten on induction?....what about a white pumpkin? can they be eaten on induction....is a pumpkin a pumpkin or are these varieties more of a squash?...

Here's the rub: Dr. Atkins meant the standard store bought North American pie pumpkin when he said that pumpkin was a safe food. All pumpkins are squashes but not all squashes are pumpkins.

There are varieties of pumpkin available now in stores with a higher sugar/carb content than the standard. I'd avoid those on Induction.

Kabocha is a hard winter squash, and it can vary significantly in terms of brix (sugar content). It is often hybridized. I would be very careful with it, and I would also be careful with "sugar pumpkins" and similar varietals specially bred for a much higher sugar content. They're probably not appropriate for Induction. I would suggest putting them in the "winter squash" category and sticking to regular pumpkin for Induction.

[Heidi3]

are they close enough to a pumpkin that they may be eaten on induction?....what about a white pumpkin? can they be eaten on induction....is a pumpkin a pumpkin or are these varieties more of a squash?...

Here's the rub: Dr. Atkins meant the standard store bought North American pie pumpkin when he said that pumpkin was a safe food. All pumpkins are squashes but not all squashes are pumpkins.

There are varieties of pumpkin available now in stores with a higher sugar/carb content than the standard. I'd avoid those on Induction.

Kabocha is a hard winter squash, and it can vary significantly in terms of brix (sugar content). It is often hybridized. I would be very careful with it, and I would also be careful with "sugar pumpkins" and similar varietals specially bred for a much higher sugar content. They're probably not appropriate for Induction. I would suggest putting them in the "winter squash" category and sticking to regular pumpkin for Induction.

too late already well in to the sugar pumpkins ...no problems here and will continue eating them because they are loaded with vitamens and taste fantastic...that is how I make an unsweetened cheese cake out of them and to me the extra natural carb beats the artificial sweetener any day nutritionally and healthwise......I took the ok to eat pumpkin literally!!!....I am not that obscesssed with the difference but good info if someone is!.....I will have to try to cook it with the soy sauce and ginger that sounds wonderful....

also I can not possilbly see how a rutabaga is going to substitute for a chestnut...not in this lifetime...but thanks anyway and if you are so inclined go for it.....!!! but I am taking a pass on that one!!!... I would just leave them out, or try some walnuts instead...

[Naja]

If you parboil then slowly oven roast cubes of rutabaga, it will caramelize to some extent. Adding a bit of water or savory broth in the pan will make sure it doesn't dry out. The end result is a lot like cooked chestnuts - nutty, soft textured, earthy and flavorful.

[Heidi3]

thanks I will let all the rest of the world enjoy my portion of rutabegas!!!.....no turnips either and I love veggies but those are just beyond my grasp of yummy....in fact while you are at it...you all can have my broccoli as well...

[2big4mysize]

this topic needs a bump. the link is in the first post but for you scroll challanged folk http://atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/viewforum.php?f=51

[wil_d_thril]

Low Carb and Loving It on the Food Network has a Thanksgiving episode this weekend. Might be worth checking out. The stuffing looks promising. Here is the link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ll/episode/0,1976,FOOD_16177_35463,00.html