Eat Healthy at Thanksgiving

Happy Gimme Gimme! as my 3-year old daughter liked to say. I LOVE Thanksgiving and take so much pride and joy in cooking the annual meal for usually no fewer than a dozen people. Over the past few years. I've also used Thanksgiving as an opportunity to reach out to my hardcore margarine spreading, white bread loving relatives and show them the healthy goodness of eating a whole foods diet. And what other meal so perfectly showcases how yummy it is to eat an all-natural, organic diet? I've been scouring the web this month looking for a few new resources to email relatives who inevitably ask, what was that recipe? why was the bird free range? what is free range? I have a bunch of links to share. Here's a good first one. I would send this to an absolute novice to the whole foods scene. Chris Rosenbloom from the Atlanta Constitution gives a pretty good run down of the 5 healthiest foods to serve on Turkey Day: Cranberries, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Potatoes, Turkey (triptophan!!!), and good ol' greens. His article can be found here. Martha Stewart's Classic Pumpkin Pie recipe can be found here.

Also included in this article is really good looking recipe for smothered greens. As Rachael Ray says, "Delish!"

Healthy recipe: Smothered Greens 5 (1-cup) servings

Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 50 minutes

2 pounds of greens (about 18 cups packed mustard, turnip, collard greens or kale or a mixture)

3 cups water

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 green onion (both white and green parts) chopped

1/4 pound smoked turkey breast, roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

A few drops of hot pepper sauce

Salt to taste (optional)

Wash the greens thoroughly in cool water, making sure to get rid of any sand or grit. Remove and discard the stems and dry the greens slightly with paper towels or a dish cloth. Tear the greens into bite-size pieces and set aside.

In a large pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil and add the garlic, green onion, turkey, onion, ginger, thyme, pepper, cloves and hot sauce. Once the mixture has come to a boil, add the greens. Stir to incorporate the seasoning and reduce the volume of greens, about 1 minute.

Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the greens are tender. Add salt, if desired, to taste. Before serving, discard the garlic.

—From: “Secrets of the Lean Plate Club” by Sally Squires (St. Martins Griffin, $14.95)

Per serving: 80 calories (percent calories from fat, 22), 9 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams fiber, less than 1 gram fat (0 grams saturated fat), 16 milligrams cholesterol, 375 milligrams of sodium

Nutritional Bonus Points: Greens are low in calories but packed in nutrients—one serving of this recipe provides 475 milligrams or about 10 percent of your need for potassium, which is important in controlling blood pressure.