Gluten-Free Thanksgiving 2012: This year’s menu!

All hail the one holiday that is purely about food!

I find myself repeating the same dishes for Thanksgiving, mainly because I don’t get to eat them any other time of the year. This year, it seems like Thanksgiving came so quickly with little time to plan, but I’m going to try to fit a couple new and “new” items onto the menu this year.

A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

* Starred items are those which can be made the night before (thankfully).

For Dinner:

• Roast Turkey (last year I used Jennie-Os Oven Ready Turkey, and it was really good and super easy)
• Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole *
• Steamed and Sautéed Green Beans
• Canned Cranberry Sauce, a new way (since everyone seems to like the canned version more than the homemade, I’m tweaking it a bit) *
• Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls *
• Gravy (Secret: use Mandarin Orange juice for a tang)

For Dessert:

• Pecan Pie *
• Apple-Cranberry Pie *
• Dairy-free whipped topping

I can’t remember the last time I made an apple pie, and I’m quite excited to try one with cranberries. There’s no pumpkin pie, but the sweet potato casserole makes up for it.

This year the oven in our apartment is tiny (think 1960s), so I’m a bit concerned about a turkey fitting. The oven itself also has a habit of getting way too hot with no logic to it, so I fear I will be checking in on the oven thermometer religiously (do you have a temp gauge for your oven and fridge? If not, I recommend getting one asap – so important!).

Definitely a “make it work” moment, folks.

An Especially Tasty Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Casserole

I spotted this recipe on Oh She Glows, one of my favorite food blogs, last holiday season, and little did I know what an impact it would have on this year’s Thanksgiving! Seriously, it turns regular yams/sweet potatoes into magic.

It’s sweet, but not too sweet to be a side-dish, and the topping is crispy and delicious. It’s also pretty darn easy to make. Perfect for breakfast the next morning too!

While you can make this while your turkey is cooking, I baked it the night before and reheated it at 350 while the turkey was resting; it took around 30m - just keep an eye on it. You don’t have to add the pecans, but I firmly suggest you do; they lend a very tasty pecan-pie flavor.

~* Gluten and Dairy-Free Sweet Potato Casserole *~

(Vegan Too!)

adapted from Oh She Glows

Oven Temp: 350, Pan Size: 2 quart casserole dish

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cooked
• 2 tbsp Earth Balance
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp fine grain salt
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

• 1/4 cup Earth Balance
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sorghum flour
• 3/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and boil sweet potatoes/yams until tender. Drain and mash the sweet potatoes with Earth Balance until smooth – leave a few chunks to keep it “rustic.”

Whisk together the maple syrup, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon; add to sweet potatoes. Transfer mixture into a lightly-greased (with canola oil) casserole dish.

Using a fork (or your fingers), mix together the topping ingredients until well combined; it helps to have softened butter. Add pecans last. Sprinkle topping over sweet potatoes and bake for 50 minutes, checking to make sure topping does not burn.

This dish is ridiculously versatile; it works for breakfast, brunch, potlucks, dessert. Dessert especially if you are someone who likes their desserts without overwhelming sweetness. Something about the twice-cooking/baking of the sweet potatoes really improves the sweet potato texture too.

And if, when shopping, you get confused about the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, usually what is labeled as a yam is actually a sweet potato. The USDA now requires the “yam” label to always be accompanied by “sweet potato.” It’s very unlikely to find a real yam here in the U.S. Bottom line is to look for the ones which dark orange flesh and reddish-brown skin.