Thanksgiving 2018 Recipes

I tried two new recipes for Thanksgiving this year. I love using phyllo dough cups since they are so easy and perfect for bite-sized appetizers. I thought I was bringing cranberry sauce, but turns out that dish was already taken. Since I already bought the berries, I coated them in sugar and added them to a sweet potato tartlet recipe that I found. They were so pretty and really added a lot of flavor! Plus, the original recipe topped the tartlets with brown sugar pecans, but I absolutely love Trader Joe’s sweet & spicy pecans since they have a kick to them, so I used them instead. 

In addition to the tartlets, I brought iced tea (I’m pregnant so no wine for me this year). We have a lot of rosemary growing in our backyard so I threw that into the tea with some peaches and a ginger simple syrup. The tea was really tasty but I should have given myself more time to make it. I put the hot water into my drink dispenser to brew the green tea but the heat ruined the seal so it started leaking. Luckily my grandma had a backup dispenser that we transferred it to when we got there.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got to spend quality time with your loved ones! 

Sweet Potato Tartlets with Sugared Cranberries, Sweet & Spicy Pecans & Mint (adapted from My Recipes)

Ingredients:

• 4 (1.9 oz) packages frozen mini-phyllo shells, thawed
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 sweet potato
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 T vanilla extract
• Trader Joe’s sweet & spicy pecans (if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, you can follow this recipe to make them yourself)
• Sugared cranberries (recipe below)
• Mint leaves

Directions:

1. Wash the sweet potato, stab holes in it, rub in olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, then cook in the crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high (or cook the sweet potato by your preferred method).

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place shells on baking sheets.

3. In a food processor or with a mixer, blend cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sweet potato (no skin), sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Spoon filling into shells.

4. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until center is set. While still warm, press on pecans.

5. Once cooled, garnish with mint leaves and sugared cranberries.

Sugared Cranberries (adapted from Cincy Shopper)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1 cup water
• 12 oz fresh cranberries

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat water and 1 cup sugar over medium heat until boiling. Keep just at a boil for 10 minutes or until it thickens slightly.

2. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a cooling rack over. Toss batches of cranberries in the simple syrup and transfer to the rack to dry (try to space the berries out so they don’t stick together).

3. Allow to dry for 30-45 minutes, then toss the berries in the remaining 1 cup of sugar.

Iced Rosemary-Ginger Peach Green Tea (adapted from She Knows)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups boiling water
• 6 green tea bags
• Several rosemary sprigs
• 2 peaches, slices
• ¾ cup fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• Ice cubes
• Cranberries for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Add tea bags and rosemary to a pitcher and top with boiling water. Allow to steep for 6-8 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea.

2. Remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool.

3. Meanwhile, boil 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and ginger in a small pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium then allow to simmer uncovered until the syrup thickens Remove from heat and allow to cool.

4. Fill a drink dispenser part way with ice. Top with sliced peaches, cranberries, rosemary iced tea, and ginger simple syrup.

Spicy Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

 

This recipe is so easy and delicious that I made it for two different holiday parties last year.  Our friend Tony had a potluck yesterday for his birthday, so this was my contribution.  It’s been a hit each time I’ve made it! 

Spicy Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip (adapted from Jaime Cooks it Up)

Ingredients:

·        1-12 ounce package fresh cranberries

·        ¼ cup green onion, chopped

·        ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

·        1 small jalapeño, seeds removed (or a larger pepper if you'd like it extra spicy)

·        ¾ cup sugar

·        ¼ t cumin

·        2 T lemon juice

·        Dash of salt

·        2-8 ounce packages cream cheese  

·        Crackers for serving

 

Directions:

1.  Put your cranberries, green onion, cilantro, and jalapeño in a food processer and pulse until coarsely chopped into small bits – you don’t want it completely liquefied. 

 

 

2. Mix in cumin, lemon juice, and salt.  Place in bowl in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (I left mine there overnight) so the sugar soaks into the cranberries. 

 

3. When ready to prepare, spread your cream cheese at the bottom of a bowl.  Top with the cranberry mixture, and then serve with your choice of crackers.  

 

Grilled Tilapia Bowls with Spicy Avocado Drizzle

 

I tried a new healthy recipe last night – grilled tilapia bowls with spicy avocado drizzle.  The original recipe was inspired by Chipotle’s burrito bowls, but with all healthy ingredients. 

It called for 3 cups cooked quinoa – but since we just ate lots of quinoa the other day in our stuffed acorn squash, I reduced it to about 1 ½ cups cooked (since quinoa quadruples in size when cooked, it only took 1/3 cup uncooked). 

I also doubled the original fish amount from two to four filets just so we could have leftovers for fish sandwiches another day. 

The avocado cream made WAY more than it took to drizzle over the fish, but the spicy sauce is so delicious, I think it’s worth making the extra and saving the rest as a chip dip. 

Lance claims that this is one of the best meals I've ever cooked - which is a huge compliment.  I'll definitely make it again!

Grilled Tilapia Bowls with Spicy Avocado Drizzle (adapted from Joyful Healthy Eats)

Ingredients:

Spicy Avocado Drizzle:

·        1-6 oz container plain Greek yogurt

·        Juice of one lime

·        1 large avocado

·        1 garlic clove

·        1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed

·        Salt and pepper

Seasoning:

·        2 t chili powder

·        2 t smoked paprika

·        2 t cumin

·        2 t garlic powder

·        1 t salt

·        ½ t pepper

Other Ingredients:

·        4 large tilapia filets

·        1/3 cups uncooked quinoa

·        1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

·        1-15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained

·        Drizzle of olive oil

·        ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

·        1 medium tomato, diced

 

Directions:

1.  In a food processor, add the yogurt, lime juice, avocado, garlic clove, jalepeno, salt, and pepper.  Blend until smooth, then place in the refrigerator. (I was excited to use my new citrus juicer for the first time!)

 

 

 

2. Put the 1/3 cup quinoa and 2/3 cup water on the stovetop and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover the pot. 

3. Meanwhile, mix the chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.

 

 

4. Rinse and pat dry tilapia filets, then rub both sides with the seasoning.  You should have some leftover – put that to the side. 

 

4. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with a drizzle of olive oil, then add the canned corn.  Add the remaining spice mixture to the corn, then turn down the heat to medium-low and let the corn get slightly blackened. You can also add the black beans and diced tomato to the skillet if you’d prefer them warm (the original recipe kept them cold, but I heated mine for a few minutes).   

 

5. In a large greased pan, cook the tilapia about 3-5 minutes on each side.  You could finish the cooking on the pan, but I finished it on the George Foreman to give the fish grill marks (I would have cooked the whole thing on the grill, but ours doesn’t have temperature controls). 

 

 

6. Remove from the grill and set aside. 

7. Assemble your bowls, placing quinoa at the bottom, adding the black beans, tomato, corn, cilantro, and tilapia. 

 

8. Top with the spicy avocado sauce.  If you want a light drizzle, you can pour your sauce into a Ziploc bag, cut a small hole in the corner, then use it to drizzle over the dish.