Guest Post: Healthified Stuffing Recipe

Elina, Satisfied Cravings

Hello bootcamp lovers! My name is Elina; I’m the founder and coach behind Satisfied Cravings, offering private custom cooking lessons and hosting custom cooking parties right here in Boston. I’m a big fan of bootcamp as well – I call it sweat therapy and I definitely feel off balance when I skip a few days of workouts. Those exercise endorphins are a real thing and I’m a real addict!

So we sweat hard and we don’t want to undo all this hard work with sneaky calories and unworthy indulgences, right? With the holidays coming up, I know this task becomes a little trickier so I’m already starting to plan ahead to make sure that every workout and every meal counts.

After the big candy rush of Halloween, the next big challenge is Thanksgiving. So today I come to you with a super yummy healthified recipe for stuffing. My husband looooooooooves stuffing – it’s the highlight of Thanksgiving dinner for him. So I wanted to create something that’s a bit lighter and a whole lot tastier. And of course I had to add a twist to it with the addition of fall favorites – roasted sweet potatoes, cranberries, pecans… and bacon (because it makes everything better!). Feel free to make it your own and use whatever leftover veggies or mix-ins you have.. or none at all - it will make the process even faster (just use the same egg/broth/bread/herb proportions). I hope you love it as much as we did! :)

Healthified stuffing with roasted potatoes, cranberries, pecans and bacon (serves 8)
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs hearty sourdough bread
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs, s.a. sage, thyme and rosemary (I often find “poultry herbs” packages in super markets which are perfect for this)
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 20 oz beef broth, room temp

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 425*F. Cut sweet potatoes (no need to peel them, the peel has lots of fiber!) into 3/4” pieces, transfer to 2 baking sheets (single layer), drizzle with a bit of olive oil (1-2 tablespoons, depending on how large they are), season with salt and pepper, and bake for approximately 20 minutes until tender. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• Reduce heat to 400*F. Slice bread into 1/2-3/4” slices, remove crusts, then cube into 1/2-3/4” pieces. Transfer to 2 baking sheets (single layer) and toast for approximately 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
• Reduce heat to 350*F. Place pecans on baking sheet and toast for approximately 10 minutes, until fragrant and toasted. Set aside.
• In the meantime, crisp up bacon in a a large skillet. Blot bacon slices on paper towels to remove excess grease. Do not dump the bacon fat out of the skillet.
• We’re almost ready to assemble! Halve the cranberries, roughly chop the toasted pecans and bacon slices, finely mince fresh herbs and whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Ok we’re ready to go now!
• To the bowl with bread cubes, add minced herbs, whisked eggs, beef broth, 2 tablespoons of reserved bacon fat (or olive oil), a pinch of salt and pepper and toss to combine. Let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes – turning on occasion to make sure all of the bread cubes are well coated.
• Add roasted potatoes, cranberry halves, pecan and bacon pieces. Toss to combine again and transfer the mixture to a 9x13” baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350*F for 45 minutes. Enjoy with gravy and your favorite Thanksgiving fare!

Make this soon and let me know how it went over on my Satisfied Cravings facebook page or shoot an email to elina at satisfiedcravings dot com. Hope to hear some success stories soon! For more info on me and my biz, check out the Satisfied Cravings website.