Thanksgiving can be a stressful time, albeit an opportunity to spend time with friends and loved ones. Personally, I love to host and cook a big meal for anyone that wants to attend and most now appreciate the low(er) salt dishes, usually taking leftovers home.
The centerpiece
Turkey is traditional, but also problematic. Most frozen turkeys are injected with sodium solutions to keep them moist(er) and juicy when roasted. My go-to recipe for years has been to brine the entire bird usually 36 hours before cooking.
This year, I used a dry brine (think salt rub) on the skin, which drastically reduced the amount of salt, but also kept the skin nice and crispy. After cooking dozens of turkeys over the years, my preferred method is to quarter and smoke on the grill. It takes less time, frees up the oven for other dishes, you can remove each quarter as it reaches temp. And oh, did I mention it’s delicious?
All the sides
Sidesgiving is a thing because they matter most. While turkey may be traditional, so are the required sides. Yes, forget the salad, but do have a vegetable or two for those of us that want a more balanced meal (haha).
Required on my table:
- Italian Sausage Cornbread Stuffing
- Two Potato Bake
- Mashed Potatoes
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Cranberry Orange Relish
- Gravy
All other sides are optional. I’ve included roasted Brussels sprouts, carrots, string beans, etc. to add some variety year to year.
Don’t forget the bread
I’ve alternated between dinner rolls and pretzel rolls. My breadmaker was a Christmas gift 20 years ago and I love using it to make fresh doughs. Pretzel is often requested. In a pinch, I’ll buy frozen dinner rolls, but don’t forget the bread! They make great sandwich vehicles over the weekend and are perfect for sopping up gravy or cranberry relish.
Save room for dessert
We love our desserts. Usually about two to three hours after the “supper” meal (we like to eat around 3pm a meal this heavy) with some fresh coffee. My required sweets are pecan pie, caramel apple pie, and French vanilla ice cream, all homemade of course. Finished with a little fresh whipped cream … delish.
Don’t forget the dishes
In total, I usually make about 15 dishes from scratch and I start with thawing the turkey the Friday before turkey day. Because I love to cook, this is a joy for me and also allows me to control the sodium throughout the turkey journey.
My advice, always, is to clean as you go. Most days of Thanksgiving week, my dishwasher is running once in the afternoon and then again at night. Doing dishes and cleaning as you go, especially the day of, will really help reduce the stress, even more so when you have to put away all the leftovers.
Speaking of leftovers, I encourage my guests to bring to go containers. I don’t need all that food, mostly made with butter, just for me and it pleases me they enjoy the food enough to have again and again. Whether you provide the containers or have your guests bring along, it helps reduce the amount of food that you and/or your family will need to eat over the next few days.
Salt Swaps:
- Unsalted butter vs regular butter will allow you to control the sodium level in your dishes. Plus, never bake with regular butter unless a recipe specifically calls for it.
- Homemade or low/no sodium chicken stock in the gravy, stuffing, even mashed potatoes will help allow you to control the salt.
- Consider seasoning the turkey without a wet or dry brine. Because my guests eat so little turkey, and removing the dry brined skin removes salt, I’m able to use the sodium already present in the frozen turkey to add flavor.
- Make homemade where you can vs. packaged. While my stuffing recipe does call for packaged cornbread stuffing mix, using unsalted butter and chicken stock helps reduce the salt per serving.
