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Give Thanks the Healthy Way

Side dishes that won’t add to your waist

By Karen Buscemi

hen we think of Thanksgiving, we most often picture the feast – the golden brown turkey, fluffy stuffing, jiggly cranberry sauce, and lots and lots of pies. Then we picture our waistlines and groan. Is there a way to have it all? Can we tempt our taste buds without ingesting too many calories? Absolutely, say two area nutritionists.

“It’s portion size,” says Susanne Gunsorek, a registered dietician with St. John Health.

“There’s no reason we can’t try all our favorite foods on Thanksgiving.”

The key is knowing proper portion sizes, she says. A meat serving should be the size of a deck of cards, while portions of accompanying foods should be about the size of a tennis ball. And though you don’t need to deprive yourself of anything on Thanksgiving, there are some tricks you can employ to limit the amount of fat you consume. Dark meat has more saturated fat than white meat, and the turkey skin is really just fat, according to Gunsorek.

“Cook the turkey with the skin on to maintain the moisture, but then remove the skin before you eat it,” she says. “If you want to have gravy, limit yourself to putting it just on the turkey, and not on the mashed potatoes and dressing.” When offered seconds, try to say no. Gunsorek notes that it takes the stomach a while to communicate to the brain that it’s had enough food, so you may not yet think you’re full, even though you are.

She suggests waiting 15 minutes before deciding to have another helping. If you do go for round two, don’t go back for everything, but choose two favorite things instead – especially if you’re considering one of those scrumptious desserts.

Vital Recipies

Pumpkin-Sage Polenta

Makes 8 servings

(Polenta thickens if you make it ahead; just thin it with water or chicken broth. Rewarm it over medium-low heat, stirring with a whisk.)

Ingredients

• 2½ cups 1% low-fat milk
• 2 cups water
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin
• 1¼ teaspoons salt
• 1¼ cups instant dry polenta
• ¾ cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• ¼ cup (1 ounce) shaved fresh Parmesan

Bring milk and water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add pumpkin and salt; stir with a whisk. Reduce heat to low, and gradually whisk in polenta; cook 1 minute or until thick. Remove from heat.

Add ¾ cup grated Parmesan, cream cheese and sage; stir until cheeses melt. Top with shaved Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Nutrition info per serving (¾ cup):

• 197 calories
• 4.7 g fat (3 g saturated)
• 14 mg cholesterol
• 614 mg sodium
• 28.7 g carbohydrates
• 3.2 g fiber
• 10.1 g protein

Potato-Gorgonzola Gratin

Makes 8 servings

(Substitute Fontina or Monterey Jack for the cheese, if you like.)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2½ cups fat-free milk
• ¾ cup (3 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup (1½ ounces) grated Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour, and cook two minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in thyme. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk; cook over medium heat until slightly thick (about three minutes), stirring constantly.

Stir in Gorgonzola; cook three minutes or until cheese melts, stirring constantly. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Arrange one quarter of the potatoes in bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; spoon about ¾ cup sauce over potatoes. Repeat layers twice; arrange remaining potatoes over sauce. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition info per serving (about 1 cup):

• 254 calories (28% from fat)
• 7.9 g fat (5 g saturated, 2 g monounsaturated, 0.2 g polyunsaturated)
• 22 mg cholesterol
• 751 mg sodium
• 36.8 g carbohydrates
• 2.8 g fiber
• 10.6 g protein
• 1.5 mg iron
• 228 mg calcium

Green Beans With Roasted-Onion Vinaigrette

Makes 8 servings

(To simplify preparation on Thanksgiving, make and refrigerate the vinaigrette and steam and chill the green beans a day ahead.)

Ingredients

• 2 red onions, peeled (about 1 pound)
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
• 2 pounds green beans, trimmed, steamed and chilled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut onions in half vertically. Drizzle cut side of each onion half with ¼ teaspoon oil. Sprinkle halves evenly with salt and pepper.

Place 1 thyme sprig on 1 onion half; top with other half. Wrap in foil. Repeat procedure with remaining thyme and onion halves.

Bake wrapped onions for 1 hour or until tender. Cool to room temperature. Discard thyme, and chop onions.

Combine remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil with onion, dill, vinegar and mustard in a small bowl. Toss beans with vinaigrette.

Nutrition info per serving (4 ounces green beans and ¼ cup vinaigrette):

• 83 calories (29% from fat)
• 2.7 g fat (0.4 g saturated, 1.7 g monounsaturated, 0.4 g polyunsaturated)
• 0 mg cholesterol
• 109 mg sodium
• 14 g carbohydrates
• 4.8 g fiber
• 2.9 g protein
• 1.6 mg iron
• 65 mg calcium

Recipes reprinted with permission from Oxmoor House Books and the Cooking Light Holiday Cookbook.

It All Starts in the Kitchen

Registered dietician Miriam Kling, manager of clinical dietetics for Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center, says taking a few steps during preparation can make a big difference in the healthfulness of a Thanksgiving meal:

Cook the dressing outside the turkey, so it doesn’t pick up grease from inside.

Eliminate boxed stuffing mixes, which contain a lot of salt. A better choice is to make dressing of brown rice or whole-grain bread.

Instead of mashing sweet potatoes (a great food high in fiber and vitamin A) with butter and milk, use orange juice, which will give the dish moisture and a sweet flavor.

If you’re making a salad that calls for high-fat ingredients, create a healthier version by using low-fat substitutes.