How the heck do you stay on program while celebrating Thanksgiving with a bunch of friends — old, new and as-yet-unknown — at a potluck dinner?
Well, the key to staying close to program at Thanksgiving is actually pretty simple. Stick to the turkey and veggies and you’ll do pretty well. No gravy on the bird and stay away from all those yummy sides, apps, and desserts, if you can!
In order to ensure that you have veggies to eat that are not drenched in oils, butter or cream of mushroom soup, make your contribution to the table something you can eat with your turkey. Today, we’re bringing roasted vegetables. (Bread pudding with bourbon caramel sauce, too, but for the others. Not for us.)
This dish features two yellow summer squashes, a zucchini, 1.5 red onions, a bag of baby carrots, a bunch of large asparagus, and five portobello mushrooms.
We first tossed the carrots in a drizzle of olive oil, with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. These went into a 450 degree convection oven for about 20 minutes, stirring them halfway through. Then we put them aside.
In another pan, we combined the squashes onions, and asparagus, all rough cut in larger, bite-sized pieces. Tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and a spice blend containing basil, marjoram, oregano, onion, thyme, and parsley. Put them in that same 450-degree convection oven for 20 minutes, stirring them halfway through. We then added the mushrooms and put them back in for a final 10 minutes. Then we mixed the carrots back in and they were ready to go!
We prepared these about three hours before we’re due at the potluck, so they’ll be served room temperature, which should be fine.
A Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving to you!