Healthy Cooking Tips to Be Thankful For

Biscuits

Amy Rodman, Sustainable Food Center
Traditional biscuits have lots of butter—up to 1 tablespoon per biscuit! The butter makes the biscuits tender and flaky, no doubt, but it also has 100 calories per tablespoon. To reduce calories and still get tender, flaky biscuits, replace one-third of butter with an equal amount of canned, pureed pumpkin.

Pumpkin Dessert

Naomi Seifter, Owner and Culinary Director at Picnik
Traditional pumpkin pie is made with sweetened condensed milk and traditional all-purpose flour. For a pie that tastes just as delicious but leaves you feeling great the morning after, you can make some simple substitutions:  First, nuts can make simple and nutrient-dense crusts. Using a food processor, combine your favorite nuts with pitted soaked dates, a little vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. (Hazelnuts, walnuts or cashews are my favorite.) Nut crusts will function just like a traditional graham cracker crust, and using your hands, you can push it into your pie pan. For the filling, consider leaving out the sweetened condensed milk for a dairy-free alternative. Full-fat coconut milk is a great swap. Since coconut milk doesn't have the same sugar content, consider adding some additional sweetness to your whipped cream topping or add some additional maple sugar, maple syrup, or honey to the filling.

Keep reading for more healthy cooking tips.

Cranberry Dishes

Elizabeth Van Huffel, Local Savour Food Blog
To add a healthier twist to a classic cranberry sauce, I like to reduce the sugar and squeeze in some fresh orange juice and zest. To sweeten up a stuffing recipe, try simply roasting a few cups of cranberries for 20–25 minutes at 350 degrees before mixing them into your stuffing.

Potatoes

Anne Gardner, Cilantro Lime
Swap golden potatoes for a sweet potato this Thanksgiving. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into bite size pieces, toss with chili powder (we are partial to chipotle), olive oil, and salt. Roast the potatoes until they begin to char. Mash the roasted potatoes with an equal ratio of milk and cream. These potatoes are almost foolproof and are the perfect accompaniment to a flavorful feast.