I know I am posting this a week after t-day, but I got so busy last week. I had the entire week off from work and I was preparing a thanksgiving dinner for 5, so naturally I thought I would have plenty of time to catch up on everything else. I seriously cooked/prepared for 3 days straight. This was my first time hosting a holiday on my own and I discovered a new found respect for my mom, mother-in-law, and all the other lovely women in my life that have been putting so much hard work into hosting family get togethers for many years.
Maybe you can use this recipe for Christmas? I think I will just make it again as a fall side dish with a cornish game hen. This dish isn’t strictly paleo, if you don’t include any rice in your diet, you can try substituting the rice with sweet potatoes. I found this dish a great compromise for a gluten-free t-day. Everyone loved it and not even the avid bread consumers felt like they were missing out on traditional stuffing.
Serves 8
Ingredients
2 cups of crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
3 sausages – uncooked, removed from casing … (I used 2 hot Italian & 1 mild)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled & diced
½ yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced (about ¾ cup)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 cups cooked white rice
6 fresh sage leaves, minced
½ cup toasted, chopped pecans
¼ cup dried cranberries
1 cup stock (I used beef, turkey or chicken will work)
salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Sauté mushrooms in melted butter in a sauté pan until lightly browned.
- Add apples, onions, garlic and celery and sauté until tender. Add sausage and cook until sausage is mostly cooked through. Add more butter during sautéing process, if needed.
- In a baking dish, mix wild rice, sage, pecans and cranberries, and stir in stock to moisten. Add sautéed ingredients to baking dish and season with salt and pepper.
- Lightly cover the stuffing with foil and bake for 15 minutes; bake for another 10 minutes uncovered or until stuffing is slightly browned and heated through.
