Healthy Friendsgiving Recipes

Here at Branch Basics we celebrate and love our friendships! We’ve really loved taking on the tradition of Friendsgiving, and this year we teamed up with Germaine Benoit of Nourished + Empowered to create these beautiful + nourishing recipes for the perfect Friendsgiving (or Thanksgiving) feast! Each of these recipes were picked to highlight the best of the season. Interesting fact, the food we eat carries light code that speaks to our bodies, that’s why eating seasonally is so important. Plus, it allows us the greatest possible nutrition that food has to give. These recipes also contain a ton of medicinal and super foods to boost your immune system and fight inflammation in the body. The best part is they’re delicious! Watch our Friendsgiving reel with these recipes for inspiration! 

Warm Harvest Salad with Pomegranate Molasses 

Serves 6-8

Nutritional High Points 

• Pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc and can kill intestinal parasites 
• Pomegranate is a powerful antioxidant and have something called SERM’s,    Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator. These attach to estrogen receptors and block dirty or fake estrogen (xenoestrogens) from entering and thus help with estrogen dominance.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, chopped 
• 3 large portabella mushrooms 
• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped 
• 1 large fennel, chopped 
• 1 bag frozen artichokes 
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries 
• 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds 
• Pomegranate molasses to taste (about 2 tbs) 
• or Olive oil for roasting and cooking veggies 

Instructions 

1. Sauté kale in 1 tbs olive oil, then place to the side
2. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 425*
3. Toss each veggie in olive oill and a lil salt
4. Roast each but separated from each other because they all cook at different  times
5. Once all veggies are done, add them to the cooked kale.  Add pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and then toss with pomegranate molasses 

Dressing Ingredients and Instructions

• 2 tbs honey 
• 2 tbs olive oil 
• 2 tbs pomegranate molasses or balsamic vinegar if you don’t have the molasses 
• Mix all together in a small jar 

Sprouted Wild Rice Salad 

Serves 8

Nutritional High Points

• Sprouting your grains is optional, but it does make the grains easier to digest and more nutritious. When we soak them, we strip them of any anti-nutrients that could inhibit digestion as well as block valuable minerals. 
• Parsley pulls heavy metals from the body 
• Shallots are high in sulfur and help with liver detoxification.
• Ginger is a powerful immune booster, helps with digestion, and helps improve blood circulation.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Black or Wild rice, soaked for 2-3 days (this is optional, if you don’t want to do that, simply cook your wild rice according to the package directions)
• Seeds of 1 pomegranate 
• 1 green apple, chopped 
• 1 shallot, chopped 
• 1/3 cup toasted pecans or nut of choice
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped 
• Dressing:
• 2 tbs Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbs Champange Vinegar 
• 2 tsp  raw honey
• 1 ½ tbs minced ginger 
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Rinse rice well and place in a glass jar or bowl with fresh, pure water. Let soak outside of the fridge overnight. In the morning drain and rinse the rice, then cover with fresh water and put in the fridge. Drain and rinse the rice at least twice per day for 2-3 days until the rice has "bloomed" - some or all of the grains will have split open, and it should be tender to eat without cooking
2. Once you have sprouted the rice, drain and rinse and place in a large bowl.
   If it is still hard, you can cook it the rest of the way to get it to desired consistency.  Just boil for 15- 20 mins. Or simply cook your rice according to package directions. 
3. Add rice and all other salad ingredients to a large bowl then toss with the ginger dressing.

Parsnip Mash 

Serves 6

Nutritional High Points

• Root vegetables are very grounding and can have a very stabilizing effect on our nervous system and are very supportive of liver and pancreas function. 
• Ghee (clarified butter) made from grass-fed butter contains butyric acid, a short-chained fatty acid that supports gut health and has anti-inflammatory properties. Ghee is a powerhouse of all the important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, K - these are key players in immune and hormonal health.

Ingredients

•  2 pounds parsnips peeled, cored & cut into smaller pieces
•  2 - 4 tbs organic ghee
•  Small handful of fresh parsley chopped

Instructions 

1. Peel the parsnips. Cut them into quarters lengthwise and use a knife to cut the tough core out (it's ok if you don't get it all). Cut the parsnips into smaller pieces.
2. Place the parsnips in a medium pan filled with water. Boil for 25-30 minutes or until they're tender.
3. Drain the parsnips, then add the ghee. 
4. Mash with a potato masher until desired texture is reached. Season with salt & pepper and stir in the parsley.
5. If you want them to be more of a purée, throw them in your blender instead of using a potato masher.

Hunters Chicken 

Serves 4-8 depending on portions 

Nutritional High Points 

• Cooking chicken with bone in allows the vitamins and minerals in the bone to be released into your chicken, so you get a greater nutritional value over a chicken breast.  The skin is also a great source of hyaluronic acid, which helps with skin and joint health.
• Sage, rosemary, and thyme are all prized medicinals with antibacterial and antiviral properties to keep your immune system in top shape. 

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breast, skin on, bone in 
• 3 tbs flour of choice
• 2 tbs ghee
• 2 cups chicken broth 
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1 clove garlic
• Handful of fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary 
• 1tsp arrow root 

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 small shallot, chopped 
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped 
• 1.5 tbs cognac
• 3 tbs white wine
• 2 cups chicken stock, that you made earlier 
• 1 tbs ghee
• 1 tsp tarragon
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper

Instructions 

1. In a pot, add broth, tomato paste, garlic, fresh tarragon, rosemary and thyme.
2. Let simmer for 20-30 mins to meld flavors, then strain the liquid to remove the garlic and herbs.  Add arrowroot to thicken, then set to the side.
3. Coat each chicken piece in flour, and season with salt and pepper. Melt a tablespoon of gheein a Dutch oven or sauté pan. When the ghee is foaming, add the chicken pieces one by one with the skin-side down. Leave to cook for a few minutes. Turn each breast over to brown evenly. 
4. When they have color, cover the pan and continue to cook in the oven at 400 °F for 20 - 25 minutes or until cooked through. Then remove the chicken pieces, and set aside on a separate tray to rest and keep warm. 

Sauce Instructions 

1. Add 1 tbs ghee to a pan and sauté the mushrooms on medium heat for 1 or 2 minutes. Add the chopped shallots and let them sweat. Flambé cognac (light the cognac with a match ).  Let that cook for 1 min then deglaze with white wine. 
2. Allow to reduce until a tablespoon worth of liquid remains. 
3. Add the brown chicken stock you made earlier and turn you heat back on low and let the stock reduce for a few minutes.
4. Take the pan off the heat and slowly stir in a tablespoon of ghee to the sauce. This will help bring the sauce together. 
5. Add chopped tarragon and parsley to the sauce, and stir again. Finally, add the chicken pieces, and warm the pan up on a very low heat for a few minutes.

Adopted from this recipe.

Pear Crisp 

Nutritional High Points

• Using sprouted oats decreases anti-nutrients in the oats and makes them more nutritionally absorbable 
• Coconut sugar has a low glycemic index, and contains inulin, which is beneficial to gut health.

Ingredients 

• ¾ cup rolled oats (sprouted oats if possible)
• ½ cup coconut sugar  
• ½ cup toasted pecans 
• 3 tablespoons einkorn flour or flour of choice
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons cold ghee, cut into small pieces

Filling Ingredients

• 6 Bosc pears (about 2 ½ pounds)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• ¼ cup einkorn flour
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Topping Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center.
2. Stir together oats,coconut sugar, pecans, flour, and salt.
3. Add ghee and mix with hands until small clumps form and dry mixture is coated in ghee
4. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling Instructions

1. Peel, halve, and core pears, then slice into 1/2-inch-thick pieces.
2. Add to a large bowl and toss with lime juice as you work to prevent pears from browning.
3. Toss with coconut sugar, ginger, flour, and salt.
4. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish.
5. Remove crisp topping from refrigerator and break into small pieces.
6. Scatter evenly over the top.
7. Transfer to your oven (set at 400 degrees) and bake for 50-60 minutes until bubbly (tent top with foil if browning too quickly).
8. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack 20 minutes before serving.

Adopted from this recipe.