Recipes-Thanksgiving with Chef Elana Horwich (2024)

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A healthy Thanksgiving meal—is it really possible?
YES! It totally is. So many people think that the generous way to feed guests is to overfeed them with huge portions of one rich, carby food after another. But if everyone ends up in a painful food coma after the meal and wants to get home to collapse, that’s not generous. You’re just playing into people’s lack of self control. Finding the balance between indulgence and vibrance is key so your guests feel great after eating and want to continue the party. That’s generosity for both them and you. Think of the meal as a sensual journey that you are leading people on and plan out a menu that leaves everyone just full enough, relaxed and happy.

What are some quick and easy hors d’oeuvres?
I love to serve soup in espresso cups or shot glasses as hors d’oeuvres because I can make it days in advance and just heat it up right before guests come. I also always set up an easy cheese board with a selection of goat and sheep milk cheeses, along with fig jam and gluten-free and grain-free crackers. And, of course, there is a bowl of large, juicy green Cerignola olives with a side dish for pits.

Tips for those doing Thanksgiving dinner for the first time?
Let go of perfectionism. You don’t have to wake up and be Martha Stewart all in one day. Go easy on yourself and plan a meal that is realistically doable. Grocery shop three days in advance. Prep and cook what you can the days before Thanksgiving, without rushing. And on the day of, throw it all in the oven. But mostly, ask for help! Choose three things you want to make and ask your family and friends to each bring a dish. Potlucks are fun!

And for the seasoned pro looking to step it up?
Curl up in bed with as many recipes as you can for the weeks coming up to the big day. Earmark the ones you want to try. Allow yourself to dream big and go for it. But that said, I give you the same advice as I did for the kitchen novices above. Let go of perfectionism and do as much as possible in advance.

What's Thanksgiving like at your house?
I didn’t grow up in a foodie household so Thanksgiving was pretty standard and not that exciting. In fact, it was my least favorite meal of the year. That’s what’s so ironic. When my cooking students wanted me to offer Thanksgiving classes, I was reluctant. But in response to not being excited by typical TG dishes, I invented some of my most prized and favorite recipes to date. That said, since I often make Thanksgiving several times before the actual holiday with my students, I have been known to have Thanksgiving all’Italiano at home with some of my best friends living in LA who are from various parts of the boot of Italy. We make pasta puttanesca and risotto with squid ink… which are rather summer-y but in LA you can get away with that. Our point is to eat like we still live in Italy—it’s another type of gratitude.

What's your "recipe" for a successful dinner party?
I have a "Life Lesson through Food" in my book called "Chill Out, It’s Just a Dinner Party." So honestly, that’s my best advice. The point of a dinner party is to bring people together in a fun, intimate way. The point is not to impress anyone. People want to feel included, so give them jobs like lighting candles, pouring wine, serving soup, or whatever you need. Being a part of the preparations is a wonderful ice-breaker and many people prefer to help rather than just having to stand around and make small talk. Think of the dinner party as a group activity that cultivates intimacy, and chill out!

1. Don’t Over-Carb
Too many carbohydrates lead to food comas. So if you know you are serving stuffing, then you don’t need to have bread anywhere else in the meal. If you are serving soup, don’t serve it with rolls. Maybe leave out the mashed potatoes and go for a lighter Celery Root Puree (recipe below). Consider dessert options that are grain-free like my Sunshine Pumpkin Pie (recipe also below).

2. Don’t Dare Over-Dairy
Lots of creamy foods will not only dampen the vibrant flavors of you meal, they will dampen the energy of your guests. Dairy gets heavy. Choose soups with a broth base, not a cream base. Choose roasted vegetables without cream toppings. Leave the cheese out of the Thanksgiving meal… there’s no need.

3. Go Plant Heavy
Vegetables are light on the system and rich in flavor so serve lots of them. Roasted vegetables of any and many types are fabulous on the Thanksgiving table. Try roasting them with rosemary for a fall flavor. Also consider serving a delicious green salad with lemon, which will lighten the load and add some zing to the meal.

4. Use Foods that Aid Digestion
Fresh lemon juice and zest helps to break down fats, which is why I use both in my Sunshine Pumpkin Pie. Herbs aid in digestion so consider chopping up some parsley, basil, mint and cilantro and adding to a salad or to garnish other dishes.

5. Skip the Sugar
Sugar will put people in a food coma, yet so many recipes these days have sugar in them, and I’m not even referring to desserts! Meats, stews, vegetables, sauces. Do not include sugar in any of your savory dishes. In my opinion, it’s a cop-out in cooking. Find fresh ingredients like onion, tomatoes, lemon and herbs to add bursts of flavor. And as for desserts, choose desserts with low sugar content and that use unrefined sweetness like raw honey.

6. Healthy Substitutes
For butter, use olive oil; for sugar, raw honey. And for cream in dessert recipes, use coconut milk or coconut cream.

"Because it tastes like the sunshine."

Ingredients

For the crust:
3 cups pecans
7 tablespoons butter or 4 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil, plus 1 for greasing pan
10-12 dates, pitted

For the filling:
1 small sugar pumpkin
1 small kabocha squash
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1/2 orange
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 of a whole nutmeg, grated
1/4 - 1/3 cup raw unfiltered local honey
3 eggs

Directions

For the crust:
Place the pecans, dates and virgin coconut oil in a food processor and pulse into paste.
Use the remaining butter to amply grease tart pan.
Use your fingers to “smush” the paste into the pie pan to form the crust. You want it to be about a 1/4 inch thick and hence, you might have extra.

Note: If you would like, it is possible to make the pie in a 9” springform pan to resemble the photo. Apply crust “dough” on bottom and sides of the oiled springform, pour in filling and bake. Let cool completely. Remove outer piece of springform but leave pie on the bottom disk—this pie is too fragile to remove (unless you place it in the refrigerator over night and then freeze it for an hour, and are very careful while moving it.)

For the filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Place the pumpkin and kabocha squash on the center rack and bake until very soft to the touch. A good hour.
Cut the squashes in half horizontally, remove the seeds with a fork and scoop out the soft flesh. You will want 3 cups total.
Add the flesh of pumpkin and kabocha to food processor and reduce to a purée.
Add lemon zest, lemon juice, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, honey and eggs. Pulse into well mixed.
Pour mixture into pie crust.
Bring oven 350°F.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Note: The filling is adapted from Lisa Raven's book, In Season.

For the cover pie crust:
Take out of oven and use tin foil to cover the the crust that is showing as to prevent it from burning. Just go ahead and place two large sheet of aluminum foil on top of each other like a plus sign, place pie pan on top and fold over until desired effect.
Bake for another 25 minutes or until firm to the touch.
Let cool to room temperature before serving. Can be made in advance

"Every year for Thanksgiving, I teach a very full and merrily hectic class called 'Everything But the Turkey.' It’s the same menu every year. Naturally, I have a Brussels sprouts recipe for the holiday, but it turns out to be a favorite of students all year round—as long as they can find fresh Brussels sprouts. Don’t skimp on olive oil or salt (do I even have to say that at this point in our relationship?!) and be sure to cook it extra long, until not just tender, but succulent, with crispy, browned outer leaves."

Bonus: Watch a video how-to from Horwich here.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 to 3 large shallots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, halved
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
A generous amount of freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Trim off the root ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yucky-looking yellowish leaves. Cut in half lengthwise.
Place the Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and rosemary in a medium casserole dish or on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with the thyme and salt. Grind fresh pepper.
Use your fingers to mix and lick fingers to test seasoning. Adjust if needed.
Make sure the rosemary and garlic are evenly dispersed.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes.

"When I conceived of the idea for a multigrain stuffing I immediately called my friend Andrea and begged him to come over. As a native northern Italian who had a grandmother who spoiled him with cooking, and as one who has travelled the world eating at the finest restaurants, Andrea knows food.

"Like me, he believes—no, he knows—that the best food in the world comes from an Italian home. Unfortunately, we both live in LA. Hence, Andrea and I cook together and aspire to replicate, and even outdo, the cuisine we know and miss so much.

"Stuffing is the star of American Thanksgiving and I would only let an Italian in the kitchen to help me create it.

"The notion for this stuffing was mine, but credit must be given to Andrea who at every step added more butter* against my wishes. We rarely fight, but I held my ground as I know my students and fans want healthier options. But in the end he is the Italian and so his cooking advice must be heeded.

"The extra butter was a good choice, I am forced to admit. There are few things better than good bread and butter, and once homemade broth and aromatics and roasted mushrooms and fennel are added…what else do you want in life? This stuffing is a winner.

"In fact, once it finished baking, and while we were eating it with our hands (because we couldn’t leave it alone long enough to get a fork), Andrea could not stop repeating, 'This is the best thing ever. Not the best stuffing ever, but this is the best thing ever….'

"And that is my point. If you were to make this stuffing for your child in the morning, there is no way they would go to school and shoot some other kid in the head that afternoon. There is too much love in it to even allow for that kind of brain activity. This stuffing is capable of ending Facebook bullying, spousal abuse and self-hatred. There are no words that truly show love. But food can.

"Make food from your heart and share this stuffing over and over again. And when I win the Nobel Peace Prize for it, I will be sure to give Andrea credit for the extra butter and recognize all of you who choose to make the planet better and safer through food.

"Note: If you substitute cheap sliced bread or make any other shortcut, processed substitutions, you will not get the results I am speaking of and you will not help to revolutionize this planet. And if you still use cheap sliced bread, for God’s sake, please don’t tell me about it!"

*Butter can be substituted with Duck Fat or Shmaltz for a kosher stuffing.

Serves 6-10

Ingredients

1 pound loaf (more or less) of best quality crusty multi-grain bread ( I use La Brea Bakery Multi-grain loaf)
1 onion, chopped
2 leeks, whites and light green parts, sliced
1 cup chopped celery
2 links uncooked chicken sausage (mild italian or chicken apple), squeezed out of its casing (optional)
1 stick salted butter or 7 tablespoons duck fat or shmaltz
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped sage
1 tablespoon thyme sprigs + 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
3 fennel bulbs
3 portobello mushrooms
2 + 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 + 1 teaspoons of kosher salt
2 1/2 cups homemade chicken or vegetable broth, salted
1/8 cup parsley
3 eggs
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

For roasting the mushrooms and fennel:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Wash mushrooms. Pull off stem and carefully remove brown “gills” underneath with a paring knife. Slice mushrooms into 1/2 inch slices.
Lay on one of the baking sheets and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Add some fresh ground pepper.
Holding the thyme sprigs at one end, use the fingers of your other hand to gently slide down the stem, pulling off the leaves and sprinkle on mushrooms.
Use your fingers to mix mushrooms, lick your fingers, adjust seasoning as necessary, and lay them back down flat.
Cut the feathery fronds off the fennel so you are left with just the bulb. Cut the bulb in half vertically. Using a paring knife carefully remove the triangularly shaped tough core. Cut the fennel into vertical slices about 1/4 inch thick and then again into 1/4 inch cubes. Place fennel on other baking sheet and douse with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and add freshly ground pepper.
Use your fingers to mix it all together, lick your fingers to test seasoning, adjust as necessary and lay fennel back down flat.
Put both sheets in oven and roast for about 17-20 minutes.

For the bread:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cut bread into cubes ranging from 1/4 inch squares to 1 inch squares.
Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool.

For assembling the stuffing:
In a large pan, over medium heat, melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter.
Sauté onion, leeks, celery, sage and tablespoon of thyme for about 7 minutes. Put in large bowl.
If you are using chicken sausage, add another tablespoon of butter to pan (or duck fat or shmaltz) and sauté for about 4 minutes or until just cooked. Add to the bowl.
Add the vegetable/herb (with optional chicken sausage) medley, the bread, mushrooms, fennel, eggs, parsley, and broth to the bowl and mix well. Season generously with freshly ground pepper.
Transfer to a casserole dish and dot with remaining 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter (or duck fat or shmaltz).
Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 30 minutes at 375°F.
Uncover and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, until browned and crisp on top.
Serve right out of the oven!