Thanskgiving – Keto Vegetarian Girl

Buttery Roasted Green Beans

The most important Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition in our family is Grandma’s chestnut stuffing. Obviously, stuffing is not at all keto-friendly, so I had to find a creative way to keep the tradition going this year.

These green beans turned out super fantastic and retained all the savory deliciousness I loved about the stuffing recipe!

Note that for the Thanksgiving meal pictured, I did use chestnuts because roasting them the night before is such an important part of our tradition. But for everyday keto use, they’re too high in carbs, so on regular nights I’ve been using pecans in their place.

Thanksgiving Dinner: green beans, keto rolls, and Brussels sprouts gratin.

Ingredients

1 stick butter (1/2 cup) (dairy free: use 1/4 cup oil)
1 shallot
3/4 cup chopped celery leaves (which is about the amount you can get out of one bundle of celery – if you can’t get celery with the leaves still on it, just chop up a few celery stalks)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 pounds green beans, ends removed (I prefer the slender french ones)

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add in the shallot and celery leaves, cooking until the shallots are translucent.
Add in all the seasonings and pecans and cook a few minutes more.
Toss the green beans in the butter mixture until thoroughly coated, then spread over 2 large tinfoil-lined baking sheets (so that they are a single layer).
Bake about 15 minutes, until tender and slightly browned.

Feel free to adjust the serving size to better fit your macros for the day. But this easily makes 8 generous portions:

Makes 8 servings: 235 calories / 5.5 net carbs (10 total) / 22 fat / 4 protein each

Brussels Sprouts Gratin

This brussels sprout gratin was the ‘main event’ for our Thanksgiving meal this year, and I plan to make it again for regular dinner meal prep! With the flavors of gruyere, and tender but flavorful Brussels sprouts, I honestly think this beats my traditional carb bomb baked mac and cheese. Plus, it reheated beautifully in a 350F oven.
True story: I had to look up whether it was ‘brussels’ or ‘brussel’ – its Brussels with a capital B, so I was wrong all around.

Ingredients:

2 cups (1/2 pound) brussels sprouts, sliced
- or purchase shredded if you can find them
2 cloves garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
Olive oil
2oz (1/2 cup) gruyere, shredded
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flax meal
1 tbsp coconut flour
1 cup heavy cream (1/2 container)
1/2 tsp thyme

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Cook the garlic and brussels sprouts in olive oil until bright green and wilted.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan melt butter. Add flax meal and coconut flour and stir until cooked. Add cream and thyme and heat, stirring, until steaming but do not boil. Basically, you’re making a keto roux here.

If you cooked the brussels sprouts in a cast iron skillet you can leave them there. If not, place the brussels sprouts in a baking dish (we doubled the recipe and used a 9×13). Top with half the cheese, then pour over cream sauce, and top with remaining half of cheese.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until bubbly and browned.

Makes 4 servings. 357 cal / 5 net carbs (8.5 total) / 33 fat / 8 protein each.

Note for meat eaters: an excellent version of this involves cooking bacon, removing and then cooking the brussels sprouts in the bacon grease. You can add chopped bacon bits in before popping in the oven.

The inspiration for this dish came from Little Figgy Food: http://www.littlefiggy.com/creamy-brussel-sprouts-au-gratin/

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

When I first made these muffins, my husband was literally swearing about their perfection as he ate them. Not gonna lie, some explicatives may have slipped out of my mouth too. The texture is authentic and the spice is delightful. These are a great ‘treat’ to pack for snacks at work, perhaps to accompany a cup of coffee?

Ingredients:
For the muffins:

1 cup pumpkin puree (unsweetened)
5 tbsp melted butter
- (Vegan/DF: canned coconut cream
2 eggs
- (Vegan/DF: 2tbsp psyllium husk mixed with 4tbsp hot water)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
- (you can sub in protein powder for extra protein)
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tbsp ground psyllium husk
- (optional but reduces crumbliness)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin spice

Note: Its not a mistake, there are no sweeteners in this recipe! But if you’re looking for a sweeter treat, feel free to add a few drops stevia or pure monk fruit.

For the frosting:

8oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
generous splash of vanilla
Vegan/DF: Whip 1 14oz can coconut cream (best if refrigerated overnight) with 2 tsp vanilla until it resembles whipped cream.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 12-muffin tin. Take out your cream cheese and butter (for the frosting) to soften.

Sift together dry ingredients in one bowl.
In a separate bowl melt the butter, then stir in the pumpkin. Finally, add eggs and vanilla and stir. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Spoon into the muffin tins, and flatten tops since this batter does not rise. Bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat together all ingredients with a hand mixer until frosting consistency.

You can store these in the fridge for a week, but I recommend keeping the frosting separate and topping just as you are ready to eat.