What dish is a must on your holiday table? For our family, it’s always been Thanksgiving stuffing. The aroma of onions and sage baking in the oven just gets our mouth-watering. When we made the switch to a plant-based life, stuffing remained a family tradition. But today it’s considerably lower in fat and bursting with top nutrition. By using whole grains and plenty of vegetables, this dish is a power-house for better health all through the year. Why should we restrict stuffing to just Thanksgiving? This is a hearty dish we can enjoy all year long! And when you add some beans like garbanzos, it can even become the main entree on your dinner table.
I always use a whole wheat bread in making Holiday Bread Stuffing. Sprouted wheat bread is my #1 choice. There are so many varieties in the grocery store. Even Aldis sells them! Starting with a dense bread will give you more flavor plus boost your health in many ways. It takes very little time to turn whole grain bread into tasty bread cubes for stuffing. I lay the bread slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then flip the bread and bake for 8-10 minutes more. The bread should feel toasty and look golden brown. Sometimes I will make the bread a day ahead just to save a little time.
I also love adding fresh parsley to this dish. It’s one of my mainstays in our kitchen garden. And even with the hard frosts hitting us this Fall, the parsley was just as fresh and robust as it’s been all summer. No garden? Check out your local grocery store. They should have bunches of flat-leaf parsley you can enjoy. Just chop it up coarsely or pulse briefly in your food processor. Or to cut time, you can also use 1/4 cup of dried parsley.
You’ll notice Aquafaba is listed as one of the ingredients. You won’t find a bottle or jar of this at the store. It’s the liquid you find in a can of beans. Just a fancy name for the thick brine you find inside. Believe it or not, it doesn’t taste like beans and it has similar qualities to egg white! It thickens liquids and binds vegetarian loaves and burgers together. You can also use it in baking to replace egg white. I will often drain off the Aquafaba. And if I’m not using it right away, I’ll pop it into my freezer for future meal-making.
Healthy Holiday Bread Stuffing is an easy dish to put together. It will be gobbled up fast for your next holiday get-together!
Whole-Wheat Bread HealthBites
What makes whole-wheat bread the kind of bread that loves you back? The benefits of whole-wheat over white refined bread are about more than just the flavor. Eating whole-grain bread, along with a healthy lifestyle, gives you a wide amount of protection from many diseases, including stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and colon cancer. Whole grains also are rich in protein, fiber, and other nutrients that can help to lower your blood pressure naturally, strengthen your immune system, and even reduce gum disease.
Healthy Holiday Bread Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 loaf whole-grain bread cubed and dried
- 2 cups yellow onions chopped
- 2 cups celery sliced
- 1-2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and chopped
- 2/3 cup raisins (optional)
- 2/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 Tbs rubbed sage
- 2 tsp basil
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth or vegetable stock
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 5 Tbs Aquafaba
- 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, with liquid optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lay whole grain bread on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops look slightly browned and feel toasty. Flip them to the other side and bake for 8-10 minutes more.
- Chop onions, celery, apples and fresh parsley. Add them to a medium size pot with about 1/4 to 1/3 cup water or vegetable broth. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the celery is softened and the onions are translucent.
- Add the seasonings and fresh parsley; cook for several minutes, then remove from heat.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the vegetable broth, almond milk and Aquafaba. Pour over the bread cubes and vegetable mixture. Stir well. Be sure that all the bread cubes have been moistened.
- Pour the stuffing into an 8x11 inch baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10-15 minutes more. Check the center with a knife, to be sure it is not too wet.
Notes
