Thanksgiving Recipe #2: Orange-Cranberry Relish

Canned cranberry sauce not only looks gross, but the ingredients make you second guessing whether it actually counts as a fruit serving: INGREDIENTS: Cranberries, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Corn Syrup.
Don't be fooled by "whole berry" canned cranberry sauce- most of these are just the same concoction of HFCS and corn syrup, but the cranberries are not pureed: INGREDIENTS: Cranberries, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Corn Syrup. 

Making homemade cranberry sauce is not difficult and takes very little time. Even if you use full-sugar recipes, they will still be better than using the can which is shelf-stable for years. You will be consuming real fruit with higher levels of antioxidants, and you have control over what type of sugar you add in.

Below is my recipe for a Honey Cranberry Orange Relish. Orange zest adds a nice flavor and more antioxidants to any recipe (I forgot to mention to add it to the sweet potato casserole!). I even add orange zest to my oat bran in the morning. A cranberry relish is a nice twist on the usual cranberry sauce, and is much lower in sugar.

Honey Cranberry Orange Relish

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 large navel orange, chopped fine w/ peel on

1/3 cup sugar (or use a sugar substitute to make even lower-calorie)

1/4 cup honey or agave

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash of salt

dash of vanilla or almond extract

DIRECTIONS:

Rinse cranberries & scrub orange peel (I recommend using organic for this recipe). Put all ingredients into pot on stove. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until cranberries pop and sauce begins to get thick. Remove from heat and let cool. 

Makes 10 servings (> 2 tbsp each).

NUTRITION PER SERVING: 78 calories, 0 g fat, 20 g carb (2 g fiber), 17 g sugar, 25% DV Vit C

*Source: Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce Label