This year for thanksgiving, I decided to try a Cranberry Relish recipe from Susan V’s FatFree Vegan Kitchen. It’s fresh, incredibly easy and surprisingly delicious.  I tried it once before Thanksgiving to test it out and really enjoyed it.  I tweaked it just a bit for t-day and liked it even better.

The recipe calls for:

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 navel orange (rind on), scrubbed and cut into 8 pieces
2 apples, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
3/4 to 1 cup natural sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans (we omit since we’re McDougalling)

Divide fruit in half and pulse in food processor to chop coarsely. Stir in sugar and let sit in refrigerator for 2 or 3 days to let the flavors develop.

The first time I made this, I used 1/2 cup of natural cane sugar and stopped there because I thought it tasted sweet enough.  I also left the pieces chopped pretty coarsely.  It was good but even after it sat with the sugar for a couple of days, it was still a bit tart – especially when we bit into a bigger chunk of cranberry or orange rind.  For Thanksgiving I made these adjustments:

• For sweetener, I used 1/2 cup of natural cane sugar and 1/3 cup pure maple syrup.
• I pulsed in food processor until fruit was chopped into small pickle-relish sized pieces.

I think these tweaks made the relish a little sweeter and added a wintery, holiday, maple flavor which nicely complimented the dish.  It was served to rave reviews.  If you like less sweet, more tart foods though, I’d definitely chop it more coarsely and use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar.  I’m considering trying some fresh chopped mint in it next time (or perhaps just as a garnish). I think it might compliment it really well.

After the initial test run, we had quite a bit left over so I decided to try some frozen fruit pops.  I poured the mixture into some plastic cups, inserted a popsicle stick, covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the freezer.  They came out great! We need to buy some proper molds or at least get smaller cups – but they made for a super yummy and very fresh-tasting frozen treat.

One of our favorite things to do when we’re craving ice cream is to put frozen sliced bananas into the food processor.  They are creamy all by themselves and make delicious, smooth ice cream.  If you need some liquid to help them process better, a little water or non-fat soymilk works great.  But we usually don’t need to add anything – and the less liquid you add, the more like ice cream it will be.  Last week, craving a pre-Thanksgiving holiday desert, I decided to break up one of the frozen relish pops I’d made and add it to frozen bananas to try making a cranberry banana ice cream.  I did have to add some liquid to help it along (though if I’d let the frozen relish pop thaw for just 10 minutes or so, I might not have needed the liquid at all).  It made a completely scrumptious ice cream desert that was both sweet and tart and was a very nice change from the regular banana ice cream we’ve come to love.