whole wheat cranberry-hazelnut stuffing

First, I bet you're thinking "stuffing recipes are SO last week, Ashley!" I feel you. But if you'll swallow it, I'd like to share with you our favorite stuffing recipe. It truly transcends usual holiday fare. In fact, it often makes an appearance on our dining room table — most usually on Sunday nights.

So, this weekend is the perfect time to try it out.

If you're sick of cranberries and hazelnuts, try experimenting with apples and walnuts, perhaps. Or dried blueberries and pecans. I don't know, be creative! And let me know about it, please.

I have a lot of x-mas shopping to do today, so here's the recipe. Also, I hope you like the new site design. It's special to me because it's the pattern that's on my recipe box (most of my recipes are in books or scribbled on the back-sides of various documents I had to edit in my marketing days). Anyway, I really like the look, so I think it'll stick for a while. Until I get bored. Which -- at least with design -- is constantly.

Hmmph!



WHOLE WHEAT CRANBERRY-HAZELNUT STUFFING
(it's not just for Thanksgiving anymore!)

What you'll need . . .

• 6 cups whole wheat croutons
• 1-1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1-1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1-1/2 cup chopped portabella (or baby bella, in my case) mushrooms
• 1 cup dried cranberries (or more or less, depending on your taste for cranberries)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
  
• 1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
• ground pepper (to taste)
• 1-1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup steel-cut oats

Method . . .
(above, my husband distributes stuffing with his hands.)

1. Heat oil and add onion, sauté until translucent. Then add mushrooms and cranberries, sauté another 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine croutons with the onion/mushroom/cranberry mixture . . . and then add everything BUT the vegetable stock.
3. Then, add the vegetable stock to the mix slowly . . . turning with a rubber spatula (or your hands) to combine.
4. Transfer everything to a shallow 1-1/2 quart baking pan (ours was a different size), and bake 15 minutes.
5. Stir mixture and bake another 10 to 15 minutes.

NOTE: You may need to add more vegetable stock depending on how wet or dry your stuffing turns out. Just add liquid 1/4 cup at a time to be safe (and not too soggy).




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