Preparing a healthier Thanksgiving meal

Thanksgiving dinner isn't exactly healthy, but there are tips and tricks to make the meal a little more balanced without throwing out grandma's traditional green bean casserole recipe.

Portion control, substituting salt for herbs and spices and finding ways to sneak vegetables into traditional dishes are Hy-Vee dietitian Melissa Boncher go-to ways to make a holiday laden with salt, butter and sugar a little healthier.

'Food is a very complex topic … It brings us together” Boncher said. 'With clients, I drive home that yes, trying to be healthy around the holidays is important but without losing the tradition.”

Boncher said to stick with family tradition while exercising portion control. She also advises moving a little bit more during the holiday season. Maybe this means helping to set and clear the table, helping prepare the meal or getting off the couch to play with young children, grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews.

To demonstrate how to cook a healthier Thanksgiving, Jim Lenz, chef at Hy-Vee in Burlington, prepared some dishes resembling a traditional Thanksgiving meal with a twist.

Lenz, also known as Chef Bodini, prepared a main dish of Cornish hens with stuffing, a 'potato layer,” a vegetable tray and fresh cranberry bites for dessert.

The Cornish hens were seasoned with natural spices of red pepper flakes, parsley, oregano and basil, a concoction that Lenz is so fond of that he replaced his salt shaker at home with it.

'I was a terrible salt person. I salted something before I even tasted it, a terrible thing for a chef to do,” Lenz said, adding that even with his 25 years of experience as a chef at Hy-Vee, he still is learning new ways to prepare food.

Boncher also encourages the use of onions, garlic and fresh herbs in place of salt.

Boncher said herbs and spices are a good way to decrease the amount of sodium consumption. If picking up a seasoning, Boncher said a good choice is a label reading 5 percent sodium or less. A seasoning with 20 percent sodium or higher is a poor choice, she said.

Once the Cornish hens were seasoned, Lenz baked them instead of frying or roasting them. He stuffed them with a stuffing of wheat bread and acorn squash, which Boncher said was a way to get one more vegetable in the mix.

The potato layer was a mix of diced purple, red and white potatoes, which Lenz said is a little healthier than the traditional mashed russet potatoes. Lenz kept the skin on the potatoes for more fiber and seasoned them with Miss Dash seasoning, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. The potatoes were roasted.

The vegetable tray laden with cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, carrots, celery, and yellow, orange and red peppers was fashioned into a turkey to make it more festive.

Finally, the fresh cranberry bites were sweetened with Stevia instead of sugar. Lenz boiled the cranberries down in orange juice until they popped, he said. Then he mixed the cranberries with fresh cream, put the mixture in a freshly baked phyllo cup and topped it with a 'dollop” of light whipped cream.

'It's portion control. They're bite-sized,” Boncher said.

Whenever Lenz cooks something, he said he likes the dish to have three different flavors and five different textures.

Even as a chef, Lenz said the word 'cooking” has always held negative connotations for him. 'It's something that should be fun, flavorful, exciting and a time for family,” Lenz said, adding that 'cooking” implies it's not a choice, but a chore.

'Preparing a dinner, now that puts it in a better frame of mind,” Lenz said, urging families to all chip in this holiday season to prepare the Thanksgiving meal. 'Preparing food is an art, just like painting a picture or playing the piano.”