How to Make heart healthy cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving

In the South, cornbread dressing is a staple at Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. No turkey dinner would be complete without it. Even if you are concerned about cholesterol, you can enjoy turkey with cornbread dressing by following this recipe and instructions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• corn meal mix
• 1/2 an onion
• 4 celery stalks
• 4 tbs. dried sage
• 12 oz chicken broth
• olive or canola oil
• egg
• Lipton's cream of chicken cup of soup

1. Make the cornbread first. Use a corn meal mix and follow the instructions for cooking the cornbread and substitute a few ingredients it calls for to make it heart healthy. Use egg whites instead of the whole egg. Use skim milk or 1% milk. Instead of using shortening or other oils, use canola or olive oil. Add a 1/4 cup of plain yogurt.

2. While the cornbread is cooking, dice half of a medium onion and 4 celery stalks and put them in a small sauce pan and heat on low heat with just enough water to cover them. Cook just until they begin to be soft. Set aside.

3. Toast 4 pieces of whole wheat bread. Once the toast and the cornbread have cooled to room temperature, start crumbling the breads into a large mixing bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of sage and mix into bread well. Next, add the onions and celery. Add a 1/2 tsp of salt and a pinch of pepper for flavoring and mix well. Add the chicken broth and mix well. The dressing will hold together and you spread it into a large casserole dish. You can either cover it to cook later or cook it immediately. Cook on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

4. 

   Instead of using gravy with your turkey and dressing, substitute Lipton's cream of chicken "cup of soup".

Tips & Warnings

• When I cook Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, I usually make the dressing the day before I cook the turkey and store in the refrigerator to cook after the turkey has finished cooking.
• Taste the dressing before cooking. You may want to add more sage, depending on your tastes.

[KHarper]

on 11/17/2008 Veryirie: Yes, you could easily use vegetable broth. I buy organic chicken broth but there is no reason you have to use chicken. I add it for moisture. I used to use melted butter...back in the old days before I had to worry about such things. Some people use eggs too but this recipe works without eggs or butter so it's perfect for vegans too though I'm not sure what would work as an egg and milk substitute in the cornbread. I have used mashed bananas in recipes before as a substitute for eggs but I don't think that would work for cornbread :)

[veryirie]

on 11/17/2008 I think if I substitute vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, I could serve this to my vegetarian guests, right? Thanks for this recipe; directions were very clear.