Like many other people, I will be sharing Thanksgiving with people with varying dietary needs. Sitting at my Thanksgiving table will be 3 people who are gluten intolerant, 1 vegetarian, 1 person who is lactose intolerant, and 2 people with high cholesterol.
Since I create a Thanksgiving buffet, I can easily make several dishes that work each person. I use dinner place cards to identify the dish and then use the symbols df, gf, v, and lf or ff, so my guests can readily identify which dishes are safe for them to consume. One of the things that I like about my Wild Rice Stuffing is that it works for everyone!
When we have vegetarians with us for the holidays I cook the stuffing in a baking dish so it does not come in contact with the turkey. An added benefit to this method is that the turkey cooks faster when it is cooked with an empty cavity.
How to Make Croutons:
Since I often make my bread from scratch, I hate seeing any of it go to waste! If some bread starts to dry out, I make croutons rather than tossing it.
You can make croutons from any leftover bread including the heals of bread loaves and uneaten buns or rolls.
Brush both sides of the piece of bread with olive oil and dust with garlic powder, onion powder, and any other spices that sound good ( I added sage to the croutons pictured).
Cut the bread up into bite size pieces, and place them on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 450 degrees for 5 –8 minutes or until they are toasty brown, tossing the croutons every 2 – 3 minutes. Leave the croutons on the baking sheet to cool.
- 2½ cups cooked wild rice
- 3 T. olive oil
- ⅓ cup onion, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup celery, diced
- 2½ cups croutons (make croutons from rice bread to make this recipe gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced ( or 1½ teaspoons dried)
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon sage
- ¼ teaspoon rosemary
- dash black pepper
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 egg, beaten
- Add oil to large skillet, sauté onion and celery until onion is tender.
- Add rice, croutons, and spices.
- Slowly stir in broth and egg.
- Place stuffing in a 1½ quart greased baking dish.
- Cover the baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then bake it uncovered for an additional 10 minutes.
How do you deal with the different dietary needs of your holiday guests?
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Christy says
I just made croutons – I cooked them in my 170 degree oven for like an hours stirring every so often. I am not responsible enough to cook as high temp – I would burn them for sure LOL – but I will certainly give this a try if I am in a hurry! Isn't it wonderful not to have to buy croutons?!
cheerful says
looks tasty, we love croutons and thanks for sharing your recipe, this will be in our table soon! 🙂 happy weekend! 🙂
Erin @ EKat's Kitchen says
How tasty!! I love the crouton tutorial (I usually cheat and just go with stale bread)… and the wild rice is a nice addition to make this healthy and to give spectacular texture. Thanks for joining up to Friday Potluck!
Melodie says
In my group of friends we have a lot of different food intolerances. It sure makes for interesting birthday parties for the kids and potlucks. But everyone tries to consider everyone else all the time so we do okay. Thanks for linking up with Vegetarian Foodie Fridays!
Jennifer says
I want to try this!
Grace says
I am so glad you did a how-to-make-crouton post. My kids were eating them yesterday and I thought it would be much better to make my own than to buy them. Perfect timing! 🙂
vickie says
Alea,
Wow you do a fantastic job with all those different dietary needs!
Your guests are lucky to have you. Your stuffing recipe sounds wonderful!
vickie