Cranberries are often relegated to a small side at Thanksgiving, but since they're available until late December, there's no reason to eat them just once a year! They also freeze well, so it's not a bad idea to buy a few extra bags for the future.
Cranberry sauce is very easy to make and delicious with goat cheese, in sandwiches with avocado, with squash & kale, and in non-traditional tacos.
My winter taco creation: turkey, kale, kabocha squash, and cranberry sauce. To rock the textural contrast, let the corn tortilla sit open in a hot cast iron skillet and then fold before it gets too crispy; add fillings and enjoy.
Nutrition Highlight: Cranberries
Cranberries can be classified as a "superfood" because they are so packed with phytochemicals, beating out spinach, strawberries, broccoli, red grapes, apples, raspberries, and cherries. Only blueberries have more antioxidant capacity than cranberries.
Heart Health
Like chocolate, cranberries are an excellent source of polyphenols, which help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Polyphenols inhibit increased blood pressure by promoting anti-inflammatory mechanisms.
Cancer, Dental Disease, and UTIs
Proanthocyanidins (PACs) are antioxidants found in red-purple foods. These anti-oxidants are known for being particularly good cancer fighters. PACs prevent bacteria from binding to teeth and from binding to the urinary tract wall, thus fighting infection.
On a dental disease note, a classmate did her senior research project on simple carbohydrates' affect on dental caries. In her presentation, she mentioned that research shows if you allow time in between eating, your saliva is able to prevent bad bacteria from latching onto your teeth to digest the carbohydrates. But if you're constantly consuming food, your teeth have no time for saliva action. Drinking, rather than chewing, a lot of your fruits and veggies produces similar effects and also eliminates the natural cleaning abrasion that happens when you chomp on something like celery.
Number Crunching
A mere 1/2 c of cranberries is only 25 kcal and provides 10% of your daily needs for vitamin C, manganese, and fiber. Note that cooked cranberries will have a lower vitamin C content due to the heat sensitive nature of this vitamin.
Cranberry Orange Sauce
Many cranberry sauce recipes use 1 c sugar for 12 oz of cranberries, but I find that to be way too sweet, plus the less added sugar in your diet, the better. The orange juice provides some added natural sweetness and a hint of citrus flavor.
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c water
1 (12 oz) package cranberries, fresh or frozen
2 T grated orange zest (1 orange)
Combine sugar, water, OJ in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and add cranberries. Return to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in zest. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate.
Cranberry Ginger Sauce
For the liquid, use all water (1c) and instead of the orange zest, grate a 1" knob (2 tsp) of fresh ginger into the bubbling cranberries. For further flavor enhancing, add 1/4 tsp each ground cinnamon and salt.
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