Cranberry Sauce Recipe

One of the key side items for Thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce, which adds color to your plate and flavor to your turkey. Ginny from Macedonia, Iowa, writes in with the request to rehab her family's favorite recipe. She has been trying to cook from scratch and include more fruits and vegetables in her meals since her husband was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Additionally, they are both trying to lose weight, so reducing the calories of their favorite dishes is important.

Cranberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and phytonutrients, which have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. However, they do have an extremely tart flavor that is difficult to get past when you're trying to increase your consumption. Like many of the canned versions, Ginny's recipe for cranberry sauce contains large amounts of sugar to balance out the tart flavor of the cranberries. I will replace most of the sugar in her recipe with fruit and fruit juices to add more vitamins and minerals and to reduce the calorie of the sauce.

This recipe is simple and easy to prepare, so give it a try instead of purchasing a canned version or making a high-sugar batch of your own this year.

Ingredients
2 (12-ounce) bags of fresh cranberries, washed and sorted
1 cup crushed pineapple
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions
1. Add the cranberries, pineapple, orange juice, pomegranate juice and ginger to a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. When the berries start to pop, stir consistently until the mixture thickens.
3. Remove from heat. Stir in maple syrup and cloves. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves: 12

Nutrition Content (per serving)
74 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 19 g carbohydrates, 13 g sugars, 3 g fiber, 0 g protein, 4 mg sodium

Note: For a chunkier version, peel and chop three large oranges into bite-size pieces and add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the cranberry mixture before chilling.

Nutrition Content (for chunky version)
122 calories, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 24 g carbohydrates, 16 g sugars, 4 g fiber, 1 g protein, 4 mg sodium

More Healthy Holiday Recipes from That's Fit:
Cream of Pumpkin Soup
Simple Thanksgiving Swaps
Pumpkin Pie

Readers, I would love to hear from you! Please send me your favorite fattening recipes that need a RECIPE REHAB! Everything from your mom's meatloaf to your kid's favorite dessert -- let me lighten it up.

Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach, Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com and www.theskinnyondietitians.com has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you're eating healthy foods. Have a recipe in need of rehab? Send us your recipe!