Low-carb choices make meals festive

Even a few moments of unrestrained eating can lead to trouble for dieters.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
The idea of Thanksgiving without carbohydrates is as unthinkable as Easter without eggs or Hanukkah without latkes. Or is it?
Some estimates put the number of Americans on a low-carbohydrate diet in the tens of millions. That means there will be a whole lot of Thanksgiving diners giving thanks to Dr. Atkins and passing on the potatoes.
That doesn't necessarily mean a boring Thanksgiving table. At the Atkins.com Web site, low-carbers can find help planning a Thanksgiving that starts with roasted cauliflower and almond cream soup followed by a country-style stuffed turkey and gravy, with the stuffing made from reduced-carbohydrate bread, maple-flavored sausage and apples. For dessert, consider a pumpkin pie with a pecan crust.
Dana Carpender, author of the top-selling low-carb cookbook, "500 Low-Carb Recipes" (Fair Winds; 496 pages), says there are plenty of ways to de-carb Thanksgiving dinner. Although many people on reduced-carbohydrate diets simply decide to indulge on Thanksgiving, they still want reduced-carbohydrate options, she said.
Even with a de-carbed table, Carpender warns that people who plan to indulge need to remember that even a few moments of unrestrained eating can lead to wholesale carb indulgence.
"People tend to make that transition from one day of indulgence to suddenly the whole holiday season, so they have to be careful," she says, suggesting that people who plan to eat carbs on Thanksgiving eat their usual low-carb, high-protein breakfast and then make sure they give away all carb-laden leftovers.
And, she advises, remember that not everyone is eating the way you do. For example, she makes "fauxtatoes" -- essentially pureed cauliflower (see recipe).
Alternatives
The following is a collection of low-carb alternatives for the Thanksgiving menu, based on several sources, including Carpender's book and the Atkins.com Web site.
Mashed cauliflower (instead of potatoes): Cook one large head of cauliflower in water with one-third cup cream (the cream keeps the cauliflower from turning an unappetizing gray color) until very soft, but don't overcook it or it will become stinky. Process it in a food processor or blender with four ounces of cream cheese, one tablespoon butter and salt and pepper to taste.
Carpender suggests adding a real potato to the mix to compromise between the potato lovers and the low-carbers.
Turnips are another great alternative to potatoes. Peel and cut them into small cubes and boil until extremely tender. Process them the same way you would cauliflower. Turnips have slightly less carbohydrates -- and more fiber -- than cauliflower.
For sweet-potato lovers, mash sweet potatoes with a larger amount of pumpkin to dilute the carb count. Sweeten with the brown-sugar version of Sugar Twin.
Gravy: Guar or xanthan gum, available in health-food stores, can replace flour as a thickener for gravy. One teaspoon of guar or xanthan gum equals one tablespoon of cornstarch; three-fourths teaspoon equals one tablespoon of flour.
Stuffing: Many low-carb turkey-stuffing recipes call for extra onions and celery as well as sausage, mushrooms, nuts and even pork rinds to bulk them up, but you can also use low-carbohydrate bread if you're looking for a more authentic texture.
No preservatives
Low-carb breads and faux cornbread contain no sugar or chemicals to preserve them, so special care should be taken when drying them. One way is to cut the bread into strips or the cornbread into cubes, spread out on a baking sheet and place (uncovered) in the refrigerator for a couple of days. On the day you make the stuffing, bring to room temperature.
Cranberry sauce: Low-carbers never eat commercial cranberry sauce. Instead, they make their own following directions on the back of the bag of whole cranberries, but substituting Splenda sweetener for the sugar.
Pie: It's hard to resist a slice of pie at the end of the Thanksgiving feast. That may be why Internet low-carb recipe sites are filled with both pumpkin and pecan alternatives. For most, nuts and nut flours replace wheat flour in piecrusts, and Splenda (sometimes kicked up with a little blackstrap molasses) or sugar-free maple syrup takes the place of refined sugar.
Just remember, if you're not going to cook your own pumpkin, be sure to buy canned pumpkin, not pumpkin-pie filling, which has sugar in it.
Don't forget to refrigerate your pie; with no sugar to act as a preservative, it will go bad quickly if left sitting around at room temperature.