Cranberry Relish Salad
Traditions can be a great thing. Especially in my family where heart health and low sodium have become tradition. During the holidays, traditions are even more important. In my family, and maybe in yours, some of the things most handed down are eating habits. Maybe not so blatantly as; “Congrats, we are guilt eaters!” But in many other aspects. Food is an essential ingredient of life. That is why we often have problems with diets or food issues, because we tie them to so many other parts of our lives, memories, and families. So we are all about remaking our traditional family recipes into healthier meals. Today we are about doing away with canned cranberry sauce for a fresh Cranberry Relish Salad.
Crafting New Traditions
Many traditions are centered around food. Also on recipes. Some of the fondest memories I have of my Grandfather are the recipes for the candies and treats he made for us each year at Christmas. I will bet that you have recipes that were passed on to you. I have quite the treasure trove of them. It is a collection that I visit now with the intention to hack out the sodium and keep these recipes in our family and to pass on a hopefully healthier tradition.
Heart Healthy Thanksgiving
When addressing Thanksgiving, I started with the primary piece, the Turkey. Once that was perfected, I needed to be able to revisit each of the traditional side dishes as well. Which led me to the Cranberry Sauce. I remember more often than not growing up, the Cranberry sauce was a dark red cylinder of some gelatinous substance in the exact shape of the can it came from lying atop a few leaves of lettuce. It was not too inspiring, and my brothers and I usually avoided it at all costs. I mean it took up valuable plate real estate that could have gone to mash potatoes and gravy or more turkey.
When I met my wife though, my preconceptions of Cranberry Sauce changed. Her mother, my mother-in-law made a Cranberry Relish Salad. It was fresh, bright, and reminded me a lot of chutney that I looked forward to in a savory dish, as opposed to avoiding the gelatinous version of Cranberry Sauce. The bonus of this recipe is that there was only minor hacking to remove any unneeded sodium. So here then is my mother-in-law’s recipe with my salt hacks applied to start a new tradition for our family holiday meals. What traditions do you carry forward? Let me know in the comments below.
The Recipe For Cranberry Relish Salad
Cranberry Relish Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb Fresh Cranberries
- 2 whole Granny Smith apples diced to 1/4"
- 1 1/2 cup Sugar or 3/4 cup Sugar Substitute
- 1 package Raspberry Jello small package
- 1 cup Celery finely cut
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Walnuts chopped
- 1 whole Lemon juice of
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the apples, celery, and cranberries together until they are rough chopped (we don't want a puree).
- Add the sugar and lemon juice and mix thoroughly until the sugar is incorporated.
- Allow the mixture to sit in the refrigerator overnight to absorb the sugar.
- Dissolve gelatin in cup of water that has been brought to a simmering boil – let cool for ½ an hour.
- Before completely hardens, add all other ingredients including walnuts, mix completely and chill until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition