Thanksgiving is coming up fast. We’re almost there. How did the year disappear so quickly? It’s time to share one of my most popular side dishes. It’s a simple recipe with no cooking at all. It takes less than 10 minutes including cleanup and it’s a big favorite with family and guests.

It is the easiest recipe for cranberries I know of. Almost everybody prefers it to the  cooked cranberry sauce, though I still make that too sometimes.

INGREDIENTS

1 package of fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 orange

1 tablespoon lemon juice

A food processor or lacking a food processor, a blender.

DIRECTIONS

No cooking required.

Cut up the orange, including the skin, rind and pith into bite-size pieces. Pour the entire bag of cranberries, orange sections, sugar and lemon juice into the food processor. Grind it all up. You might need to add a little water to get it processing, Use a tablespoon of water at a time. Too much water and you’ll have cranberry soup.

When it’s about the texture of applesauce, you’re done. Put it in a container with a lid and let it chill. You can eat it like applesauce for dessert, serve it with roast chicken, turkey, or pork , or as a relish with pretty much anything. I eat it as a dessert.

VARIATIONS

Sometimes I add a teaspoon of cinnamon or a pinch of ground cloves. Also, sometimes I use a quarter of a cup less sugar for a more tart relish.

SUGAR-FREE?

If you are diabetic or otherwise intolerant of sugar, I’m sure you can make a sugar-free version. Maybe just substitute a cooking version of Splenda or use Stevia? It might change the texture, but not much.

If your food processor fails or you don’t have one (mine decided to die in the middle of making this batch), you can use a blender. You’ll have to keep mixing stuff until it starts to process and you may need a little more liquid.

DONE

That’s it. You’re done.

Categories: #Food, #Recipes, Holidays, Seasons

Tags: Cranberries, Cranberry relish, Food processor, Marilyn Armstrong, recipe, Thanksgiving