Wild Rice Stuffing with Turkey Italian Sausage, Cranberries and Hazelnuts

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, I’m sitting here becoming conscious of the fact that I’ve hardly posted any Thanksgiving related recipes. Sure there’s been this festive little number, and this refreshing, fall-worthy salad, but other than that – nada. I was hesitant to go forward with sharing the few recipes I have stored away as we’re teetering so close to the big day, because if America is anything remotely like me, they’ve already planned their menus days ago. BUT because I do love Thanksgiving and because I know there are thousands of procrastinators out there, I’ll be sharing a few recipe ideas with you over the next week.

Since the blogosphere is completely saturated with traditional Thanksgiving recipes, I thought I’d go off the beaten path a little bit, and down a healthier, more nutritious route. So today I’m partnering up with Grains Food Foundation to bring you my healthier spin on a classic stuffing – Wild Rice Stuffing with Turkey Italian Sausage, Cranberries and Hazelnuts.

Stuffing has always been one of my favorite components of the Thanksgiving spread, and typically each year, we have my Grandmother’s version, what we call “dressing”, which is a simple makeup of dried white sandwich bread, raw celery, onion, poultry seasoning, egg and copious amounts of butter and chicken stock. It’s a rather wet, casserole version of stuffing that I adore, but not everyone in the family embraces it as much as my Mother and I do. Because half of our family prefers a more traditional version, we also have a stuffing tailored more towards my Dad and brother. Their preferred stuffing is a drier, more crumbly variation made up of rustic ciabatta and cornbread and then chocked full of Italian sausage, cranberries and fresh sage.

While today’s stuffing encompasses the Italian Sausage, cranberries from our dry variation, and the onion and celery from the wet variation, the health factor is taken up a few notches with the addition of whole-grain bread crumbs and nutty wild rice. With today’s society so focused on staying lean, those that are “watching their weight” often forget that grains are an essential part of our diets. Our bodies need them to survive, and just because we’re in the midst of the holidays, doesn’t mean you have to skimp on getting your fair share.

What I love most about this dish? Only the stove is required, leaving you plenty of room in the oven for birds, green bean casserole and some of these puff pastry sausage rolls (trust me you need these in your life). It’s also something that can be prepared the day before, or even a few days ahead, stored in the fridge and then reheated on the stove quickly before dinner.

The nutty wild rice, toasted bread crumbs, cranberries and turkey sausage all pair wonderfully together, giving this side dish the perfect counterbalance of sweet, salty and savory. Plus, it’s pretty gorgeous too…