Gobble, Gobble

When it comes to Thanksgiving, turkey is often sacrosanct for many families. But not everyone wants to fret about cooking a whole bird, particularly if you have a closet-sized kitchen, are suffering from a time deficit, or are feeding a diminutive crowd. But that certainly doesn’t mean turkey has to be off the table.

Thighs, juicy drumsticks, or even ground meat—there are plenty of easy-to-handle cuts of poultry available that can turn a meal into a feast of flavour. These turkey recipes add up to more than the sum of their parts.

Regardless of which cut of turkey you decide to cook up during the holiday season, consider splurging on meat sourced from farms that raise their birds according to organic practices. Not only does organic turkey meat often have richer tasting flavour, but birds raised organically for consumption are not permitted to be administered antibiotics and are given feed that is free of genetically modified ingredients or animal byproducts.

Turkeys on organic farms also have more room to roam, which contributes to their well-being. If lucky enough, you’ll even come across heritage breeds of turkey that offer plenty of flavour nuances and contribute to genetic diversity in our food chain.

Recipes

• Turkey with Apple Fig Chutney and Parsnip Purée
• Turkey, Mushroom, and Wild Rice Soup
• Individual Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
• Maple Glazed Turkey Thighs
• Turkey Drumsticks with Cranberry Sauce

Dark delight

For some reason, dark poultry meat has gotten a bad nutritional rap compared to white meat. Yet, ounce for ounce, dark turkey meat only contains a couple of extra grams of fat. It’s certainly a minor compromise when you consider how much juicier and forgiving to the cook dark meat is.