Wow, it’s only 5 days until Thanksgiving! Somehow every year the holiday seems to sneak up on me. I have a bazillion reasons to be thankful, but one trumps them all this year; my son is back from his deployment to Afghanistan!!!!!!!! Ron and I went to greet him on his return to Colorado Springs. I am one proud and happy momma!

He and all of his men returned safe and sound from a 9 month deployment. However you may feel about the war, please thank any service men and women you see while out and about this holiday season. They and their families sacrifice a lot to keep us safe and protect our freedoms.

I’m also amazed and thankful that our house on the Jersey Shore survived Sandy’s wrath. Our 100 year old house is still standing tall (minus a few roof shingles).  Thankfully, all of our family in the east is also safe and sound following the storm. We’re heading to Jersey on Monday to celebrate Thanksgiving so I’ll get to see the devastation of my old stomping grounds first hand.

Since we’re traveling for the holiday, I won’t be cooking a turkey, but I thought I’d share this recipe which provides a great way to use up any leftover turkey you may have. This is equally good with cooked chicken. I like my food with some heat, so I used a whole chipotle. If you like less heat, use only  half a chile. I found this recipe years ago in Cooking Light Magazine. A few changes and it’s now perfectly paleo.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon coconut oil

2 dried Anaheim Chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into pieces

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce

1 14oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons raw honey

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 cup almond flour

1 14oz can organic vegetable broth

1/2 cup raw almond butter

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

3 cups cooked turkey, chopped

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add Anaheim chiles, sauté 1 minute. Add onion and garlic, sauté about 4 minutes or until onion is lightly browned.

Add the chipotle chili, tomatoes, honey, cumin, salt, cloves, almond flour, and vegetable broth to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Carefully spoon mixture into a food processor, process until smooth. Return mixture to pan, stir in almond butter and vinegar, cook 1 minute. Stir in turkey. Continue to cook until turkey is heated through.

Serve over cauliflower “rice” and garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy!