'Tis the season to think local

(NC) – The holiday season is a busy time, so it’s easy to get side-tracked and let our good environmental habits slide. There are a number of simple ways to stay green during the holidays, including purchasing home-grown produce and meats.

TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) offers reasons on why you should go local this holiday season:

• Environmental benefits: Transporting food uses a lot of energy – when we reduce the distance food travels, we help the environment.
• Food quality: Food grown locally is fresher and often tastier.
• Community development: Buying locally keeps money circulated within the community allowing growth in the local economy.

One easy way make your holiday meal a little greener is to visit a farm or market in your community and purchase a locally raised, free-range turkey. Then dress up your bird with a delicious stuffing made from primarily locally grown ingredients, such as this chestnut stuffing.

Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing

This recipe for a 3-5kg turkey is courtesy of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel:

• 250g /1 cup diced onion
• 150g / ½ cup diced celery
• 100g / 1/3 cup butter
• 500g / 4 cups bread cubes
• To taste Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped thyme
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 250mL/1 cup chicken stock to bind
• 200g/1 1/2 cups chestnuts roughly chopped

Method

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add onions, celery, garlic, salt and pepper. Add chestnuts and bread. Stir for one minute. Remove and place into a mixing bowl. Add the stock to bind and finally the chopped herbs. Add salt and pepper according to taste.

To prepare your Turkey

Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Remove the giblets from the turkey’s cavity. Wash the turkey cavity under the tap and drain. Fill with the chestnut stuffing and tie the legs to secure the stuffing. Brush the turkey with oil and season the turkey well with salt and pepper. Place stuffed turkey onto a roasting tray and place into oven. See the meat doneness chart for times – a 3–5 kg turkey will take approximately 2–2 1/2 hours to cook.

Your turkey should always have an internal temperature of 170°F (77 °C) when cooked.

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