Raw Cranberry Orange Relish

For Thanksgiving, there tend to be the three main kinds of cranberry sauce–the pureed smooth gelatin one, the cooked saucy one with the occasional whole cranberry, and the fresh slightly chunky relish variety. Some families go for the gelatinous one in the can, others make a gelatin cranberry sauce from scratch, others are strictly for the cooked saucy one, some go for the raw one, and still other families will go all out and make more than one variety. I like each variety for different reasons, and I decided to experiment with making a raw relish first. This cranberry orange relish is completely raw, vegan and does not use refined sugar. I couldn’t find a recipe out there that I liked exactly, so I combined a few and then added my own take (the raw ginger and maple syrup) to give it a little pizazz. While this kind of relish is a common staple for the holidays, I liked this so much I would love to make it throughout the year, just to have in the fridge to snack on.

The Recipe

Makes 1.5 cups prepared relish

1.5 cups fresh cranberries, whole

1/2 an orange, in quarters (peel on, preferably organic since you’re eating the peel)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 inch fresh ginger root

Wash cranberries and orange well. Peel the chunk of ginger root. Put the ginger root in the food processor and process until it is pulverized a bit. Add the cranberries, orange and maple syrup. Pulse the cranberries, orange and maple syrup in food processor in short bursts. You do not want to over process, or it will not have that pretty and tasty relish quality. Just process enough to chop everything into tiny pieces, like a relish. It’s ready to eat. Taste it at this point to make sure it is sweet enough for your taste. If desired, you can stir in additional maple syrup with a spoon or spatula, but I liked the tart sweetness of this ratio. Store in an airtight container or glass jar in the fridge and serve in a pretty bowl when ready to eat.

What’s your favorite kind of cranberry sauce?

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