Cranberry Sauce

A bright, real cranberry sauce, fully at home on your holiday plate. Cranberries simmered with orange juice, honey, cinnamon, and ginger until the berries burst into something tart, warm, and genuinely delicious, no different from what everyone else at the table is enjoying.

Cranberries are a source of polyphenols, plant compounds studied for their antioxidant activity, and the orange juice adds vitamin C, which supports normal immune function. The honey here is a modest 2 1/2 tablespoons across the whole batch, and cranberries themselves carry very little natural sugar, so the sweetness stays light and mostly comes from the fruit.

Let it simmer until the berries burst and the kitchen smells like the season. Spoon it into a dish you love, and take a moment before the meal to be grateful for whole food, simply cooked.

Ingredients

• 4 cups cranberries
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

The original recipe also called for ground allspice. Allspice is a seed-spice and is not included in the AIP elimination phase, so it is left out here. The cinnamon and ginger carry plenty of warmth on their own.

Method

• Put the cranberries and orange juice in a pot over medium heat and bring them to a slow boil.
• Stir in the honey, cinnamon, and ginger.
• Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook, stirring now and then, until the berries burst and soften into a sauce.
• Take it off the heat. It will thicken further as it cools. Serve warm or chilled.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*

*Lower-sugar note: most of the sweetness here is the honey. We have already trimmed it, and you can cut it back further to taste, starting with half and adding only if you need it.*