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Produce for the Holidays {Indy Style}

By Lori Taylor

Dec 13, 2018, Updated May 27, 2021

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Today on Indy Style, we discussed some great ways to incorporate produce into your holiday meals. We shared an innovative cocktail and garnish, stuffing recipe, and dessert. We even shared a fun idea for Santa’s reindeer!

Chili Lime Seasoning & Pink Lady Apples

Provide guests with a signature cocktail as they arrive to your holiday party. It’s a fun way to  get everyone in a celebratory mood. Sprinkle Chili Lime Seasoning on Pink Lady Apples and throw a few into each cocktail glass to kick off the festivities. Short on time? Instead of making your own Chili Lime Seasoning, try Tajin. Tajin is a pre-made chili lime seasoning that can be found in the produce department.

Chili Lime Seasoned Apples Ingredients:

• Pink Lady® Apple slices
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder or smoky paprika
• 1 teaspoon lime zest approximately ½ lime
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Shake and store in airtight container. 
2. Sprinkle on to Pink Lady apple slices.
3. Put sprinkled apples in a cocktail.

Cocktail Ingredients:

You can use whatever you have on hand, but here’s one of our festive favorites:

• 1 shot elderflower liqueur
• 1 shot vodka
• Pamplemousse (grapefruit-flavored) sparkling water
• Fresh cranberries
• Chili lime seasoned Pink Lady apple slices (see above)
• Fresh mint

Cocktail Directions:

1. Mix together elderflower liqueurs and vodka and top glass with sparkling water.
2. Add in fresh cranberries, apple slices, and fresh mint.

Cornbread-Sausage Stuffing with Pink Lady® Apples

Team cornbread or team French bread… both will love this stuffing recipe because it includes some of each! This stuffing is loaded with sage-infused sausage. Celery, toasted pecans, and apple give it just the right amount of crunch. The juicy burst of flavor from the apple pieces ensures you won’t ever get a dry bite. It’s a holiday must!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground pork sausage sage flavor sausage is recommended
• 1 cup sweet onion finely chopped
• 3/4 cup celery chopped (about 2 stalks)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 5 cups rustic French bread cubed and dried
• 5 cups cornbread cubed and toasted
• 3/4 cup toasted pecans roughly chopped
• 1 medium Pink Lady® apple chopped
• 1-1.5 cups chicken broth

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, cook sausage until browned. Drain and set aside.
2. Sauté onion and celery in butter until tender.
3. In a large bowl, use fork to lightly beat eggs. Stir in poultry seasoning and pepper.
4. Add French bread cubes and corn bread, toss until coated. Add sausage, vegetables, pecans and apples. Add enough broth to moisten (3/4 to 1 cup), tossing to mix well.
5. Coat 8 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon stuffing mixture in dish, drizzle with enough of the remaining chicken broth to make stuffing of desired moistness. Bake, lightly covered with foil, at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Uncover after 35 minutes.

   Print this recipe here. 

Pink Lady® Iced Apple Pie Bars

This is one of those awesome desserts that looks fancy but is actually quite easy to make. It’s rustic and includes all of the best holiday flavors like apple, lemon, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Running short on time? Opt for a pre-made crust instead of making your own.

Ingredients:

The Crust:

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed and chilled till firm
• ½ cup very cold water

The Filling:

• 6 medium sized Pink Lady® Apples, peeled, cored & sliced into ½” pieces
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup golden brown sugar
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground clove

* Can substitute pumpkin pie spice for cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.

The Finishing Touches:

• Egg Wash (1 beaten egg plus 1 tablespoon milk)
• Turbinado Sugar
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a food processor, pulse flour, salt and sugar together. Add the cubed butter and pulse again until your mixture resembles course crumbs. Slowly add the water and process until the dough begins to form. Remove the dough from the processor and knead a few times on a lightly floured surface until your dough pulls together.  Divide into 2 equal parts, wrap them in plastic, and chill at least 1 hour, or while you are making the filling.
3. In a large bowl, place you peeled and sliced apples, the sugars, flour, lemon zest and spices.  Toss until the apples are well coated. 
4. Take 1 piece of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle, approximately 12 x 15 inches. Add flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.  Gently transfer the dough into a quarter sheet pan, allowing it hang over the sides of the pan.  Note: you can line your pan with parchment paper for easy removal after baking.
5. Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the bottom layer of dough, continue by rolling the remaining piece of dough into a 12 x 15 rectangle and laying this rectangle on top of the apples. Crimp and seal the two layers of dough together around the entire pan.  Brush the egg wash over the top crust, and then sprinkle with a layer of turbinado sugar.  This will give your apple bars a shiny, but rustic finish. 
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  If the edges begin to brown too quickly, you can cover them with aluminum foil for the last 30 minutes of baking. Allow to cool for at least one hour prior to icing and slicing.
7. To make the icing, whisk the melted butter together with the powdered sugar.  Add the vanilla extract and milk, whisking until smooth. You want your icing to be fairly thick.  Pour the icing into a squeeze bottle with a small tip, and drizzle long diagonal ribbons onto the bars.  Slice and serve!

 Carrots for the Holidays

We all know that Santa prefers milk and cookies, but what about his reindeer? They are fueled by produce, especially carrots! This Christmas Eve, leave a few carrots for the reindeer along with Santa’s milk and cookies.

This would be a great opportunity to encourage your children to try “reindeer” carrots, especially if they’ve been hesitant to try carrots in the past. Let them dip their carrots in peanut butter or herb-infused hummus. Anything we can do to get kids more interested in vegetables is a good idea!

How will you be incorporating produce into your holiday celebrations? Let us know in the comments below.