Now that I have all of this lovely dark meat from the Thanksgiving turkey, now it’s time to make something with it.  I wanted to do something a bit more interesting than your typical stew.  Not that your basic turkey stew is bad.  I love that too, but you can only do that so many times.  I found this recipe from Food Network Magazine for Slow Cooker Moroccan Turkey Stew and I knew I had to make it.  One of the reasons I chose this recipe is because it had many of the items you may have left over from your Thanksgiving feast.  Think dried fruit, squash and vegetables.  This recipe also has the heady spices that are a hallmark of this time of year.  It’ll make that dark meat a welcome change from the Thanksgiving white meat.  Here are the original stats.  One note on this calculation, I adjusted the servings from 4 to 8.  The recipe is for 4 with leftovers, so I doubled the servings

Here’s how I changed this recipe:

• I deleted the added salt to reduce the sodium.
• I switched out the original canned chickpeas to a low sodium variety.
• I deleted the tomatoes and replaced with a can of pumpkin and chopped red bell pepper to boost the vitamin A and C.
• I reduced the olive oil from 1/2 cup to 2 tablespoons to reduce the calories
• Increased the squash from 1/2 cup to 2 cups because we love squash.
• Reduced the carrots from 8 to 6 to reduce the calories.
• Increased the servings from 8 to 16 to reduce the calories.

Here are the final stats:

Moroccan Turkey Stew

Serves 16

• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 pounds bone-in turkey legs, skin removed
• 2 cups butternut squash, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 2 15 .5-ounce cans low sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 6 medium carrots, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 10 ounces red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 medium red onions, halved and cut into wedges
• 2 whole dried red chiles
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 cups fresh cilantro, including leaves and some stems
• 1 cup fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Season the turkey legs with half the allspice in a 5-quart slow cooker.
2. Toss the squash, chickpeas, pumpkin, apricots, raisins, carrots, bell pepper, onions and chiles with the remaining allspice. Pour the vegetables over the turkey (the cooker will be full; arrange the mixture so the lid fits). Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
3. Spoon the vegetables and broth into bowls. Remove and discard the turkey bones and place the meat on top of the vegetables.
4. Juice the lemon; pulse with the cilantro, parsley, garlic, and cumin in a food processor. Add the oil and process until smooth. Serve the stew in bowls; drizzle with the cilantro sauce.