It's Thanksgiving, and guess who's coming to dinner? Uncle Ed who has to eat turkey or it's not Thanksgiving -- Aunt Gertrude, who says, "Don't worry about me. I brought kale in Tupperware!"

So how do you please everybody? How do you marry tradition with belief systems, eccentricities and dietary restrictions? How do you make everyone comfortable and still make it a celebration?

And I factor in another concern - how do I create a feast that will keep those I love healthy?

You might try the following recipe, which is fast and easy to make. My mother, Beatrice, would omit the apricots and prunes. Look at more of my Thanksgiving recipes in the November issue of Taste For Life!

We’ve got the dried chestnuts and the rest of the ingredients like organic yams and organic brown basmati rice! But if you don’t want to cook, order this dish and others from our kitchen.

Serves 8-12 as a side dish
¼ cup olive oil	2 cups dried chestnuts
3 cups brown basmati rice	6 cups yams, 1" diced
6-7 cups boiling water	1 cup dried apricots
2 ea saffron threads	1 cup dried pitted prunes
1 ½ tsp Celtic or sea salt	Minced parsley for garnish
1 ½ tsp black pepper

(You can halve the recipe, and it works fine too.)

Gently warm olive oil in a pot with a tight-fitting cover. Add rice and stir to coat. Add six cups boiling water, saffron, salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine. Layer on top chestnuts, yams and apricots and prunes. Don’t stir or otherwise your rice won’t become tender.

Lower heat, cover pot and simmer for close to an hour. Check after 45 minutes and add the remaining cup of water if needed. After 60 minutes, test chestnuts and yams to make sure tooth-tender. They should be, but if not, cover pot and let steam another 10 minutes or so.

Turn pilaf into bowl. Let rest for 10 minutes. Toss with rubber spatula so ingredients are mixed. Taste, adjust seasoning. Garnish with parsley. Serve alongside the bird or on its own.