Whip Up Kristen Bell’s Vegan Stuffing Recipe for Thanksgiving

11/21/2012 at 10:00 AM EST

Kristen Bell’s mixed mushroom stuffing

Noel Barnhurst; Inset: INF

Here’s a festive way to curve pregnancy cravings with vegetables this Thanksgiving: mushroom stuffing.

Come Thursday, Kristen Bell, who’s expecting her first child with fiancé Dax Shepard, will serve up a vegan version of the side dish to mark the holiday.

“I love the stuffing because it is a little bit sweet and a little bit spicy,” the House of Lies star, 32, tells PEOPLE. “The best of both worlds.”

It’s Bell’s first year making the raisins and apple-filled recipe, which she discovered on the Epicurious app on her phone while browsing vegan Turkey Day recipes. (And she takes an equally techy approach to the cooking process by following the recipe right off of her T-Mobile HTC One S smartphone instead of printing it out.)

And when she’s not making stuffing, you just might catch Bell making Shepard laugh. So who’s the bigger goofball?

“That’s a tough one,” she says. “His sharp wit is lightning fast, but my pratfalls are better – so I’d say it’s a tie.”

Cook up Bell’s Thanksgiving recipe below:

Mixed Mushroom Stuffing with Rice, Raisins and Apples

• ½ cup wild rice
• ½ cup long-grain white rice
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped, peeled carrot
• ½ cup chopped, peeled parsnip
• 1 lb. assorted wild mushrooms (such as crimini, portobello and stemmed shiitake), chopped
• 1 cup chopped, peeled apple
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1½ tsp. grated orange peel
• ½ cup unsweetened apple juice
Cook wild rice in medium saucepan of boiling salted water for 25 minutes. Add white rice to saucepan. Cook until all rice is tender, about 15 minutes longer. Drain. Heat oil in a heavy, large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and parsnip. Sauté until tender (about eight minutes). Add mushrooms; sauté until brown, adding two to three tablespoons of water if the mixture is dry (about 15 minutes). Stir in apple, raisins, cinnamon stick and the orange peel. Sauté for five minutes. Mix in apple juice and cooked rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If using as stuffing, spoon mixture loosely into poultry.

The stuffing can be prepared one day ahead if serving as a side dish. Cover and refrigerate. Spoon into an 8-by-8-by-2-in. glass baking dish sprayed with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Cover with foil and rewarm in 350ºF oven for about 25 minutes.

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Whip Up Kristen Bell’s Vegan Stuffing Recipe for Thanksgiving