Are you wondering what healthy ideas you can add to your dinner menu this holiday? This week, we’ll be going over some easily customizable healthy ideas for your holiday dinner. These side dishes and appetizers can be as appealing as they are unexpected. In addition, they can easily be changed to suit your preferences as well as dietary needs and restrictions. With the range of tastes and textures you can create, you are sure to produce and amazing dinner that stimulates the taste buds!
Roasted potatoes: One reason why it may prove beneficial for you to add potatoes to your menu is what they can provide for you. “Potatoes contribute key nutrients to the diet including vitamin C, potassium, and dietary fiber.” (Beals, 2018) Also, potatoes are “a carbohydrate-rich, energy-providing food with little fat.” (Camire et al., 2009) While this may be true, it is important to stress the importance of eating a balanced meal, consisting of a variety of nutrients and food groups. In addition, pay attention to how the food is cooked (i.e. baked vs. fried), how much oil is used, and what seasonings and/or additional ingredients are added. For the best results, try leaving on the skin of the potato. After you properly scrub and clean your potatoes, dice or cube them into even pieces and lightly season them. For a quicker bake time, you may want to dice them into small pieces.
Kabobs: This is a dish we have mentioned in previous blogs. For a healthier kabob, try avoiding red meats and lean more towards lean meats, chicken, or even fish. Baking or grilling can help give you a nice texture while avoiding the excessive oil from frying. For more color, flavor, and nutrition, you can add some sweet bell peppers (or whatever vegetables you’d like), or even pineapple! Be sure that you don’t over season your meat. Take a look at our Mediterranean Diet Still Number 1 blog for a nice Fisherman Kabobs recipe you could try out! You can serve your kabobs with different sides such as hummus and dip, cauliflower rice, or even shirazi (cucumber tomato salad).
Hummus: This can be a nice idea for a snack or side dish. There are many ways to eat it, including: spread on sandwiches or wraps, a dip for a vegetables (i.e. carrots, broccoli, celery, etc.), drizzled on a salad, as a stuffing for peppers, squash (i.e. cucumbers, zucchini) and more. To make it interesting, try your hand at making your own hummus and get creative with the different tastes you can based on whatever ingredients and seasonings you use. And if you’d like an additional reason to include hummus this holiday, know that it can be beneficial for your health. “…the consumption of hummus is associated with improved nutrient intake, diet quality, and healthier eating habits…incorporation of chickpeas or tahini into the diet is shown to improve long-term glycemic response and promote cardiovascular health through the lowering of cholesterol, lipid, and blood pressure levels.” (Reister et al., 2020)
Fish: Try adding some fish to your menu. Whether grilled, baked, or air fried, you can get a nice crisp texture with little to no oil. Check out our Healthy Grilled Recipes blog for a tasty Grilled Lemon Garlic Fish recipe, along with a vegetable medley. Of course, you can customize the medley to include your more preferred vegetables. If you’d like a creamy topping for your fish, try making a vegetable puree like mentioned in our Healthy Fall Foods blog. The fish can be eaten alone, served on a bed of cauliflower rice or wheat pasta, with a side of steamed vegetables or roasted potatoes, or even tossed into a salad! There are many possibilities. You can even have a side of maple glazed baked butternut squash. This dish can offer color, a bit of sweetness, and lots of nutrients without the gooey intense sweetness of marshmallows over sweet potatoes.
As mentioned in last week’s blog, you want to stay focused on continuing the good habits that you’ve already developed for weight loss. Follow that up by continuing to track what you’re eating so you can stay on a winning streak as you end 2022. As you apply what you already know, you’ll be able to create an amazing and tasty holiday dinner while maybe incorporating some of these healthy ideas for holiday dinner.
Beals, K. A. (2018). Potatoes, nutrition and health. American Journal of Potato Research, 96(2), 102–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-018-09705-4
Camire, M. E., Kubow, S., & Donnelly, D. J. (2009). Potatoes and human health. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 49(10), 823–840. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408390903041996
Reister, E. J., Belote, L. N., & Leidy, H. J. (2020). The benefits of including hummus and hummus ingredients into the American diet to promote diet quality and Health: A Comprehensive Review. Nutrients, 12(12), 3678. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123678
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Kay Loughrey, MPH, RDN, LDN
Transformational Speaker, Breakthrough Coach, Nutritionist-Dietitian
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