Five Low-Calorie Christmas Sides
By Courtney McMahan, RD
It’s almost time for the most food-centric holiday of the year. While many of us are looking forward to our grandma’s traditional dressing and homemade pumpkin pie, it’s nice to have some lighter options on the menu to keep us from overdoing it on the more indulgent items. Whether you are trying to stick to a nutrition plan this Christmas or just looking to avoid falling into a food coma after your family get-together, here are five light and tasty dishes to bring to the table this year.
Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Oat Streusel.
Sweet potato casserole is a Turkey Day staple. But with all the butter and sugar that goes into most recipes, it’s often far from healthy. This recipe uses just three tablespoons of butter total. It’s sweetened with a bit of pure maple syrup instead of a heap of brown sugar, and it uses a pecan oat topping filled with minerals and soluble fiber instead of a marshmallow topping filled with empty, sugary calories.
This salad is a great way to include vibrant, fresh veggies at your Christmas meal. The use of pecans and seasonal produce like apples, figs, and pomegranate seeds give it a tasty seasonal flair.
If you are looking for an easy-to-make veggie-based appetizer, give these stuffed mushrooms a try! The cremini mushrooms are low in calorie and high in fiber, which can help you from overindulging on the higher-calorie items. The creamy artichoke and spinach filling provides nutrients like folate and vitamin C while also making your family forget they are eating something healthy.
Lightened-Up Green Bean Casserole
Green bean casserole is another Christmas essential. However, most green bean casseroles take a vegetable packed with antioxidants, potassium, and vitamin C and pack it with excess sodium and fat from ingredients like canned soups and fried onions. This recipe is made from scratch. It uses fresh green beans instead of canned, panko breadcrumbs instead of fried onions, and milk and flour for the sauce instead of canned condensed soup.
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
Since the fall season has so much great produce to offer, we wanted to give a second salad option! This one includes roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries, walnuts, arugula, and cider vinaigrette—a great combination of sweet and savory flavors.
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