4 EASY HEALTHY CHRISTMAS RECIPES
EASY HEALTHY CHRISTMAS RECIPES
Healthy Christmas recipes for the festive season
Hey guys! I really wanted to show you some of my favorite healthy holiday recipes. These are all the recipes typed up that I showed you in my healthy holiday recipes video (below).
Here in this post and video, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite festive recipes, including my healthy Christmas breakfast, some healthy holiday side dishes and my favorite Christmassy dessert!
These recipes are 100% gluten, wheat, dairy and refined sugar free. They are also made from whole ingredients and are less processed than most holiday recipes (but are still tasty).
I hope you love these recipes as much as I do, make sure you check out the video below to see how easy it is to make them!
Liezl Jayne XO
VIDEO: Watch me make these healthy Christmas recipes in my recent Healthy Holiday Recipes video (below)
HEALTHY CHRISTMAS OATMEAL
The Ingredients:
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1 + 1/2 cups water
-1/4 cup dried cranberries
-1/8 cup raw pecan nuts or walnuts (chopped)
-1/8 cup chopped almonds
-2 tablespoons desiccated coconut or coconut flakes
-1 teaspoon cold-pressed coconut oil
-pinch cinnamon
-pinch vanilla powder/ pure vanilla extract (optional)
-1 teaspoon *100% pure maple syrup (optional, or to taste)
(serves 1)
*can use any other healthier sweetener of choice like coconut sugar, xylitol, etc.
The Method:
-Bring the dry oats and water to a boil on the stove and then simmer on a low temperature for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until fully cooked
-Once cooked, remove oats from the stove and add the coconut oil, optional vanilla, cinnamon, coconut, dried cranberries & chopped nuts
-Stir all ingredients into the oats until well blended
-Add pure maple syrup to taste
-Serve hot in a bowl, and top with a teaspoon of almond or cashew nut butter (optional)
-Eat & enjoy every spoonful of that delicious Christmasy flavor!
HEALTHY ROAST POTATO, MUSHROOM & ONION SIDE
The Ingredients:
-1,5kg potatoes (or as needed)
-250g mushrooms (portobello or mushroom)
-2 onions
-5g *fresh thyme
-5g *fresh rosemary
-2 Tablespoons while balsamic vinegar
-1 to 2 teaspoons onion powder
-1 to 2 teaspoons **cooking oil
-Sea salt and black pepper
(serves 6 to 12, use less or more potatoes as needed)
*Can use dried versions instead as needed, or a sprinkle of Italian herb mix
**I use macadamia oil, but you can use any healthier cooking oil
The Method:
-Preheat your oven to 180 C / 360 F before we begin
-To start, I’ve washed and quartered some potatoes (just regular brown potatoes)
-You can peel them first if you want to, or you can leave the peel on (I use about 1,5kg of medium sized potatoes for my entire family at Christmas, just for reference)
-I’m placing them onto a baking tray, spreading them out, and drizzling 2 Tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar over them (this adds great flavor to the potatoes)
-I’m also adding 1 – 2 teaspoons of onion powder, sea salt, black pepper and 1 teaspoon of cooking oil (I’m using macadamia nut oil, you can use what you’d prefer)
-Toss that all together
-I’ve peeled and quartered 2 purple onions, and I’m adding them to the tray (I just break some of them up so that they get crispier)
-I’ve cut up some mushrooms as well to add to the mix (I use about 250g of portobello mushrooms, you can also use button mushrooms)
-I like using some fresh thyme for that bit of festive flavor, as well as some fresh rosemary (my mom has always cooked with fresh thyme and rosemary around the holidays, so that’s what I like to do too)
-I use about 5g of each (fresh), but you can also use dried versions of thyme and rosemary (or you can just use a sprinkle of Italian herb mix)
-Place that into an oven that you’ve preheated to 180 C / 360 F for 40-60 minutes (or until the potatoes are soft on the inside and a bit crispy on the outside)
-You can roast them even longer if you want them super crisp (up to 90 minutes)
-I like to remove the bit pieces of rosemary and thyme after roasting (because the flavor goes into the potatoes and they’re not very nice to eat in big pieces)
-After cooking add the roasted potatoes into a serving dish, if you’re gonna serve this for guests it can look really pretty to garnish the dish with some fresh rosemary or even some fresh thyme
-Serve this side dish with whatever main course you prefer, I will usually serve this with my healthy roasted chicken, as well as the next side dish I’m about to show you (sweet and spicy green veggies)
SWEET & SPICY GREEN VEGGIES SIDE
The Ingredients:
-1/2 to 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
-200 to 300g Brussels sprouts
-200 to 300g green beans
-2 big handfuls roughly chopped kale
-2 teaspoons *cooking oil
-50g chopped raw pecans (1/2 cup)
-1 teaspoon mustard powder
-1/2 to 1 teaspoon ginger powder
-1/2 to 1 teaspoon onion powder
-2 Tablespoons **100% pure maple syrup
-squeeze fresh lemon juice
-sea salt and black pepper
(SERVES 4 to 8, roughly)
*I use macadamia oil, but you can use any healthier cooking oil
**Can use another healthier sweetener like xylitol syrup or honey
The Method:
-First I prepare and chop up all of the veggies
-Then to my pan, I’m adding 1 teaspoon of cooking oil (I’m using macadamia) with some chopped up onion (I’ve used 1 onion)
I like to sautée the onions over a medium-high heat until they are starting to look caramelized (this adds really good flavor to the recipe, when you caramelize the onions first)
-Then I’m adding some halved Brussel sprouts to the pan (about 200g), as well as some green beans ( about 200g as well – which I’ve just cut the ends off of)
-I’ll cook those on the stove over a medium heat until the vegetables are pretty much cooked, and the Brussel sprouts are starting to look a little bit brown
-Then I’m adding some washed and roughly chopped kale (2 big handfuls or so)
-And I’ll keep cooking that the same way, until the kale gets nice and soft
-While that is cooking, I’m gonna make the sauce (this is what will give the dish some amazing flavor)
-I’ve got 2 Tablespoons of pure maple syrup in a bowl, and to that I’m adding 1 teaspoon mustard powder, 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder, some black pepper, sea salt, and some fresh lemon juice (I’m using about 1/2 a lemon)
-And then some onion powder (about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon)
-Just mix it all up, and you can add it to the cooked vegetables
-Then for a topping, I’m using some pecan nuts (I just like to get them a little toasty on the stove very quickly)
-I’m adding about 1/2 teaspoon of cooking oil to a pan with about 50g raw pecan nuts (which is about 1/2 cup), and a pinch of sea salt
-Just toss them around on the stove for a few minutes until they start to get a bit toasty
-I’m adding the vegetables to a serving dish, and topping them with the toasted pecan nuts
-And then you can serve these sweet & spicy green veggies as a side with any of your favorite Christmas recipes!
MY HEALTHY STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING
This is my favorite Christmas dessert recipe, so I always have it on Christmas day for dessert – as well as all through the festive season!
I love having a slice hot out the oven with healthy coconut cream (but it’s just as good served later at room temp).
This recipe is 100% gluten, wheat, dairy and refined sugar free. It’s also made from whole carbs, and it’s got some healthy fats and protein in there. So it’s more of a “well balanced” dessert, and it’s less processed than most dessert recipes.
(Here is the full recipe on the blog + the coconut cream recipe)
♥
HOPE YOU LOVE THESE RECIPES AS MUCH AS I DO!
LIEZL JAYNE XO
VIDEO: Watch me make these healthy Christmas recipes in my recent Healthy Holiday Recipes video (below)
Photos, recipes and video by Liezl Jayne Strydom – for liezljayne.com
Thank you for the recipe idea, it gave me the idea to cook a variety of cooking at christmas later and we really liked it especially the sweet & spicy green veggies side.