Healthy Christmas Recipes You'll Love

It’s the most wonderful time of the year so we wanted to bring you some wonderfully satisfying, yet also healthy recipes that our friend and Nutritional Therapist Eleanor Hoath has developed. These can be enjoyed as part of the main event or sometime Betwixstmas. They satisfy your tastebuds whilst also supporting your health in numerous ways, helping to avoid that sluggish feeling that so often follows food at this time of year. 

Eleanor’s Recipes:

NATURALLY SWEETENED CRANBERRY SAUCE

No festive plate is complete without a condiment & cranberry sauce is DEFINITELY not an exception! Whether it’s to garnish Christmas Day lunch or the leftover Turkey Sandwiches, no holiday season is complete without it. Normally the first ingredient when you buy cranberry sauce is sugar, and many can also be gloopy with stabilisers and gums. 

This one takes about 20 mins to make, and contains a host of additional beneficial ingredients aside from the cranberries themselves which are exceptionally high in polyphenols for your gut and skin. Not to mention how much prettier a homemade cranberry sauce is in comparison to store bought jars that sit in the fridge/on a shelf for months!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of fresh cranberries (around 250g). You can also use frozen but will require more like 300g
• 25g pitted dates, chopped up
• 1 tablespoon honey/maple syrup
• Zest from 1 large washed orange, plus juice 
• 1 teaspoon ground/Ceylon cinnamon
• ¾ cup water

To make:

1. In a large sieve or colander, rinse your fresh cranberries
2. Take a medium saucepan and place your cranberries, choppy dates, honey/maple and water in and bring to a boil at a medium heat. Your cranberries will start popping and your texture will start to thicken, keep stirring occasionally to avoid it sticking to the bottom
3. After 5 minutes, remove from the heat and use a zester/grater to add 1 teaspoon of orange zest into the pot as well as your cinnamon and orange juice (just roughly squeeze the orange you have there). Gently simmer for around another 5 mins. 
4. Taste the cranberry sauce. If you find the sauce too tarte you could add some additional orange juice or maple/honey to sweeten – but remember cranberry sauce is traditionally supposed to be tarter in taste!
5. Decant into an airtight container/jar and leave to cool, the cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools down.
6. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks & it’s the perfect condiment for your festivities!

CRUNCHY NUT GREENS

Making greens exciting is essential at Christmas and this nutty side dish always goes down a treat with the whole family thanks to its crunchy topping texture and the salty, Unami flavours! Little ones will never know they’re diving straight into their daily dose of greens (including Brussel Sprouts). The earthy flavour compliments cranberry sauce in a weird but wonderful way making it an alternative green side for your festive dinner party. 

Side for 4 Ingredients:

• 500g Brussel Sprouts (peeled and halved)
• 200g Tenderstem Broccoli
• 200g Kale (shredded without thick stems is best)
• 70g Sugar Snaps/Mange Tout
• Liquid Aminos/Soy Sauce/Tamari
• 1 clove of Garlic (chopped/minced)
• Himalayan Sea Salt
• 1 cup cooked chestnuts 
• ½ cup hazelnuts
• ½ cup walnuts
• ½ cup flaked almonds

• EV Olive oil 

To make:

1. Preheat the oven at 170 degrees
2. Heat a generous drizzle of EV olive oil on a medium heat in a large frying pan and add your garlic, sprouts, broccoli, kale, and sugar snaps/mange tout and sautee for 5 minutes. Add a little water to the pan if you need to. Then add 2 table spoons of your soy/tamari or liquid aminos and an additional sprinkle of salt.
3. Place your chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts in a sandwich bag and seal. Roll over the bag with a rolling pin to crunch the nuts. Then add your flaked almonds to the mix and additional tablespoon of your liquid aminos/soy/tamari.
4. Sprinkle the nut mix over the greens in the frying pan, ensuring a light and evenly spread layer.
5. Then place everything onto a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and put into the oven for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and serve with your main event!

CRANBERRY AND CHOCOLATE TIFFIN

A few alternations and ingredient swaps from the usual tiffin make these a sweet treat with festive flavours from nutmeg and cranberries! We love these out on the table when guests arrive, or fresh out the freezer with some dairy free crème fraiche for a naturally sweet desert option.

Ingredients:

(Makes 16 squares)

• 1 cup cashew nuts
• ½ cup hazelnuts
• ½ cup walnuts
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 100g ground almonds
• 4 tablespoons Coconut Oil
• 50g pitted dates
• ¼ cup dried cranberries - try to get ones that are sweetened with fruit juice if you can
• ½ teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
• ½ bar 85% Dark Chocolate
• Optional Chopped Hazelnuts to top

To make:

1. Line a brownie tray with baking paper
2. In a food processor combine your mixed nuts (cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts and sunflower seeds) with the ground almonds, coconut oil, Ceylon cinnamon, pitted dates and cranberries
3. Blitz into a sticky mixture and decant into a lined brownie baking tray.
4. In a bowl, melt your chocolate with a tea spoon of coconut oil over boiling water (don’t let the bowl touch the water)
5. Coat the nut base with the melted chocolate before sprinkling your optional chopped hazelnuts
6. Leave to set in the freezer for 45 minutes, slice & enjoy with a cuppa hot chocolate or a cosy mulled wine!

And here are a few more festive recipes we’re loving right now: