Holidays are all about tradition–getting the family together and sharing meals that are similar to those enjoyed by your parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
These meals are essentially healthy. How can you argue against roast turkey, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, squash and corn bread? There are minor changes you can make to these traditional meals that will lower the fat or carbohydrate content. But mashed potatoes made with buttermilk rather than full cream will satisfy all but the most rigid traditionalists.
There are undoubtedly some in any family who for one reason or another prefer something other than the traditional menu. Diabetics must tread carefully around some carbohydrates. Vegetarians and vegans might be more comfortable without the big turkey or ham occupying pride of place in the center of the table. And some simply would prefer a different approach to holiday eating.
Even considering these scenarios, it’s still easy to put healthy meals on the table during the holiday season.
DIABETICS can and do eat desserts, of course. It’s the carbohydrates that are the problem, and most desserts are very concentrated carbs. Eating sweets will cause a spike in blood sugar so it’s important for diabetics to be careful about grabbing even small pieces of candy or cookies.
When pies are lined up on the table, choice and portion size become paramount. A small piece of your favorite pie can be obtained by trading in another carbohydrate such as a dinner roll.
There are ways to cut back on the sugar and fat content of some foods. Sometimes, it’s possible to just reduce the amount of sugar called for in the recipe with minimal difference in taste.
You can replace up to half of fat in most recipes with applesauce or baby-food prunes. This will increase the carbohydrate content, however.
VEGETARIANS, VEGANS: Your college age daughter has decided to become a vegetarian. How does that change the holiday dinner menu?
There are vegetables aplenty on most holiday tables–roasted squash, candied yams, curried corn, green bean casserole, spinach souffle and mashed potatoes. A vegetarian can find plenty to eat, and, if a vegan is on hand, you can find ready substitutes for the butter and cheese in the casserole and souffle.
You’ll feel better, though, if the non-meat eaters have a main course of their own. Here are some suggestions:
• spinach and onion lasagna
• baked stuffed acorn squash;
• roasted root vegetables of the season with walnut pesto;
• baked broccoli and cheese;
• sweet potato souffle;
• roasted cauliflower with parmesan cheese;
• baked tomato and onion with bread crumbs and a drizzle of olive oil;
• butternut squash and spinach lasagna;
• spinach pie with goat cheese and pine nuts;
• pumpkin ravioli with gorgonzola sauce;
• rustic frittata with onions, greens and potatoes;
• thick Tuscan vegetable stew.
You get the idea. In most fine restaurants, vegetables are no longer second class citizens. With imagination and perhaps an ethnic flair, a vegetable dish can play a leading rather than a supporting role at the holiday table.
OTHER BIRDS: For many American families, roast turkey is the traditional option, and by all appearances it is a low-fat healthy choice.
Goose and duck are popular–and traditional–alternatives. As water fowl, duck and goose have considerably more grease or fat than land fowl such as turkey and chicken; should that rule them out? Not necessarily.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, almost all ducks sold commercially for food are raised indoors and fed corn and soybeans fortified with vitamins and minerals–but no animal by-products. Geese spend most of their lives on the range eating grass and available grain.
Maybe more importantly, ducks and geese are given antibiotics only for protection against disease, and additives cannot be used in processing except for pate and smoked breast products. By contrast, turkeys and chickens can be given drugs for “feed efficiency,” presumably to make them grow bigger with less fat and more lean flesh.
Questions of health and nutrition, as a result, should probably focus on where the bird was raised, what it was fed and how it was processed rather than fat content.
To get rid of some of the fat, you can poke holes in the bird with a fork and place the bird on a rack to allow more drainage of the grease into the bottom of the roasting pan. Goose and duck are all dark meat, and some describe them as richer and tastier than turkey.
LAMB: Marie is from Down Under, and her family prefers Australian roast lamb for all festive gatherings–even an American holiday such as Thanksgiving. Although lamb is hardly a low-fat option, grass fed lamb generally has less saturated fat than other red meats and is relatively high in omega-3 fatty acids. It’s also high in B vitamins, zinc, selenium and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).
ROAST BEEF: In some parts of the northeastern United States, with traditions reaching back to England, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding is a traditional holiday entree. Again, there is no reason to be fearful of lean cuts of grass fed beef; they represent a good source of protein, iron and B vitamins.
More important than the color of the meat are the cut, the way the dish is prepared and other foods on the table. Your cardiologist might not recommend Yorkshire pudding, which is not dessert pudding in the American sense but a batter of flour, salt, eggs, butter and milk that soaks up the drippings from the beef and creates a delicious type of fried bread. New England settlers also included more healthy options such as root vegetables and clam or oyster soup to accompany the traditional roast beef.
PORK tenderloin is another popular choice, particularly in Southern states. How about pork tenderloin with apple glaze and ham/apple stuffing? Or cider-marinated pork roast with onions and apples?
Pork tenderloin is particularly lean. A four-ounce serving offers up 22 grams of protein but only 121 calories and 4 grams of fat–very similar to turkey and skinless chicken breast. And pork is also high in thiamin, niacin, phosphorus and B vitamins.
Very lean cuts of pork can become dry and tough if overcooked, but the USDA has declared that pork can be safely cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit, or until it is slightly pink in the middle.
Whatever meat, if any, you put on your holiday table, is probably less important than the produce of the season gathered around it. And, of course, the holiday is made by the friends and family who get together to celebrate.
REFERENCES:
American Diabetes Association, “Fitting in sweets,” last reviewed August 1, 2013.
“Christmas dinner menus,” Country Living.
Stephanie Dears, “Turkey, goose, chicken, duck: what’s difference and why?” Yahoo Contributor Network, December 31, 2007.
“Historic American Christmas dinner menus,” Food Timeline, July 14, 2013.
Mayo Clinic Staff, “Recipe: pork tenderloin with apples and balsamioc vinegar,” MayoClinic.com, December 1, 2010.
National Diabetes Education Network, “Helpful hints for healthy holiday eating.”
Carolyn O’Neil, “Pork tenderloin is a heart-healthy option,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 9, 2012.
Rob Poulos, “Pork loin nutrition facts–health benefits of pork loin, the ‘other’ white meat,” FatBurningFurnace blog.
“13 great Thanksgiving meals,” Cooking Light.
“Forget the turkey–have roast goose this Christmas,” About.com Guide, December 14, 2008.
“Vegetarian holiday recipes,” Cooking Light.
10/22/2013
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