There’s a lot to love about the holiday season, especially when it comes to food. But while things may get extra delicious around the holidays as we splurge a little more on the calorie front, it’s important to remember to get a good amount of fruits and veggies in addition to those sweet treats and decadent meat dishes.
There are many ways to add fruits and vegetables to your Christmas dinner. Yes, cranberry sauce is technically mostly fruit, but it’s not the only option you should consider! Here are some more ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables for the holidays.
Keep them handy
It’s hard not to snack when there are so many tempting treats around the house during the holidays. One way to incorporate fruits and vegetables during the holiday season is to keep them handy in snack form.
One idea for this is to cut up veggies like carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers or celery into sticks and keep them in the fridge. You can also have a bowl of fruit out on the kitchen table to remind everyone in the household to have a healthy snack now and then. Making sure the fruit and veggies are washed and ready to eat will help them get enjoyed faster.
Take a dip
Since you’re doing all that work in preparing veggie sticks, or crudité as some recipes call it, why not also prepare some dips to go along with them? If vegetables on their own aren’t tempting enough, maybe the prospect of being able to use them as a vehicle for a delicious dip will entice you and your family to get more veggies into your diet.
Hummus is a great dip idea, and it can be made in several different varieties. But even some indulgent dips like French onion, ranch, spinach artichoke and others can be an avenue toward getting more vegetables into your diet during the holidays.
Don’t forget that fruits can be dipped, too. For example, try dipping sliced apples or strawberries into a dip of Greek yogurt and brown sugar—yum! It may feel a bit naughty, but this sweet treat is healthy enough to keep you on Santa’s nutritional “nice” list throughout the season.
Sneak attack
One of the ways you can add fruits and vegetables to Christmas dinner is by sneaking them into some common holiday staples. For example, try adding some broccoli to your mac and cheese. This will give it a nice color pop, and the flavor goes well with the rich cheesiness of the dish.
Another idea is to add diced veggies to any ground meat component of a dish. Onions, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini and other veggies can be a flavorful and nutritious addition to ground meat, and it will only enhance the meaty goodness of the dish.
When trying to make sure you and your family are getting enough fruits and veggies during the holidays, it helps to have great quality produce to choose from. For the best produce for your Christmas dinner, visit Horner’s Midtown Market today.