Reinventing the Christmas feast
Every year families around New Zealand go completely nuts filling up their trollies with huge amounts of food at great expense to their wallets and waistlines. The enticing imagery of an abundant Christmas feast and the atmosphere of celebration as well as heavy consumer marketing can take much of the credit for our behaviour. This time each year we also give ourselves permission to let go and indulge our appetites, and feel rotten in the New Year when we’ve gained several kilos that could take many months of effort to shed, if we lose them at all.
I propose an alternative approach to Christmas celebrating – having the best of everything but in smaller portions. By “best” I’m referring to delicious fresh produce that you may ordinarily leave off the menu due to their higher price.
Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and cherries
Avocado, capsicum, asparagus spears, kumara sweeties and broccolini
Walnuts, almonds and pistachio
Organic chicken, lamb and fillet steak (if barbequing)
For a reinvented kiwi Christmas feast
try:
• Steamed asparagus and kumara sweeties* with real butter (go easy on this!) and pepper
• Baby spinach, cucumber, tomato and baby beetroot salad with a sprinkle of chopped walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Try with a creamy Tzatziki dressing (unsweetened yoghurt, cucumber, mint and lemon), or an extra-virgin olive oil and lemon dressing.
• Roasted organic chicken
• Pavlova with fresh raspberries in the centre and top, less cream. Serve small wedges with a large fresh fruit salad.
Give it a try, you’ll feel lighter and healthier and still have had a delicious meal.
*These are baby kumara that you prepare with the skin on
