5 Healthy Holiday Foods Recipes

These 5 healthy holiday food recipes will help you entertain guests, add to a potluck or just maintain your figure when dining alone. The recipes below will be good to your heart and general health, as well as the restraints of your schedule.

To make spicy okra, you will need:

• 1 lb. okra
• 1 tbsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste

1. Rinse okra. Place oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes in pan on stove over medium heat.
2. When oil is almost smoking, add okra to pan and turn down heat to medium-low.
3. Mix okra in oil and spices until evenly coated.
4. Cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from heat and place onto paper towel to drain excess oil. Serve the healthy recipe immediately.

To make this healthy holiday recipe of sliced sweet potatoes, you will need:

• 1 lb. sweet potatoes, rinsed and evenly sliced
• 2 white onions, sliced and separated
• 2 to 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place oil in pan on stove over medium high heat. Add potatoes and onions, mixing to ensure they are evenly coated with oil.
2. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix again.
3. Cook for ten minutes. Flip potatoes and onions. Cook for ten additional minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of sea salt, if desired.

To make winter squash, you will need:

• 1 (1 to 2 lbs.) winter squash, peeled, seeded and cut into one-inch pieces
• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. dried parsley
• 2 tbsp. fresh ground salt and pepper mixture

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Leave pan in oven while oven is preheating.
3. Mix squash, oil and spices in a mixing bowl.
4. When oven is preheated, place squash on heated pan and return it to the oven.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once.
6. Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes. Serve with your other holiday recipes.

To make the healthy side dish of broccoli with goat cheese, you will need:

• 1 package frozen broccoli crowns
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 (4 oz.) package of goat cheese, crumbled
• Fresh ground black pepper

1. Broccoli with goat cheese. Boil broccoli on stovetop for five minutes.
2. Drain and rinse.
3. While still hot, place broccoli in mixing bowl and add cheese and vinegar.
4. Mix ingredients until combined. Cheese might not break apart, but may become slightly smoother.
5. Drain mixture of excess balsamic vinegar, return to bowl and sprinkle with black pepper. Serve.

To make the holiday side dish of homemade cranberry sauce, you will need:

• 1 package frozen cranberries
• 1 cup of sugar, or more to taste
• Orange peel from one orange, diced

1. Homemade cranberry sauce. Boil cranberries on stove for at least 30 minutes.
2. Taste a cranberry to see if soft. If so, remove from heat. If cranberry is not fully cooked, continue to boil, checking every ten minutes.
3. Remove from heat and let cool for five to ten minutes.
4. Place cranberries in mixing bowl and mash with the back of a sturdy spoon, preferably metal.
5. Add sugar and diced orange peel and mix.
6. Let cool for three to four hours or overnight, if desired. Serve the holiday recipe alongside your main dish.