It’s silly season and time to entertain! Find out how to stop the next month of feasting from taking its toll on your health.
The end of the year is finally here and there’s nothing like great weather and imminent holidays to put you in the mood to entertain! Of course, the festive season IS a time to indulge in food, merriment and friends – but a month of feasting can take its toll on your health. Amanda Weber, a registered dietician based in Somerset West, has some helpful advice to keep your fare both delicious and good for you:
Shake things up and try to go for healthier alternatives to these old favourites:· Swap chicken liver pâté for pâtés made from roasted vegetables… think peppers, aubergine and tahini.· Avoid fatty dips and go for low fat hummus, salsa or guacamole.· Stay away from crisps and instead try crunchy roasted chickpeas with rosemary or lemon rind – they’re delicious and easy to make.· Who needs chicken wings when you can have grilled prawn kebabs?· Braais don’t have to mean loads of red meat: throw on some fish, prawns, mushrooms or mielies.· Don’t bother with shortbread, as biscotti with your coffee are just as lovely.· Ditch the heavy malva pudding and wow your guests with a pavlova and fresh berries.· Resist that jelly trifle but pass round a fig, nectarine and nut platter, or layer sorbet, grilled nectarines and ricotta topped with pistachios and mint.
Challenge yourself to add these new healthy snack ideas to your repertoire:· Cucumber rounds with a crumble of blue cheese and pomegranate seeds on top· Baked sweet potato rounds topped with ricotta and cranberry jam· Crostini with roasted butternut, cranberry and a crumble of goat’s cheese· Buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil mini skewers· Asparagus spears wrapped in Parma ham
Make lots of salads as they’re perfect for sunny festivities! You can really get creative and with a few of these on your table, you won’t need decorations:· Feta, watermelon and mint salad· Baby spinach, goats cheese, fig and honey roasted almond salad· Quinoa salad with avocado, mint, pomegranate and feta· Strawberry, smoked salmon ribbons and asparagus salad
Of course, not everyone will be as health conscious in their choices over the next few weeks, so resisting temptation will be your other challenge. It’s all about developing a few clever habits says Amanda: don’t arrive hungry, always chase an alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic one and stand as far away from the unhealthy food as possible. So there you are, with a few menu tweaks and a little self-restraint, you can eat, drink, be merry AND start the next year feeling good.
