With the festive season being round the corner, you must have started planning about the decorations, gifts and of course the food. When it comes to food, we tend to forget the calorie factor during festivities. However, you would be happy to know that there are many foods that are healthy, carry less calories and are very delicious too. They are great items to keep in your list of Christmas recipes.
You can prepare these food items at your home itself. Here is a list of a few delicious, low calorie and healthy Christmas recipes that you can try out during the grand festival.
1. Spiced Apple Cider
The Spiced Apple Cider is great for starting your meal with. Each cup of it has below 200 calories. Cinnamon, cloves and brown sugar give the holiday flavors to this recipe. Don’t forget to prepare a batch for the children without alcohol.
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Ingredients:
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Lemon rind strips of 1 lemon
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1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
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1 gallon of apple cider
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2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
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20 whole cloves
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5 halved cinnamon sticks
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1/8 teaspoonful of ground allspice
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1/8 teaspoonful of ground nutmeg
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1/2 cup of calvados or applejack
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Extra cinnamon sticks (if desired)
Preparation:
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Boil the first 8 ingredients in a big Dutch oven. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
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Pour the mixture in a large bowl using a sieve, while discarding solids and reserving the liquid. Stir the liquid in brandy. Serve it in mugs and garnish with a few more cinnamon sticks, if desired.
2. Glazed Ham and Blackberry Sauce
Create the perfect glaze with Dijon mustard’s spiciness, which complements blackberry jam’s tartness. You can have this tasty item in the main course. Compared to the traditional cured ham, glazed ham has one-tenth of sodium.
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Ingredients:
Ham:
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2 tablespoonful of Dijon mustard
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1 tablespoonful of brown sugar
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2/3 cup of seedless blackberry jam
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1 teaspoonful of fresh ground black pepper
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1, 8 to 9 pound, smoked, trimmed, bone-in ham shank
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Cooking spray
Sauce:
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1 cup of apple cider
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1 cup of seedless blackberry jam
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1/2 cup of dry white wine
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1 tablespoonful of Dijon mustard
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1 tablespoonful of fresh lemon juice
Preparation:
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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For preparing the ham, mix pepper, 2/3 cup of jam, sugar and 2 tablespoonful of mustard in a small bowl. Take half of the jam mixture and spread it over the ham. Coat some cooking spray over a broiler pan and put the ham on it. Put a thermometer in the ham’s thickest part. Bake the ham at 350 degrees for about 2 ½ hours, or until the thermometer showing 160 degrees, while basting with the rest of the jam mixture occasionally.
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For preparing the sauce, mix the wine and cider at medium heat in a small saucepan, and bring the mixture to a boil. Put 1 tablespoonful of mustard and 1 cup of jam, and stir them. Lower the heat, and cook until the jam dissolves, while stirring frequently. Remove it from heat, and stir in juice. Serve with the ham.
3. Garlic Mashed Potatoes
This dish has a rich texture owing to the small amounts of milk and butter in it. However, the thing that finishes the dish and adds a zing to it, is garlic. Moreover, the dish has unpeeled potatoes that give you fiber, which is healthy for your heart.
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Ingredients:
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1 ½ pounds of unpeeled, cubed red potatoes
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3 thinly sliced and peeled garlic cloves
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½ cup of 1% low fat milk
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2 tablespoonful of butter
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¾ teaspoonful of salt
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¼ teaspoonful of black pepper
Preparation:
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Put the garlic and potatoes in a big saucepan, put some cold water and cover. Boil it at a high heat. Lower the heat, uncover the saucepan and simmer until the potatoes appear tender when you pierce with a knife. This would take about 20 minutes. Drain the water, put the boiled items in a pot and place the pot at low heat.
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Add pepper, salt, butter and milk. Mash the potatoes using a potato masher to the desired consistency.
So, get ready to use your culinary skills to prepare these really delicious as well as healthy Christmas recipes in this festive season. They are easy to prepare and will be loved by your family and friends.
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