It’s that wonderful time of year – family, friends and feasting. I’m sure many of you are already wondering how you’re going to survive the holiday party season, with your health (and waistline) intact. Being part of the Christmas celebration without sabotaging your health goals may be difficult, but it is definitely doable.
The key to eating healthily at Christmas is to plan ahead so that you don’t get caught unaware and end up filling up on unhealthy options. Traditional Christmas roasts usually feature turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and vegetables such as carrots, turnip and parsnips. If you are the host of this year’s celebrations then I have a perfect healthy, traditional Christmas roast plan here for you. Take a look…
Turkey is actually a great choice for a roast. It is low in fat and high in protein, and it’s also a great source of iron, zinc, potassium and B vitamins. In South Africa, turkey is readily available around Christmas time from most major supermarkets or your local butcher.
Turkey tricks
Firstly make sure to let your turkey thaw completely before cooking. If it was frozen through when you bought it, the turkey will thaw within a few days in the fridge. Before you start roasting, heat the oven to 230°C to preheat and then drop the temperature to 170°C when putting the turkey into the oven.
You will need 25 minutes of cooking time for every kilogram of turkey if roasting empty, add another 5 mins per kilogram if your turkey is stuffed. You don’t want your turkey to dry out, so you should baste every 30-45 minutes (smaller turkeys every 20 minutes); collect the fluid from the bottom of the pan with a turkey baster (or large spoon) and spread it over the top of turkey. Basting keeps the turkey nice and moist. Another option is to wrap your turkey in bacon slices. I find this helps keeps the moisture in but you’ll still need to keep basting.
We all love stuffing with our turkey. The unfortunate thing about stuffing is that it not only tends to be high in fat but also full of processed carbs like bread. One way of reducing the unhealthy elements is to eliminate the bread. Try this apple and nut stuffing recipe – it will pair beautifully with turkey and brings a light and fruity flavour to your meal.
Raw cranberries are perfectly healthy, low in calories and high in vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin K. They also contain proanthocyanidins, an antioxidant that may help prevent a range of diseases.
Sadly, sauce tends to get stuffed full of refined sugar which eliminates most of the health benefits. Try this healthier orange zested cranberry sauce recipe that uses honey instead of sugar and isn’t too sweet.
A simple trick to keep your meal healthy is to swap out the mashed potatoes for mashed sweet potatoes. They are high in vitamin A, vitamin B5, B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and carotenoids. Sweet potatoes are fat free, relatively low in sodium and have fewer calories than white potatoes. Then you can throw some carrots, roughly chopped beetroot, garlic and fresh herbs together in a pan, drizzle lightly with some olive or coconut oil and pop them in the oven to roast. Serve your roast veggie combo as a scrumptious side dish along with the mashed sweet potatoes.
Low-fat gravy
Gravy is an essential part of any Christmas roast. Here are my pro tips on how to keep your gravy low fat. After you roast the turkey, place the roasting pan on the stove top over medium heat. Add 2 cups of stock to the pan and stir until the drippings and browned bits from the bottom dissolve.
To easily remove the fat, first get it to congeal by adding several ice cubes to the liquid and placing it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Get rid of the hardened fat with spoon and place the stock into a saucepan.
Place the saucepan on the stove top over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add sage and thyme to the simmering stock. Continue to simmer until the stock is reduced by a quarter. Pour a small amount of milk into a small bowl. Add cornstarch and stir to mix evenly. Slowly pour milk mixture into the simmering stock, stirring slowly. Bring sauce to the boil and continue to stir until stock thickens and has a nice shine, and about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour the gravy into a warmed gravy boat and serve.
And there you have it – a traditional Christmas roast without all the diet-killing carbs and guilty fatty extras. Complement your Christmas roast by pairing it with your favourite Pinot Noir and your favourite loved ones. I hope you have a marvelous and merry Christmas.
