Believe it or not, Christmas dinner can be one of the most balanced meals you'll eat over the festive season, writes PAULA MEE
THE MORE hype there is about Christmas food and weight gain, the more testing it is for many people who simply want to eat well.
It seems to inveigle some of us to cave in, believing those extra pounds are an “unavoidable legacy” of the season anyway.
A recent study suggested that when we know we are facing into a “diet”, we are more likely to binge before the deprivation begins.
So before we drag ourselves into the “New Year, New You” age of abstinence and austerity, we tend to reward, comfort or lose ourselves in a few culinary blowouts.
Then there’s the guilt. It’s that feeling of conflict you have when you’ve eaten something you “shouldn’t have”, or not having eaten something you believe you “should have”.
The body has evolved to store extra calories in case of food shortages, but we have no natural biological mechanism for shedding body fat. Losing weight is much more difficult than gaining it.
It takes no time at all to eat and drink an excess of 3,500 calories, which can add a pound to your midriff, if consumed daily. But it can take weeks to shave 3,500 calories from the typical intake of an inactive adult.
While it’s true that Christmas is only once a year, and you can rationalise that you will lose the extra weight through your new year’s resolutions, the reality is that many people don’t.
That is one of the reasons why 24 per cent of Irish adults are obese and another 37 per cent overweight.
Many of us overeat in response to feelings. It’s interesting that our thoughts and emotions can play a bigger role than environmental cues, such as that box of chocolates planted on your desk in the office.
But the bigger-better mentality is certainly everywhere too. Even the dinner plates have grown considerably. It was recently suggested to me that the older tableware seemed more fitting for tapas than Christmas dinner.
And the larger the plates, the larger the portions. A medium roast potato can look awfully lonely on a 12-inch plate.
Making time to reflect can help you plan how you’re going to handle Christmas and enjoy it. Creating a little space to be mindful of what your body needs allows you to really connect with yourself and listen for signals.
How hungry are you? What type of hunger is it – is it a physical or an emotional hunger? Are you disconnecting and losing yourself in food to avoid something else?
Believe it or not, Christmas dinner can be one of the most balanced meals you’ll eat over the festive season. But it’s back to portion size and the accompaniments.
A typical Christmas dinner of turkey, two slices of ham, some cranberry sauce, two roast potatoes, two tablespoons of stuffing, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrots and gravy contains roughly 680 calories and 20g fat.
And if you can manage some Christmas pudding and cream on top of that, you’ve clocked up another 497 calories and 30g fat. Add this to a couple of glasses of wine and you have 1,400 calories and 50g fat.
But you can cut your calories by halving your servings of roast potato, ham and stuffing. Then double the servings of cauliflower and carrot, and just have the gravy instead of the cranberry sauce.
The saving is 229 calories and 7g fat. This brings your dinner down to 451 calories and 13g fat. You’ve still got a very full plate, but it’s much higher in vitamins and fibre to fill you, yet lower in fat.
And if you still have room for dessert, a mince pie with low-fat custard instead of the pud and cream saves you 180 calories and 17.6g fat. Another good defence – walk the dog!
A light seafood casserole, prepared the day before Christmas, makes a delicious alternative to turkey.
Herb and lemon Fish and prawn
Casserole (Serves 4)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 red onions, sliced
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 red pepper, cored, cut into strips
1 yellow pepper, cut into strips
50ml white wine (optional)
1 bunch scallions, finely sliced
1 leek, trimmed and sliced
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 x 400g tins of good quality chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
500g skinless firm white fish fillets (such as cod, haddock or halibut) cut into bite-sized pieces
200g raw tiger prawns, peeled and de-veined
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a shallow casserole over a medium heat. Add the onions. Cover and cook slowly (without allowing them to brown), for about six minutes or until they are beginning to soften.
Add the peppers, leek, lemon and fennel and cook, stirring, for two minutes. If using, add the wine and allow to evaporate until there is a tablespoon left.
Add the chopped tomatoes and black pepper. Bring to the boil, add the fish, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered, for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, add the prawns and cook for a further four to five minutes or until the fish is fully cooked. Stir in the chopped fresh herbs and serve.
This dinner provides, per serving, 282 calories, 38.5g of protein, 7.7g of fat (1.1g saturates, 4.3 mono 1.2 poly), 4.6g fibre, and 2.4g of salt.
If you are serving turkey but would rather not use every pot in the cupboard to prepare dinner, here’s a great way around it.
Roasted vegetables with garlic and chilli
On first reading this recipe might look a little dull. The key to success is in how you cut the veg – small and even. Bring it directly to the table in the roasting pan.
For something so simple, it always elicits “oohs” and “ahhs”. This serves four, but if you have another big roasting pan, it can easily be doubled.
Butternut squash - about 500g (Wash the skin, you can eat it!)
200g of waxy potatoes, scrubbed
2 parsnips peeled
6 baby carrots , peeled
2 full heads of garlic, halved crossways and covered with tinfoil (yes, roasting helps mellow and sweeten garlic)
4-6 rosemary sprigs
2 tsp of crushed fennel seeds
2 red deseeded chillies, chopped
1 tbsp of virgin olive oil/rapeseed oil
4 small plum tomatoes or 10 cherry tomatoes
Heat the oven to 190C (fan)/170C, 375F/gas mark 6. Cut the squash into wedges, discarding seeds (keep skin on). Chop the potatoes and parsnips to similar size.
Place in a roasting tray with the squash and carrots. Add the garlic, rosemary, crushed fennel seeds, olive oil and pepper. Toss well and bake for 30 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and chillies to the pan and toss again, remove the tinfoil from the garlic so it can colour. Bake for a further 20-30 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally with plenty of fresh black pepper.
Just two or you? Why not try a smaller bird.
Oriental Chicken, Mild Vegetable Stir Fry (Serves 2)
Oriental chicken:
2 chicken breasts, skinless
½ red chilli
2 cloves garlic
1 inch root ginger
Grated zest of lime
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Vegetable Stir Fry:
½ Red chilli, diced
½ 1 inch root ginger, peeled and chopped
½ 1 green pepper, sliced
50g mange tout
50g green beans
50g broccoli, broken into spears
1 tablespoon water
Begin by marinating the chicken breasts. Finely dice the chilli, garlic and ginger and add it to a small bowl with the lime juice, cayenne pepper and olive oil. Mix well until thoroughly combined.
Meanwhile, take the chicken breast and using a sharp knife, make two or three incisions to allow the marinate to penetrate through.
Put the chicken breast in the marinade and leave for anything from 20 minutes to three hours. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5
Heat a pan with a little oil and brown the chicken breasts off on both sides for two to three minutes and then transfer to a small baking tray and pop them into the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until they are cooked through.
Reheat the pan on which you cooked the chicken, add the diced chilli and ginger, and cook for two to three minutes. Next add the green peppers, broccoli, mange tout and green beans and cook for a further four to five minutes. If necessary add in the water to stop the vegetables from burning.
Serve the vegetables on a large platter with the chicken breast on top. Garnish with a sprig of coriander.
This dinner, per serving, provides 233 calories, 35.3g of protein, 8.3 g of fat (1.5 saturates, 5.0 mono, 1.2g poly), 2.6g of fibre, and 0.15g salt.
If you hate Christmas pudding or it hates you, here’s a couple of alternatives to try.
Roasted Pineapple with Honey and Lime Yogurt (Serves 4)
Try roasting plums or peaches in the same way. Cut them in half, remove the stone and roast as the pineapple.
1 pineapple, cut into 8 wedges
and core removed
35g light brown sugar
150g low-fat natural yoghurt
2 limes, finely zested
1 tbsp honey
4 tbsp honey, warmed
Place pineapple in a roasting tray and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Drizzle with a little brandy and roast in preheated oven 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Mix yoghurt, lime zest and 1 tbsp of honey together. Serve the pineapple warm with the natural yoghurt mix and spoon over the warm honey.
This dish, per serving, provides 161 calories, 2.5g of protein, 0.7g of fat (0.2 saturates, 0.3 mono, 0.2 poly), 1.9g of fibre and 0.08g of salt.
Berry and Apple Crumble
For the filling:
4 Granny smith apples, peeled and
cut into wedges
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp caster sugar
Good pinch cinnamon
1 orange, zest grated
150g frozen mixed berries
1 tbsp finely grated ginger
For the topping:
70g organic porridge oats
30g wholemeal flour
20g brown sugar
20g flaked almonds
40g unsalted butter, melted
Pre-heat your oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Put the apples in a saucepan with the water, cinnamon, orange zest, ginger and sugar.
Place on a medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for three minutes and then add the frozen berries. Simmer for a further two minutes. Place the mix into an oven-proof bowl.
Now make the topping. Place all of the dry ingredients into a bowl.Stir through the melted butter and sprinkle over the filling. Place in the oven and bake for approx 15-20 minutes until golden.
This dish, per serving, provides 295 calories, 4.8g of protein, 12.8g of fat (5.5g saturates, 4.0g mono, 1.0g poly), 4.4 g fibre and 0.2g of salt.
Recipes in collaboration with Edward Hayden of Dunbrody House; Mark Doe of Just Cooking; and Dee Daly of Deelitefull.
