Let’s get ready for Christmas
“The holidays are approaching. Opportunity to meet. Opportunity to share.”
A time to disconnect from the busy life.
If you’re still wondering how your Christmas Eve or Christmas menu will be composed, I’m here to help you with some tasty and healthy suggestions to inspire
you.
That’s why I have developed a Christmas menu for all tastes. To guide us is almost
always the tradition, but this year let’s add a pinch of health.
Christmas Eve
The Italian culinary tradition speaks for itself: Christmas Eve smells exclusively of fish!
To open in beauty, you cannot miss the seafood appetizers:
Warm seafood and shrimp salad, a tasty sauté of mussels and clams and to conclude, a course of wild smoked salmon with lemon zest and pepper cannot be
missing from your tables.
An excellent alternative for soup and veloute lovers is the chickpea and shrimp purée. How to prepare it?
Iniziamo con un soffritto con poco olio, aglio e salvia, aggiungiamo i ceci (anche presi in scatola) lasciamo rosolare per qualche secondo poi allunghiamo con acqua, dado vegetale, sale e pepe. Una volta cotto passiamo il tutto, allungandolo, se necessario, per ottenere la densità giusta e all’ultimo minuto aggiungiamo i gamberi, che abbiamo precedentemente passato in padella con un pò di scalogno, olio e sfumati con un pò di cognac (fiamma alta per far evaporare l’alcol).
Start with a soffritto with a little oil, garlic and sage, add the chickpeas (also taken in a box) , let brown for a few seconds then dilute with water, vegetable stock cube, salt and pepper. Once cooked we pass the whole, diluting, if necessary, to obtain the right density and at the last minute add the shrimp, which we have previously passed in a pan with a little shallot, oil and shaded with a little cognac (high flame to evaporate the alcohol).
Let’s continue with the second courses, a perfect mix of proteins, fats and the right amount of fiber
Another classic of Italian cuisine is baked fish. A versatile, delicious and complete dish. Personally, I cover it with a layer of salt and oil, adding rosemary, bay leaves, thyme and sage to the belly of the fish (I also put a little on top to flavor it well). I bake it for 10 minutes every centimeter from the height of the fish at 180 ° C. We accompany it with a portion of vegetables of our choice: puntarelle, spinach with butter and parmesan cheese and/or fried artichokes. As for the spinach, once we put a knob of butter and covered it with Parmesan cheese with the fire off we close with a lid so that the Parmesan cheese melts well.
Christmas Lunch
After enjoying an appetizer of mixed cold cuts, among the flavors of the Italian tradition you can not miss the cappelletti in broth. What is the typical second course? The roast veal in the oven of course! A tasty dish that never disappoints. Everything always accompanied by a course of vegetables: Mixed field salad and/or chard all’agro. As for dinner, let’s keep it light. Replacing in our menu one or two meals with tasty bars as a meal replacement, an easy and effective way to maintain a healthy weight and feel healthy even during the holidays. Treating ourselves in addition to a slice of panettone and a nice hot tea.
Santo Stefano
Also known as the day of “recycling”. A mix of cold cuts is always a great choice as an appetizer to satisfy all the guests. As a first course, I couldn’t help but include a nice dish of baked lasagna. As for baked fish, lasagna is one of those dishes nutritionally complete and versatile, a guarantee! Let’s always remember our vegetables, an essential source of fiber essential for our health. The fibers give satiety, decrease fat absorption, help your intestinal regularity and much more, so a nice plate of salad always add it to your menu! As a tasty variation: baked cabbage au gratin with Parmesan cheese. A simple dish, quick to prepare but particularly tasty, thanks to the crispy gratin coating. As a snack a little fruit, such as tangerines, and a little dried fruit (almonds, walnuts …) without exaggerating!
Dinner
Carbohydrates at lunch, for dinner it is preferable to privilege and balance with proteins and vegetables. Protein that we will take from a menu based exclusively on fish. Starting with a little wild smoked salmon and continuing with more gourmet and delicious dishes such as tuna tartare, swordfish, red shrimp and oysters. As a main course a tasty soup of seafood and shrimp, which is prepared in a short time and very versatile even in the choice of fish to use. Obviously we always try to respect the seasonality of the fish. And we conclude our dinner with a nice sea bass baked in foil with peppers, carrots and / or spinach in butter (add a little lemon to remove the acidity).
Dessert
As for dessert, a tip I can give you to not overdo it but still please your palate is to create a single dish with mini portions of the desserts present. It’s a nice way to trick our brain but it’s a great tip so we don’t lose control of the quantities and overdo with the sugars and calories.
First of the year
Tradition wants that cotechino with lentils cannot absolutely miss in our tables and therefore we insert it as main course. As a snack it is always good to prefer a fruit such as tangerine and some dried fruit preferably almonds.
To conclude, balance must be the key word that accompanies you during the holidays. The holidays do not necessarily have to be synonymous with binge eating
and weight gain, you can enjoy these moments in the company also respecting a healthy and tasty diet but with some small precautions. Eating in a healthy way and
inserting in your days a little physical activity (minimum 40 minutes) will help you to maintain not only a stability of your weight but more importantly, to enjoy these moments in total serenity.