Dinner Lunch Recipes Videos

Healthy Holiday Sides

November 20, 2019
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Autumn Harvest Kale Butternut Squash Salad

Ingredients

SALAD

  • 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash cubed
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil
  • sea salt to taste
  • 1 1/2 pounds Tuscan kale stems removed *SEE NOTES*
  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 3 avocados cubed
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 1/4 cup hemp seeds

DRESSING

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 – 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon shallots chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • sea salt to taste

Instructions

SALAD

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the butternut squash cubes with the oil and salt and pepper. Lay them out in a single layer onto the parchment sheet- you may need to use two so they all fit.
  3. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35-45 minutes, flipping halfway through. You will want them to be soft and a bit caramelized. Remove from the oven and set aside.
  4. Begin to assemble the salad. Add all of the salad ingredients and pour the dressing on top. However, if you are not going to eat it all at once, serve the dressing on the side and add the avocado when ready to eat! Season with extra salt and pepper if needed.

DRESSING

  1. Combine all of the salad dressing ingredients in the bowl of a high speed blender pitcher. Blend on high for about 1 minutes until everything is combined and creamy throughout.
  2. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Notes

Massage the kale leaves after removing the stems. While doing this be sure to pray into those leaves, state your intention and ask them to bless your well being. Massaging them also helps to break them down so they soften up a bit and are easier to chew.

Let’s be real. 

When it’s the Holidays, I wanna eat.

I’m not interested in considering how much fiber I’m getting and whether I have enough greens or if there is too much sugar or any other frigging calculations.

I’m interested in all the smells, colors, textures and how it’s gonna taste! I love a good feast and the Holidays is where food gets to shine. 

Front and center.

Central to all happy beginnings and endings. Bringing family and friends together over a feast is absolute joy for me.

But you know what’s not so joyful?

Being full, stuffed and miserable.

Because you overdid it and are experiencing carb, dairy, sugar, gluten overload.

However I don’t think you need to get rid of all your favorites. I just think that applying a bit of mindfulness to your meals is key to keeping things balanced, joyful and tasty.

Speaking of keeping things tasty, here are three delicious side dishes you can try this holiday season.

Let me introduce you to this macaroni and cheese that actually doesn’t have cheese. Instead it has a rich, creamy, cheese-ey tasting cashew base that will make your tastebuds swoon.  Wanna see how it’s made, click here for the video or the photo below for recipe.

Next are these amazing Jalapeño Corn Fritters.

If you feel like no spread is complete without bread, then you need to try this.  I was never a fan of the yeasty white rolls.  They were flimsy and always deflated if you pressed to hard.  They definitely couldn’t hold up to real butter, as they would tear if you try to spread it and would fall under pressure.  

Growing up at my Holiday table, we always had cornbread or biscuits made from scratch and baked in a cast-iron skillet. It would be come out the oven with a slight dome and smell up the entire house!  Once served, it knew how to hold the butter in every single crevice so that when you bit into it all you got was a warm, buttery, doughy hug.

But over the years, too much dough overwhelms my mid-section, so I started looking for a new bread for the Holiday spread!  And lo and behold I came across these Jalapeño Corn Fritters  which I veganized.  These taste like hush puppies, fritters and corn bread had a baby and I serve these every year!

Last but not least are the greens!

I’m not talking about collard greens nor kale. I think that’s standard and should definitely grace any feast with its presence.  Instead, I’m talking about salad.  

In the past, I would reserve a little space on my plate for some collard greens or green beans and the rest would be for all the starchirific sides like yams, Mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, cornbread, etc. But the game changed once I started praying into these greens and serving this Autumn Salad made with kale, roasted butternut squash, pomegranate, avocado and pumpkin seeds.

I know it’s not really a fan favorite to eat salad at Thanksgiving, but that’s because you never made this Kale Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Apple Cider Honey Vinaigrette!

First off it’s beautiful! All those Autumn colors decorating your plate and the bounty of sweet, savory and tangy flavors dancing in your mouth. This salad really is a dream and I promise you folks will be coming back for seconds!  

If you make this salad as appetizing as everything else, it will be invited to take up more space on your plate for fiber and less for carbs and it won’t feel like you are are sacrificing anything you love to eat but rather adding something that brings joy and goodness to your plate!

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Jalapeno Corn Fritters

Scale

Ingredients

  • 3 cups fresh corn (from 3 to 4 ears)
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened plant-based milk
  • 3 tablespoons refined coconut oil

Instructions

  1. Mix all ingredients (except coconut oil) in a large bowl with a large spoon.
  2. Form mixture into patties, about 1/2 cup each. Add additional flour, if needed to hold patties together.
  3. Heat refined coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat.
  4. Fry until golden brown on each side for 3-4 minutes.  Drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Notes

Makes about 6 Fritters

If you want to see how all this comes together, check out my YouTube video.

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