Many would like to refrain from the traditional roast and sweet treats, but after all the calories are counted it is still easy and economical to cook and bake a variety of reduced-fat foods at Christmas. Like the line from the popular Christmas carol, from the "apple, walnut and almond core" it is better to go with apples, oranges, mandarins and nuts, to keep you happy, healthy, and the scale at a good number. With a few simple tips you can defuse these calorie rich sweets and rely on healthier cooking and baking: instead of the traditional white flour use whole meal, instead of sugar rely on a fruit sugar source or honey, and replace butter with low-fat margarine. Even the traditional recipe Vanillekipferl from Austria tastes great with our health food choices.
In Denmark we find the hearty Christmas treat of traditional rice pudding "Ris à Lamande”. It’s an annual tradition as well that the person who gets a whole almond hidden in his or her pudding will receive a gift. The dairy dessert sahnelastige will be calorie wise if you use reduced-fat milk and whipped cream instead of the pudding with sweet chocolate sauce, and garnish with fresh fruit.
In Russia, Christmas is directed by the Julian calendar and is conducted by the Orthodox Church on January sixth. But, the Russian Christmas makes it easier for your food temptations. It is more of a tradition in Russian and Eastern European cities and towns to eat out on Christmas, but the base of a typical Russian Christmas meal is Borscht, and beetroot. The red beet is full of calcium and magnesium, and other important vitamins and minerals. One of our recipes is a beetroot salad with chopped walnuts. The salad has a high fat content, but the nuts are polyunsaturated fatty acids which are important for the heart and muscles.
Over the Christmas holidays in Greece, people generally celebrate from the 24th of December to the 6th of January. As like most southern European countries nuts and almonds are well known Christmas goodies in Greece. The most popular are Melomakarona with walnuts and cinnamon, which no Greek pastry can be made without. They use olive oil in place of butter or margarine known to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack.
RECIPE 1: Vanillekipferl
Ingredients:
250 grams whole meal
200 g margarine
100 g of finely ground almonds
50 g honey
2 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod
Powdered sugar
Directions:
Mix flour with egg yolks, honey, (which makes a vanilla pod) and finely ground almonds.
In a small bowl mix butter and add to mix.
Smooth dough, and cool for one hour.
Then roll the dough into small roles and bend slightly at each end.
Bake at 200 degrees for ten minutes on an ungreased baking sheet.
Finally, add icing sugar and cool.
RECIPE 2: Ris a Lamandé
Danish Christmas dessert: Ris à Lamandé (serves 6)
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
¾ liters reduced-fat milk
90 g rice pudding
60 g sugar
1 tablespoon sherry
90 g peeled and chopped almonds and peeled whole almonds
400 ml reduced-fat whipped cream
Directions:
Prepare milk rice and allow to cool
Add sugar, sherry, chopped almonds and whole almonds to rice pudding
Add whipped cream and beat in with the rice pudding mix
Add fresh fruit
RECIPE 3: Red-beet salad
Ingredients:
2-3 Beet roots
2 garlic cloves
6 to 8 walnuts
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Directions:
Cook beet root until softened
Remove beet root and let cool
Crush garlic, add olive oil, and stir
Add walnuts to beet root and mix everything
Add a dash of salt and pepper
RECIPE 4: Melomakarona
Ingredients:
For the dough (40 servings):
2 cups olive oil
3 / 4 cup orange juice
1 / 4 cup cognac
3 / 4 cup sugar
7-8 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons (deleted) baking powder
1 teaspoon (deleted) sodium
500 grams chopped walnuts
Cinnamon
For the syrup:
2 cups honey
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Add olive oil, orange juice, brandy and sugar in a medium sized bowl and whip
In another bowl mix sifted flour, baking powder and sodium
Add a portion of the chopped nuts to dry mixture
Add dry mix to whipped mix, and knead
Make dough into golf ball sized rounds
Bake at 180 degrees for about half an hour in center of oven
Syrup:
Put all syrup ingredients in a pot and cook for about five minutes
Remove Melomakarona from the oven, and cool for ten minutes
Add syrup, chopped walnuts and sprinkled cinnamon to the pastry to each pastry
At fitness.com, we hope you enjoy these special holiday treats! Merry Christmas!
