How to make traditional Christmas dishes lighter?

Choose your dishes well

Difficult to lose weight when the temptation is so great. The first step is to choose which dishes will be served during the meal. land side, lean meats like turkey, chicken or rabbit are best. That’s good, it’s what we prefer during the holidays! On the sea side, salmon is always preferable to a piece of red meat, but white fish will be even better for keeping the line! It is much less caloric. Sea bass, monkfish, sole… are all species to include in your recipes. Seafood can also be a good option, as a starter or as a main course. Think of oysters, prawns, lobsters and scallops (without the coral!). Avoid starchy side dishes, especially for evening meals. Seasonal vegetables such as squash (pumpkin, butternut, etc.), Jerusalem artichokes, cauliflower, endives, parsnips or even leeks fit perfectly into many recipes for light dishes. Think they won’t be festive enough? Think again. A fennel cappuccino will sublimate fish, individual butternut gratins with walnuts will be delicious with poultry and a lobster navarin will be perfect with seasonal vegetables. You can even incorporate them as an aperitif by making taramasalata toast on slices of black radish. Eating light does not rhyme with being bored! For lunch, you can serve your vegetables with a few baby potatoes, fresh wholemeal pasta or quinoa in a tasty risotto. The cooking method is also important. Cook without questioning the roasts which do not require the addition of fat. We also validate foil wraps and steam cooking. On the other hand, be careful with fried foods and the addition of fat to the pan.

Is foie gras a must for you? Serve it as a starter and prefer a light dish to compensate. Guinea fowl and turkey are low-fat poultry. Fish will also be a good option. Saffron sea bass fillet, roast duckling, roast monkfish… invite themselves to your festive table. You can also make mini croque monsieur of gingerbread and foie gras for the aperitif to enjoy in bites.

If it’s the capon that you can’t resist, prefer a light starter. Indeed, the capon is a poultry with a little more calories. It is the same for the duck and its breasts. Raw fish starters, cassolette of scallops with light cream, avocado, grapefruit and prawn tartare, sea bream and citrus tartare or ceviche, are very good choices to surprise your guests.

Choose the right ingredients

You can choose recipes that are very easy to prepare and yet look elaborate. The rules are simple to avoid accumulating calories: reduce fat and sugar intake. Avoiding butter, reducing sugar, preferring low-fat cream and skimmed milk are all ways to enjoy a good meal without feeling guilty about your diet. And we can bet that your guests won’t notice a thing! To give relief to your preparations, do not hesitate to play with spices and aromatic herbs.

Also revisit traditional dishes by replacing the most calorie-dense ingredients or modifying the recipes. Smoked salmon on buttered toast can give way to salmon tartare or rillettes. The foie gras on its bed of onion confit can be tasted in a spoon (the quantities will thus be reduced) or you can make small cabbage ballotins with foie gras. Turkey remains the least fatty poultry, but it is sometimes shunned because its flesh is dry. A stuffed turkey is therefore often more tender and juicy. For a light stuffing, opt for herbs and cream cheese, sage and onions, chestnuts or even prunes and corn.

Make a light dessert

If it remains quite easy to lighten the recipes of traditional dishes, what about the famous Yule log? No one will surprise you by telling you that the buttercream log is to be avoided. Prefer to use seasonal fruits, buy a sorbet log or transform a charlotte into a log. Here are some tips to help you make a light dessert:

• Make a rolled biscuit or a very light egg biscuit.
• Avoid overly heavy toppings. Opt for fresh, seasonal fruit (mango, kiwi, passion fruit, etc.) rather than fruit in syrup (far too sweet!).
• Replace buttercream with fruit mousse.
• Limit sugar intake and prefer fruit sugar.

If the log is not essential for you, various verrines, chocolate pears, a surprise baked apple, a clementine cake or a fruit salad can replace it. Also make your homemade gingerbread and chocolates… but that won’t be a reason to overdo it!

To go further, find out how to make a balanced and much less caloric Christmas meal?