Preparing Healthier Holiday Meals

By Bruno Povejsil, studiobstyle guest blogger

With Thanksgiving coming up, we’ve already gone over how to set your table, but what will you be serving? After nearly a full year of pandemic news, you might be considering changing your holiday eating habits as part of a broad health-conscious lifestyle change. After all, as we bemoan every year, traditional feasting fare like turkey, mashed potatoes(loaded with butter and salt, of course), ham, and pie aren’t very good for you. Here are some healthy alternatives to try for your Turkey Day spread.

Photo by Tim Nehotte, food styled by Greg Cruz

Chicken is a staple food for healthy eaters - it’s lean, high in protein, and easy to prepare in a seemingly infinite number of ways. It’s also cheaper than turkey and easier to scale to a smaller gathering. Whether roasted, grilled, curried, or pulled, chicken is a simple and delicious canvas for your culinary arts. The photo above shows oven-roasted chicken thighs in a red sauce with zucchini and button mushrooms. The thighs still have their skin on, which means this dish will have a little more fat and the meat will be juicier, which the red sauce will complement especially well thanks to its acidity. If you want to really commit to the “health” aspect of the dish, remove the skin before putting the chicken in with the other ingredients. Zucchini is generally cheap and available year-round, and is also a popular garden vegetable among the green-thumbed. Mushrooms are flavorful, add a distinct texture to meals, and are packed with protein and nutrients of their own to complement the chicken.

Photography by Brigitte Sire for goop, food styled by Anna Hampton

Chicken is not the only superstar meat for health aficionados, however. Salmon and other fish should be an important part of your diet, as sources of protein and other valuable nutrients, and they are excellent substitutes for turkey or ham at your Thanksgiving table. The picture here shows grilled wild-caught salmon with mixed greens and grilled avocado wedges. The creamy avocado complements the flaky texture of the fish, and the greens serve as a palette cleanser and a colorful bed to frame the meal. Avocados are widely associated with healthy eating, and most supermarkets go out of their way to keep them in stock year-round, and they should also be available for curbside pick-up or delivery services.

For sourcing your salmon, a number of services and subscriptions make fresh seafood available even for landlocked Midwesterners, such as the Wild Alaskan Company. These services bring fresh-caught salmon and other seafood to your door in refrigerated packaging, giving you access to high-quality ingredients without having to go to the store. If you prefer to shop local, look for specialty markets and prepare to improvise around the catch of the week.

Photography by Eric Piasecki, food styled by Maggie the Food Stylist

Vegetables make up an important part of the Thanksgiving feast, but too often we tend to cancel out a lot of the good nutrition by covering our green beans in fried onion strings and our potatoes in butter and salt. Personally, I have a deep weakness for canned cranberry sauce, which is pretty much entirely separated from the vitamins and antioxidants that make cranberries good for you. We’ve already covered some good options like zucchini and mushrooms, but there are many other delicious and nutritious fruits and vegetables to incorporate into your spread.

Beans, like mushrooms, are a great source of protein and vitamins, and they can be prepared and served many different ways. Thanks to that protein, they can be more filling than other foods, like potatoes, meaning they’re a great way to help reduce your portion sizes without losing out on flavor and nutrition. Baby kale is another flexible, high-nutrition ingredient that can be roasted, boiled, steamed, or eaten raw in a salad. If you’re like me and love cranberry sauce, consider pomegranate seeds as an alternative that offers the same sweet and tart flavor. All of these are commonly available at supermarkets and groceries, although a special mention should go to Asian grocery stores for their excellent selections of fresh mushrooms and leafy greens like kale and bok choy. If you crave a sweet treat, consider a Harry and David fruit basket for yourself. They have high-quality, carefully-selected fruit that’s always available, and delivery is even more of a plus in the pandemic era.

No holiday meal is complete without wine, and fortunately, you don’t have to replace your wine with a healthier alternative! Studies have shown that moderate consumption of red wine is good for your heart, reduces blood pressure, and helps prevent aging. “Moderate consumption” might not be as fun, but knowing that you’re living healthy will hopefully make up for that. Don’t know anything about wine? Consider a wine club! These subscription services curate wines and ship them to members at regular intervals, typically on a monthly basis. Besides the convenience of having someone else pick wine for you, some clubs have early or exclusive access to certain vineyards or wines that may never be available at liquor stores. These benefits are something you should look for while shopping for a wine club membership - if some clubs add value, you shouldn’t settle for one that doesn’t give you anything extra for your money. Barbara Schmidt of studiobstyle recommends the New York Times wine club as a starting point for your shopping, or try one of these highly-rated clubs.

Like I said in our blog about setting your table for the holidays, this year is a great opportunity to experiment and try new things for a smaller holiday gathering. You’ll find that your healthier meal is still filling and delicious, you’ll feel great afterwards, and you get to keep your wine! With today’s technology and the ever-growing ecosystem of delivery and curation services, it’s easy to get all the ingredients for a fantastic meal brought to your front door with no risk of coronavirus exposure. Enjoy your happier, healthier Thanksgiving weekend with these tips in mind.