Merry and bright.
Holiday dinner favorites like roast beef and turkey, served up with potatoes, stuffing and mac and cheese can leave your plate looking drab — all brown and white. I joined ABC7’s Britt Waters and Kidd O’Shea on Good Morning Washington to share four colorful sides to make your holiday dinner as merry and bright as the rest of your home this Christmas and New Years.
Make it magical: We all want our holidays to be something special, elevated beyond the everyday. Start your holiday dinner with a colorful salad. These beets are cooked in pomegranate juice and honey to top bright greens tossed in a citrus vinaigrette. Toasted ground fennel seeds flavor tart Greek yogurt to balance the earthiness of the beets. BONUS: This is a great, hearty lunchtime salad all winter long. Cook the beets and make the vinaigrette ahead of time and it’s ready in under 5 minutes.
Get the recipe: Pomegranate-glazed beet salad with fennel cream
Bring in a little summer: Floral apricot preserves, tangy-sweet white balsamic vinegar and a little bright heat from red pepper flakes add freshness to the earthy flavor of winter carrots. This dish over and over has converted cooked-carrot haters at my table. BONUS: Cooked carrots have more available nutrients than raw. NOTE: Many health tips are relative. Your doctor and nutritionist are thrilled when you eat raw carrots! Want to improve your diet this holiday season? Have 2 instead of 3 cookies.
Get the recipe: Apricot and chile-glazed carrots
Something for everyone at your table: We have become more aware of people’s dietary preferences and restrictions. Give the gift of a warm welcome at your table by serving these plant-based, gluten-free and easily vegan recipes at your holiday table. Add some chickpeas or white beans to this kale for a little more plant-based protein. Slice your kale ahead of time and this dish is ready in under 10 minutes. Cranberries and a pinch or two of sugar balance the bitterness some eaters dislike in kale. The grassy, chlorophyll notes are a welcome counterpoint to the delicious starches and richer meats on the table.
Get the recipe: Quick sautéed kale with dried cranberries
Squash isn’t just for fall: Delicious squash like Kabocha, Delicata and Kuri store well and are available at your farmers market all winter long.They’re delicious just roasted with salt, pepper and olive oil – and their thin skins don’t even need to be peeled! Dress up your squash with a sweet and sour sauce – not Asian, but Italian. Agrodolce, a classic vinegar and honey or sugar reduction, often includes dried fruit and brings out the natural sugars in squash while adding brightness.
Get the recipe: Roasted squash with Agrodolce sauce
