I’ve always preferred the colder times of the year. The ciders, the soups, the baked pastries… Okay, let me rephrase here: I’ve always preferred the food of the colder times of the year. (The freezing temps and short days I can definitely do without.) But while the holidays can be a healthy intentions black hole, what I’ve discovered is that with a few specific superfood tricks up your sleeve, you can easily keep on your healthy track. Here are some of my most utilized methods on enjoying cozy comfort food … the superfood way.
- Fold in seeds. Seeds: The tiny embryo of plants which house all the nutrition needed to bear a full-grown plant. It’s easy to understand why seeds are such a powerhouse of health for the human body! Adding seeds to recipes helps to up the nutrition density of your meals, while also curbing cravings due to their high content of protein, minerals, and good fats. Using them is as simple as folding pumpkin seeds into a sweet bread, adding hemp seeds to starchy mains, or sprinkling a teaspoon of chia seeds on top of absolutely anything.
- Rethink your starches. Between the pastas, breads, cookies, baked dishes and more, the holidays have a huge amount of starchy foods going on. Making them a substantially healthier is as easy as using whole foods and superfoods in the place of refined flours and processed products. Nix the white flour, white rice, and white pasta (that’s not what they meant about a “white Christmas” anyway), and use whole grain and pseudo-grain varieties instead. My favorite superfood tip is to replace pasta with starchy high-protien super-grains like farro/spelt, quinoa, and sorghum, served with the traditional sauce. So good!
- Go for the green. Green foods are able to both deeply nourish AND detoxify your body at the same time, making them arguably the most important food to regularly enjoy within the context of our modern diet. Believe it or not, comfort food genuinely embraces this class of superfoods: you can add in chopped fresh greens into casseroles, rich sauces, and all kinds of sautéed sides. But for an even more no-excuse, extra-simple method, I can’t stress it enough: utilize the power of powdered greens. I always have a stash of powdered greens in my cabinet which I scoop into superfood lattes, add into baked recipes, stir into dips, and whisk into warm broths and soups. I’m convinced you can add greens in this manner to just about anything – how invaluable is that?!
You can put these tips instantly to practice in my recipe for Minestrone with Farro & Chia Pesto, a recipe straight from the pages of Superfood Soups! And to celebrate your healthy efforts, I’ve partnered with my friends at Amazing Grass for a fabulous superfood giveaway:
The Prize: WIN a bottle Amazing Grass Raw Reserve, Green Superfood Trio, and Detox & Digest! (Almost a $100 value!)
To Enter: Answer the following question by adding a comment to the bottom of this post to be entered: Big or small, what is one way you make your holiday recipes more healthy? You can get one additional entry by tweeting* the following: Win a collection of incredible @AmazingGrass products from #SuperfoodSoups author @greenjules!
*(Be sure to leave a separate comment on this post with a link to your tweet.)
The Rules: Contest ends Dec 11, 2016 at 11:59pm PST. Winner will be selected at random and contacted the next day. Contest open to North American residents only.
Good Luck!
12/12/16 UPDATE: THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
