During the holidays, it's hard not to over-indulge in sweets and snacks.
One tip to stay on track with healthy eating is to contribute a healthy dish to your gathering. That way, you can stress less about what you're putting on your plate and focus more on friends and family.
The health-conscious restaurant True Food Kitchen, which has a location in King of Prussia, shared recipes for three of its most-loved fall/winter dishes with PhillyVoice.
Below you'll find a recipe for an appetizer, a salad and a dessert.
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Winter Squash Toast
Roast butternut squash to place onto toast. To put on top, roast brussels sprouts, caramelized onion and hazelnuts. You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice. Before serving, drizzle saba (or balsamic) over everything.
Taylor Domet, director of culinary standards, shared a pro tip for making the appetizer.
"When roasting butternut squash, the sweetness can vary depending on time of the season. It gets sweeter further into the winter. Depending on what the final roasted squash tastes like, I would add about 1-2 tsp. of maple syrup per 2 cups of roasted squash."
Seasonal Salad
"The pomegranate is high in antioxidants and the simplicity of the vegetables keeps the calorie count low while filling you up," said Domet.
Recipe for horseradish dressing:
1 cup of prosecco vinegar
1/3 cup of water
1 tbsp. garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 pinch of fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 grape seed oil
1 tbsp. of sambal (Sriracha can be substituted)
2 tbsp. of horseradish
1 tbsp. of scallions (sliced into thick rings)
Blend together vinegar, water, garlic, salt and pepper with immersion blender. Slowly add the two oils while blending to create an emulsification. Add in sambal, horseradish and scallions. Yields 1 quart.
Squash Pie
Recipe for Squash Pie filling:
4 cups of roasted butternut squash
1/2 cup of evaporated cane sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
.5 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 3/4 cup of coconut cream
1/3 cup of cornstarch
1/14 cup of brandy
Cut squash in half from end to end and remove seeds. Place on parchment paper, cut side down, roast in 325-degree oven for 45-60 minutes, or until squash is tender. Remove skin.
Combine all ingredients in a large, plastic container.
With immersion blender, blend until completely smooth. Pour mixture into pre-set pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees, low fan, for 22 minutes. Rotate pan and continue to bake for 22 more minutes.
Bake pie until it reaches 175 degrees internal temperature. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour.
Recipe for Squash Pie graham pie dough:
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup of gluten-free oat flour
1/2 cup of buckwheat flour
.5 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pinch of kosher salt
1/2 cup of evaporated cane sugar
3 tbsp. coconut oil (melted)
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
Combine oat flour, buckwheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Mix well.
Add coconut oil, water and vanilla paste. Mix until dough starts to come together. Scrape sides of bowl and continue mixing until dough is smooth and consistent.
Roll between two sheets of parchment paper until its slightly bigger than pie mold. Dust rolling pin with gluten-free flour then use it to pick up dough and transfer to pie mold.
Lightly brush mold with oil. Press dough into pie mold evenly, then dock dough with fork.
Chill dough for at least 30 minutes before baking.