Greener and Healthier Holiday Meals

I love finding old traditions and seeing how they can be made greener and more eco-friendly as well as healthier. Thanksgiving is also my favorite holiday.  Without the commercial excesses of Christmas, Thanksgiving has retained much of the appeal of centering around friends, family, good food, and giving thanks. Although the holiday is reasonably eco-friendly from an environmental standpoint (unless you are traveling thousands of miles by jet), Thanksgiving dinner represents a time of typical gluttony.  I have been experimenting with various recipes to incorporate more fresh vegetables and fruits in creative ways to make holiday meals fun, entertaining, delicious, and healthier.  Here are some suggestions for greener, healthier, holiday meals:

–Assign one person to be in charge of recycling cups, bottles, paper and plastic. This is a great task for a non-cook or a teenager.

–Ask a guest to bring an extra set of dishes and cutlery, if you are entertaining a large crowd. I am not a fan of paper and plastic plates for nice meals, and this will create less paper and plastic waste.

–If you are planning a large meal with lots of guests, send leftovers home in the original dishes they brought, or encourage them to bring containers to take leftovers home.  This will reduce food waste since one meal of Thanksgiving style leftovers is usually fun, but multiple meals becomes boring.

–Take advantage of a hot oven by using it for multiple dishes (be sure everything is cooked appropriately) and  take advantage of the heat by lowering the thermostat a couple of degrees.

–Plan ahead of time what to do with leftovers.  A number of traditional dishes transform well into dishes the next day such as pumpkin pie smoothies, breakfast strata with turkey and vegetables, or soup from crudite and bones.  Package leftovers in conveniently-sized containers and freeze what you won’t eat in a couple of days.

–Eat more vegetables.  Increasingly, the health and ecological benefits of eating more vegetables is becoming apparent.  Healthy holiday meals can incorporate familiar ingredients, yet serve them up in a fresh, tasty, rather than stodgy manner.  Here’s my revamped menu:

Pumpkin hummus and vegetable sticks
Baked ham with ginger-pineapple salsa
Chipotle sweet potatoes
Green beans with lemon zest
Pear and arugula salad w/ pecans
Winter fruit salad w/ chocolate sauce

shared at Works for Me Wednesday, Ultimate Recipe Swap, and Food Renegade