Revamp your family get-togethers and create healthy recipes like a lobster tail salad, hake and vegetable pie and whole-grain crackers.

The end of the year is approaching and the get-togethers with friends and family around tables full of food have become habitual. Our goal for this year is for you to enjoy this period with absolutely no remorse because a tasty menu isn’t incompatible with healthy recipes.

Below, you will discover some traditional recipes which have that INHealth touch:

Lobster and mango salad

1. Prepare the vinaigrette by mixing the following ingredients up in a jar: 1 finely chopped small shallot, 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 dessert spoons of Dijon mustard and another dessert spoon of honey and a pinch of salt and pepper. Close the pot, shake well and set it aside.
2. Put 100 g of leaves of different types of lettuce into a large bowl. Add 50 g of crumbled goats’ cheese. Mix well so that all the leaves are soaked, and you can see white specks of cheese.
3. Add 50 g of mango cut into chunks and 2 or 3 coloured cherry tomatoes , which have been cut in half. Mix well.
4. Transfer the contents of the bowl into a large flat salad bowl and arrange the salad to your liking.
5. Decorate the salad with the 8 cooked peeled lobsters, some redcurrants, 2 or 3 coloured cherry tomatoes cut in half and another 50 g of mango cut into chunks.
6. Serve together with the vinaigrette.

Hake and vegetable pie

1. In a pot with boiling water, add a pinch of salt, a bay leaf and a piece of leek and cook the hake for 8 minutes (it can also be grouper or snapper). Once the hake is cooked, drain the mixture, flake the fish and set it aside.
2. Cut 150 g of onion, 1 green pepper and 2 tomatoes into small dices. Set aside.
3. Crush the garlic and finely chop the parsley. Set aside.
4. Cut 3 potatoes and 2 carrots into cubes and boil them until they are tender. Set aside.
5. In a large skillet, add a quarter cup of olive oil. Add the onion and sauté them. Then, add the garlic, tomatoes and pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Add the fish and stir the mixture. Then add the chopped parsley. Leave to simmer.
6. Coat an oven-safe rectangular container (to bake the hake and vegetable pie) with a little butter.
7. Beat 3 eggs and dip half of the potatoes and carrots into the mixture. Place the mixture in the tray of the oven as the base of the cake. Add to the rest of the beaten egg 150g of peas and the other half of the potatoes and carrots to the fish and vegetable stew. Fill the container with the mixture.
8. You can seal the walls of the container with breadcrumbs so that the cake has a more consistent texture and doesn’t collapse when you serve it.
9. Put the container with the mixture into a preheated oven (200°C). Leave it for 45 minutes. Place a tray with water under the grill to generate steam inside the oven.
10. When the time’s up, remove the tray from the oven, wait a few minutes and served accompanied with toasted bread or fresh salad.

Whole-grain crackers

1. Mix 2 cups of flour, a little salt and yeast.
2. In another bowl, beat 10 tablespoons of light butter, a medium small cup of sugar and low-fat cheese with an electric mixer at high speed until it forms a spongy mass.
3. Add an egg and beat again.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until it’s blended.
5. Flatten the dough, wrap it in plastic and let it cool for an hour.
6. Once cold, spread and cut into Christmas-themed shapes.
7. Place the crackers on a baking tray and toast them for about 15 minutes.

These recipes are just some ideas, although there are many more. Remember to make healthy choices at your end-of-year culinary get-togethers, combining them with a little bit of movement such as long walks or some exercise, and enjoy the good company.

Sources:

• Good Housekeeping
• Nourish yourself

This post is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)