Christmas is just around the corner. Filipinos love to celebrate Christmas with a festive dinner called Noche Buena. This annual treat is marked with recipes that are calorie laden. The mouthwatering traditional recipes from lechon, ham, fruit salad, leche flan, and morcon are equally heartclogging and will surely make your blood sugar skyrocket within a few minutes.

If your family cannot say no to these delicious Noche Buena staples, then perhaps adding plant-based options in your menu, as well as increasing the amount of vegetables in the dishes, will somehow make your menu more nutrient-rich.

For instance, serving Filipino spaghetti can be made healthier by adding grated carrots into the tomato sauce. Carrots are rich in antioxidants and carotenoids. They are anti-inflammatory (all the fat and sugar we consume during Christmas dinner is pro-inflammatory and can damage our blood vessels and cells). Moreover, did you know that cooking tomato makes it healthier as compared to eating it raw? The phytochemical lycopene in tomatoes increases when heat is applied. Tomatoes shouldn’t be cooked for longer than 10 minutes, however, because its vitamin C content diminishes. Lycopene is a potent plant nutrient that lowers the risk for cancer and heart disease. It also promotes good eyesight.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when we say adding vegetable dishes? Salads? But who wants to eat a salad with lechon? We only have Noche Buena once a year, after all. Wouldn’t it be a chore to chew those leafy greens?

Since majority of food served during Noche Buena is meat, we tend to neglect the importance of including vegetable dishes. If we don’t make it available, then how can our loved ones even get the chance to at least have something healthy to pair with those yummy but high fat and high sugar choices? Fresh lumpiang gulay is the key! It is easy to eat with your hands. Make sure that the amount of vegetable filling is about half a cup per serving. 

When it comes to dessert, we have long forgotten about the chewy gulaman, which is sourced differently from gelatin that is animal-based. This could be a lower calorie option than those decadent cakes and pastries. Gulaman is made from agar or seaweed. It stimulates the body to produce collagen, which is good for the skin and joints, the two areas of the body that often suffer from a pro-inflammatory diet. To make it plant-based, use nutmilk or soymilk instead of regular cow’s milk. You can also lightly sweeten it with coco sugar to prevent spikes in blood sugar level. This is best served with fresh fruits as a dessert.
When it comes to drinks, make sure you have lots of water infused with fruits and vegetables. You can use calamansi, lemon, lime, orange, cucumber, peppermint leaves, and basil. You can also use sparkling water for that added fizz instead of having softdrinks.

Here is a hot chocolate recipe from my father that I have tweaked a little to make it more exciting. This is a good beverage to end the meal with because cocoa contains the phytochemical flavan-3-ols, which works by lowering cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar.

Spicy Cocoa Shots

Makes 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup of water
• 1/8 cup of oatmilk or preferred nutmilk
• 1 tablet tablea chocolate
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Procedure

1. Boil water in saucepan.
2. Dissolve tablea chocolate in boiling water.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add unsweetened cocoa powder
5. Add cayenne pepper.
6. Mix well.
7. Pour into 2.5 to 3 oz. shot glasses.
8. Serve hot.

If you are looking for a new recipe to add to your Christmas menu, here is a wholesome plant-based recipe created by plantrician and registered nutritionist dietitian Consuelo Domingo, RND.

Wholesome Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

• 4 cups Vegetable broth (You can make your own—onion, carrots, celery, cabbage, mushrooms, seaweed etc.—or buy ready-made) 
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves or 5 leaves fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Marjoram
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (optional)
• 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
• 2 cups fresh oyster mushrooms, chopped
• 1 to 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1 cup cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 cup abitsuelas or Baguio beans, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch mixed with 1/3 cup cold water.
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 cups mashed potatoes.
• Paprika and parsley for garnish (optional)
• Nutritional yeast (optional)

Cooking instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place 1/2 cup of the broth in a large pot with the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. 
3. Cook and stir for around 3-5 minutes. 
4. Sprinkle herbs sage and marjoram, and add soy sauce.
5. Add the remaining vegetable broth and the carrot, mushrooms, cauliflower, cabbage, abitsuelas beans, and oyster mushrooms.
6. Bring to a boil. 
7. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 15-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
8. Add the cornstarch or potato starch mixture and stir until thickened. 
9. Season with pepper to taste. 
10. Transfer to a casserole dish or Dutch oven.
11. Cover vegetable mixture with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with paprika and parsley.
12. Bake for 30 minutes until potatoes are slightly browned.
13. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast (optional).

Will you take the challenge of making your Noche Buena feast nutritious and delicious? After all, eating should both be healthy and pleasurable.

Happy, healthy holidays!

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