With Christmas around the corner and silly season in full swing, it doesn’t mean you need to fall off the healthy eating wagon this holiday season. Most of us have a calendar filled with festive holiday parties, dinners with friends & family, and endless rounds of drinks.
In the centre of all this celebration, is food. Temptations appear at every corner, so Atkins has developed a range of low carb festive recipes to keep you on the right track to weight wellness over the holiday season.
A simple rule of thumb in the Atkins low-carb lifestyle, is following a 90/10 eating rule during the holidays – that is 90% of food consumed being low-carb, with 10% wriggle room to indulge over the holidays.
Eat until you’re satisfied – not stuffed! While it’s easy to be tempted by carb-loaded canapes, heavy Christmas dinners, and sugar laden desserts, there are ways to indulge without throwing your healthy eating habits out of the window by consuming excess carbs and sugar.
See below a small selection of delicious and healthy Christmas recipes championed by Atkins that you can try over the festive season.
Prawn Cocktail
A simple and delicious Christmas starter
Serves 8
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking time: 10 min
Carbs per serving: 1 gram
Ingredients
650 grams of frozen pre-cooked prawns
150mls of mayonnaise
2.5 tablespoons of tomato paste
Chilli powder to taste
1 iceberg lettuce, washed and shredded
Fresh lemon
4 cherry tomatoes
Method
Defrost the prawns/shrimps as instructed. Allow the water to drain off then pat dry with some kitchen paper. Mix the mayonnaise, tomato paste, and chilli powder then fold thorough the prawns/shrimps.
Serve in glasses over shredded lettuce. Garnish with a squeeze of lemon and cherry tomato halves.
Roast Leg Of Lamb With Garlic & Rosemary
A classic family favourite, with no fuss and masses of flavour
Serves 8
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 min
Carbs per serving: 0.5 grams
Ingredients
2kg leg of lamb
3 cloves of garlic
½ a bunch of fresh rosemary
1 lemon
olive oil
Method
Remove the lamb from the fridge one hour before you want to cook it, to let it come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. To make the marinate, peel and crush three cloves of garlic and add to a bowl. Roughly chop the rosemary leaves and add to the garlic.
Finely grate in the lemon zest and drizzle in a good lug of oil, then mix everything together. Season the lamb with sea salt and black pepper, then drizzle with the marinade and rub all over the meat.
Cook the lamb for one hour and 15 minutes if you want it pink, or 1 hour 30 minutes if you prefer it well done. When the lamb is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
For The Mint Sauce:
Handful fresh mint
125ml vinegar
1 tsp granulated Splenda (more or less)
Method
Chop the fresh mint as finely as you can. Put in a small glass and pour on the vinegar and sweetener. Mix together with a fork and allow to infuse while you cook the roast lamb.
Spinach, Feta & Strawberry Salad
A fresh and easy summer salad with a zingy red wine vinaigrette dressing
Serves 8
Preparation time: 10 min
Carbs per serving: 6 grams
Ingredients
280 grams of baby spinach
2 cups strawberries sliced
1/2 cup almonds sliced
200 grams of feta crumbled
1/2 cup avocado oil or olive oil
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon stevia drops
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
In medium bowl combine baby spinach, sliced strawberries, crumbled feta and almonds. In small bowl or cup, blend remaining ingredients to make dressing. Divide salad into eight servings. Drizzle dressing over salad just before serving.
Blueberry Pavlova
Impress your friends and family with this delicious low carb blueberry pavlova
Serves 8
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking time: 20 min
Carbs per serving: 8 grams
Ingredients
6 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup of Splenda granular
For the Topping
300 grams of heavy cream
1/2 cup of Splenda granular
1 cup of blueberries
Method
Preheat oven to 150ºC. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and Splenda with an electric mixer until very stiff and shiny (approx. five minutes).
Spoon the egg white mixture onto the prepared tray and shape into a circle approx. 20-24cm wide. Bake for 20 minutes or until a light golden brown. Leave in oven to cool. Once cool, lift the pavlova from the tray and peel away the baking paper.
Place on a serving dish. Beat the cream with Splenda until thick. Spoon over the pavlova and decorate with blueberries.
You can find much more information on living a holistic lifestyle in these free magazines and on our YouTube channel.
ABOUT ATKINS
Scientifically formulated for safe and effective weight loss, weight management and healthy lifelong eating, Atkins is an easy to follow, flexible four-phased program (start at the phase that best suits you) that helps you build a diet around whole foods rich in vitamins and ‘good carbohydrates’ including low sugar fruits, leafy green vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, dairy, good fats, and protein (fish, poultry, meat and tofu) – while at the same time helping you eliminate highly processed carbs such as white flour and sugar. For further information or more delicious low carb recipe ideas, visit atkins.com
