With these 6 tips, you can gourmet just a little healthier this year
Gourmetting is the national Christmas dish and the perfect occasion to fill the entire table with delicious food. Because seriously, who turns on that gourmet set just to brown a few pieces of meat? So you’ll definitely eat a lot during an evening like this. But honestly, what exactly you’re putting away could occasionally be a little healthier.
Especially if – like me – you let the festive season begin as soon as the ‘R’ is in the month (yes, I’m already listening to
Christmas music in September), and the bags of spiced biscuits, chocolate letters and glasses of red wine can no longer be counted on 10 hands. So: 6 tips to make your gourmet table a little healthier.
Choose lean meat
Building thick hamburgers isn’t such a good idea if you want to gourmet more healthily. And you’d better leave those slices of bacon alone too. No, if you want to make healthy choices at the gourmet set, choose lean meat, such as chicken breast and turkey breast. And don’t forget fish.
Make your own sauces
Gourmetting without sauces is like a Christmas tree without baubles and like Saint Nicholas without a beard: something is simply missing. But if anything on the gourmet table could be a little healthier, it’s those sauces. Tip: make them yourself. With eggs, mustard, vinegar and good extra virgin olive oil, you can already make a healthy mayonnaise, for example. Or try this divine whipped feta dip. Or this delicious sauce that goes well with everything.
Put plenty of vegetables on the table
Vegetables are healthy. You already learned that when you were served your first vegetable purée as a baby. If you want to gourmet more healthily, fill the table with vegetables. Vegetables you can fry, but also raw vegetables, such as snack tomatoes and baby carrots, plus a large bowl of salad. Another reason to go for lots of vegetables: they fill you up like crazy. So you’ll feel full sooner too, as they say so nicely.
Cook healthy omelets
Those gourmet pans are perfect for omelets. Crack an egg, sprinkle some vegetables and herbs on top and you’ll have a wonderfully healthy gourmet dish.
Cook in olive oil instead of butter
Butter does taste better, yes, I know. But if you want to pay a little attention to your health, brown them in olive oil.
No bread (or whole-wheat instead)
White baguette, preferably without anything on it, is my ultimate guilty pleasure. I’m truly a bottomless pit in that respect. My
dream is for white baguette to become very healthy one day, but I’m afraid I’ll be waiting until pigs fly. Until then (and if you want to gourmet more healthily), it’s better to leave white baguette alone. The healthiest option is not to serve bread at all, but come on: we don’t have to punish ourselves either. Whole-wheat baguette is also a fine choice.
Image: Royal Dutch Butchers
