Healthy Recipes to Stay On Track During the Holidays

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November 5, 2024

A red bowl filled with shaved Brussels sprouts topped with cranberries, almonds and shredded cheese. Small accompanying bowls contain additional Brussels sprouts, shredded cheese and almonds.

When the holidays come around, it’s hard to stay aboard the healthy eating train. You’re surrounded by cheesy and deep-fried side dishes, fatty mains, and sugary mountains of desserts, all while looking at the sad salad on your plate. But, sticking to your diet or just trying to get a little healthy eating over the holidays doesn’t have to be as hard as you think. In fact, there are plenty of ways to incorporate good-for-you ingredients into dishes that you know and love. Many of these recipes use seasonal foods to make sure you feel the festive cheer even as you take the wellness route.

Healthy Recipes to Stay On Track During the Holidays

Winter Power Bowl

Let’s face it, the holidays are exhausting. To push through that seasonal depression and potential stress, have a Winter Power Bowl for lunch. This healthy fusion of fresh butternut squash, apple fennel sausage, and walnuts energizes your body with protein and plenty of nutrition. Plus, it only gets better when you add a hot honey drizzle on top.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

Instead of a grocery store salad mix, make this fresh blend. Fill up your plate with brussels sprouts, cranberries, bacon, cheese, almonds, and a homemade, sweet and tangy oil dressing. This addition of color to your holiday table will please healthy eaters and other guests alike.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

The holidays are the best time to take advantage of pie pumpkins before they’re gone around January and February. All it takes is one medium-size pumpkin and spices to make a pot full of seasonal flavors. The best part is that cooking this soup is going to leave your house smelling heavenly.

Wintertime Rice and Beans

If you need a fulfilling addition to your table that’s simple and tasty, Wintertime Rice and Beans is your recipe. Organic adzuki beans from East Asia add a nutty, almost sweet flavor to traditional white rice and black beans. Combine them with curry spices, star anise, saffron, and dill for a flavorful sensation.

Honey and Ghee Roasted Carrots

When winter rolls around and carrots are at their peak, do more than just roast these wonders of nature in the oven. Cover farm-fresh carrots in oil and seasonings before drizzling in a ghee (which can aid gut health) and honey-turmeric mixture. Is there truly a more delicious side dish?

Anti-Inflammatory Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup

Two powerful ingredients, butternut squash and lentils come together in a creamy soup. Not only do you get to indulge in wintery goodness but you get the benefit of anti-inflammatory effects from their high antioxidant content. The fresh turmeric and ginger we use also helps relieve inflammation and digestive issues.

Easy Mac and Cheese with Hidden Veggies

Everyone should get to treat themself to a comforting, hot pan of mac and cheese during the holiday season. Thankfully, our Easy Mac and Cheese includes Hidden Veggies like zucchini and carrots so you can take a spoonful without the guilt. There’s also bone broth in this recipe which adds a nutrient full protein element.

Low Carb Keto Lemon Cranberry Quick Bread

Make breakfast healthy, easy, and full of festive cranberries. This Lemon Cranberry Quick Bread is both keto friendly and low carb to keep your mind, body, and tastebuds feeling good. One slice with a thin spread of butter or your favorite jam is the best way to start your day.

Miso Tahini Swirl Healthy Brownies

If you’re going to have dessert, you might as well do it the right way with a chocolatey brownie. But, don’t feel too bad, these Miso Tahini Swirl Brownies are a good source of healthy fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals thanks to the swirl. Not to mention the swirl adds an elevated level of presentation to this already delicious dish.

Story by Kylie Thomas

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5 Winter Table Settings

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Kylie Thomas

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November 4, 2024

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A stack of blue floral patterned plates sit beside opaque blue glasses, silverware, and other decorations. — Photo courtesy of @casadeperrin

Once you ring in the new year and the holiday buzz begins wear off, it’s time to settle in for the long, cold (well, sometimes) winter. Nights still feel endless until late February or early March, and you’re still eating everything in sight. So it’s a perfect time to entertain. People are needing good company to go along with all that good food—and a break from hunkering down under a blanket every evening.

A welcoming table can be a bit of a challenge after the sparkle and good cheer of the holidays. Is it better to embrace the barren landscape (if you live somewhere chilly, that is) or ignore it completely?

Fortunately, there’s room for both. Here are five winter settings grabbed from some of our favorite, most inspiring Instagram accounts. For menu and libation ideas, have a look at our recipe pages!

5 Winter Table Settings

A white table setting with plenty of wildflower accessories, candles, and plate settings. White chairs also surround the table. — Photo courtesy of @junebugweddings

Junebug Weddings

This amazing place for wedding resources has lots of inspiration for setting an awesome table. By placing lots of greenery down the center (use moss, evergreen branches, seasonal wildflowers), the settings area can stay clean. Here, they use simple white plates, gold flatware, and etched glasses.

A wooden table holds a green themed plate setting with a green and white napkin, green accented plate, dark green placemat, and glasses surrounded the setting. — Photo courtesy of @addyandcompany

Addy and Company

A Brooklyn-based tabletop and giftware company that knows how to pull together a warm palette for a winter table. Wood flatware matches nicely with the rustic table, while the scalloped-edge placemats and napkins in green and white an elegant contrast. Hand-painted plates at some artisanal texture.

Casa de Perrin

This designer favorite and LA-based rental company has a huge stock of items in stock and will ship anywhere in the country. This mix of blue shades and patterns illustrates a great basic technique: keeping everything in the same hue lets you mix and match to your heart’s content. (It helps if each individual element is pretty!)

A busy table setting with lots of white, brown, and yellow flowers, a set of white plates, silverware, a white placemat, and candles lit throughout the space. — Photo courtesy of @cordeliadecastellan

Cordelia de Castellane

Cordelia de Castellane is an artistic director at @diormaison and @babydior—plus she runs a studio specializing in interior design, furniture, flowers, and more. A white and gold bee pattern for @diormaison forms the basis for a lush table with lots of candles at different heights alternating with myriad small arrangements of flowers and greenery.

A vintage white table cloth covers a table with simple floral white plates, silverware, a jug of water, and purple flowers in the center of the table. — Photo courtesy of @johnderiancompany

John Derian Company

John Derian’s shops in NYC and website are not only a source of some of the best stuff on earth, but his company website is a wellspring of ideas. For a lunch or brunch, a vintage tablecloth is the perfect backdrop. Then, add in nature-themed plates and a single (and singularly beautiful) flower arrangement.

Story by Stephen Treffinger

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Spiked Hot Chocolate

By

Abdul Rafay

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November 2, 2024

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A clear glass mug of spiked hot chocolate with a small plate of dried red ancho chilis, a small oval dish of cinnamon sticks, and a small bowl of salt on a wooden surface

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” for Spiked Hot Chocolate!

Charles Dickens has a lot on his mind in 1858. The previous year he met and fell in with 18-year-old Ellen Ternan, an actress in a play he’d co-written with Wilkie Collins. (Dickens was 45.) Since divorce for such a famous person was nearly unthinkable, he had publicly accused his wife of a mental disorder and tried (unsuccessfully) to institutionalize her. They separated and never saw each other again.

He’s also working on his next serialized novel, A Tale of Two Cities. London has become the wealthiest and most powerful urban center in the world. It’s also overcrowded, polluted, riddled with poverty, and rife with disease. Few can remember a hotter summer, and the River Thames overflows with human waste, dead animals, rotting food, and toxic waste from factories, giving rise to what was commonly called the Great Stench.

Dickens needs to escape the heat and stink of the city and take his mind off the troubles in his own life, so he makes his way through the filthy streets of London to his favorite public house.

“What’ll it be, Mr. Dickens?”

“A chocolate,” he replies, thinking of a steaming mug of warmed milk, cocoa, spices, and sugar. (The chocolate bar, incidentally, is only a decade old and has no need as yet to be distinguished from the beverage.) The aroma transports him back less than a century to the time of the French Revolution. Back then, only the elite could afford chocolate and wealthy aristocrats drank it for breakfast. But the innovations of the Industrial Revolution brought drinking chocolate–what we would call “hot chocolate”–to the masses. Dickens muses on this cultural shift and formulates an idea for a satirical scene in which a French aristocrat in the latter half of the 18th century consumes chocolate every morning attended by no less than four lavishly liveried serving men.

Could Charles Dickens imagine that some of his greatest work lay just around the corner?

Ancient Source, Modern Expression

Chocolate dates back several millennia to Mesoamerica where the Aztecs, the Mayans, and possibly earlier cultures consumed it. They served the drink cold, combining a paste made from cocoa seeds with water, cornmeal, chili peppers, and other ingredients. It was spicy and bitter, a far cry from the post-sledding, marshmallow-topped sweet concoction we think of as a winter treat today.

The now-ubiquitous packets of cocoa mix are readily available and combine with hot water to satisfy our need for instant gratification. But it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to prepare hot chocolate with milk and other ingredients for a truly luscious libation. Add alcohol, and hot chocolate returns to the realm of the adult beverage. Toss in some chili powder, cayenne pepper, and other aromatic spices, and you’ve got a modern cocktail with a nod to its Mesoamerican roots. We adapted this recipe from punchdrink.com.

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Spiked Hot Chocolate

Author: Lindel Hart

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Description

A Dickensian era delight, for the best of times and the worst of times.

Ingredients

Scale

3 cups whole milk
4 fingers or wedges of Mexican chocolate, available online or in the Mexican section of your supermarket*
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ancho chili powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup tequila blanco
4 cinnamon sticks or 4 whole dried ancho chilis for garnish

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Combine the milk, chocolate, brown sugar, cayenne, chili powder, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking until the chocolate dissolves. It may take five minutes or longer.
Watch to make sure the milk doesn’t boil over. Pour two ounces of tequila into each of four mugs and add the hot chocolate when it’s heated through.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick or a whole dried chili.

Notes

Mexican chocolate comes in bar or disc form. One finger from the bar or a wedge from the disc is a single serving. Increase the number of segments for a more intense chocolate flavor.
Create a richer hot chocolate by replacing up to half the milk with heavy cream. The velvety smoothness is arguably worth the clogged arteries.
If you’re not into the heat of peppers, try leaning into more aromatic spices such as cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, or star anise. You can put the whole spices in the pan with the milk and strain them out later or grind the spices into a fine powder before combining them with the milk.

Story by Lindel Hart
Photography by Carol Valle

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Easy Dessert Recipes to Distract from Global Chaos

By

Emma Riva

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November 1, 2024

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No matter who’s in office, I think we can all agree that fall 2024 has been…challenging. Natural disasters, foreign wars, and political turmoil meant Halloween wasn’t the only scary thing on our minds. One of the best ways to relax is to get into the kitchen and make something with your own hands. These easy dessert recipes can take your mind off the world for a little bit and focus instead on creating something.

Easy Dessert Recipes to Distract from Global Chaos

Boozy Homemade Marshmallows

Making marshmallows at home has never been easier, and these marshmallows also have alcohol in them. Truly a win-win with a dash of Kahlua liqueur in this sugary delight. Roast them on the ashes of your dashed hopes for the future. Just kidding…

No Chill Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are one of the easiest dessert recipes to make. These sugar cookies, like all of us right now, have no chill. But what that actually means is that there’s no need for you to wait an extra thirty minutes to leave them on a rack before enjoying them. Make them whatever shape you want and enjoy!

Easy Banana Bread

Banana bread is a tried and true comfort food, an easy dessert recipe for the ages that never goes out of style. And if you make enough, you’ll have some with a cup of hot coffee while you avoid reading the news on your phone in the morning. Seriously, put your phone down while eating. It’s not good for your brain. (But this banana bread is).

Sour Cherry Crisp

Low in sugar but just as delicious, this sour cherry crisp proves that even when you aren’t feeling your sweetest, things can still be enjoyable. A crisp is a fun baking project that takes you out of that cookie-cake zone and into something a little more savory.

Miso Tahini Swirl Healthy Brownies

The addition of tahini in these brownies turns a recipe not known for its nutritional content into something you could justifiably call healthy. Part of what makes brownies so great is their share-ability. Make a big batch with your friends and family and enjoy spending time together, because while the news cycles will come and go forever, we only have this one brief life to indulge in each other’s company.

Story by Emma Riva

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Eden Grinshpan Shares Her Tahini Tips from “Tahini Baby”

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Emma Riva

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November 1, 2024

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A grid photoset of Eden Grinshpan with her tahini recipes — Photo by Chris Bernabeo

“Once you go tahini, you’ll never go back,” Eden Grinshpan declared. Grinshpan has hosted Top Chef Canada since 2017, ran a restaurant in New York’s trendy Nolita district for one year, published her first cookbook in 2020, and has run her own social media brand and cooking channel, Eden Eats, for over a decade. Grinshpan’s newest venture, her second cookbook Tahini Baby, coming in April 2025, celebrates this versatile and vibrant condiment that can change the way you look at your protein intake.

She calls Tahini Baby “accidentally vegetarian,” a cookbook of inventive and bright recipes that just happen to exclude animal protein. Grinshpan herself isn’t a vegetarian but growing up with an Israeli family meant tahini was always present as a protein source. Though the meat in shawarma and laffa is delicious, she came to realize that tahini could stand on its own.

Besides protein, tahini is also a superfood, with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities. Tahini (you might hear Hebrew or Arabic speakers say “tahin-uh” with a guttural ch) is a paste of ground sesame seeds. Look for ones made from high-quality sesame seeds that have been soaked, hulled, toasted, then ground in small batches.The result is a flavorful, rich condiment. It’s a key ingredient in hummus and shows up as a side with lemon juice, garlic, and salt at most tables in the Levant. In advance of Tahini Baby’s 2025 release, Grinshpan shared some of her tahini strategies and cooking philosophy with TABLE.

Eden Grinshpan Shares Her Tahini Tips from Tahini Baby

Free Yourself from Store-Bought Hummus

If you’ve ever met anyone from a Levantine country, chances are they have strong opinions about hummus. Every person has the recipe they prefer. But as a consumer in the West, you might not even know what’s in hummus and how easy it is to make yourself. All it takes is tahini, chickpeas, olive oil, and lemon juice.

The ratios of those ingredients are what give hummus its character. “I like a tahini-heavy hummus with a bit of ice water. The ice water makes it really light, creamy, and airy,” Grinshpan said. And while you want quality, there’s nothing wrong with just using the chickpeas you have. “I’m a mom, and I want my recipes to be approachable and easy. I use canned chickpeas for my hummus and it turns out delicious.”

Pick the Correct Tahini

Buying tahini is not the time to cheap out, Grinshpan cautions in Tahini Baby. You want quality tahini, because something you use so frequently that will last so long in your fridge should be good. “The sign of a fresh tahini is when you shake it, the oil that separates and goes to the top should blend back into the paste,” she said.

The best quality tahini uses sesame seeds from Humera, Ethiopia. She uses Seed + Mill and Soom, two high quality tahini brands that also happen to be woman-owned. Ideally, once you buy that tahini, you’ll be adding garlic and lemon to it to make Grinshpan’s “condiment to end all condiments” garlicky tahini, or mixing it up to create harissa, baba ghanoush, or Yemeni zoug.

Have a Vision for the Table

Once you’ve got a handle on the basics, Grinshpan encourages people to look at the full picture of how the tahini fits into their table, and not limit its use to just one dish or, worse, to a bottle that sits in their fridge. Tahini is vegan but the lack of animal protein doesn’t mean a lack of indulgence. “One of the things that turns people off from cutting out animal protein is feeling like the table isn’t complete without it,” she said. When you have a meal without that chicken or turkey centerpiece, you have to think about how you’re configuring the meal. Tahini Baby can help with star quality centerpiece meals, not just sides.

“Try to imagine the most bountiful table and make bright dishes. It’s so much fun to mix and match sides and mains,” she said A little bit of tahini beside something adds an extra bit of protein that rounds out a salad, but something like Grinshpan’s Eggplant Chickpea Khouresh with Buttery Saffron Rice is a plant-based table centerpiece that stands on its own.

Spice Consistently

“I didn’t want to write a cookbook where I ask you to buy one spice, then it dies a slow death in your pantry and you never use it again,” Grinshpan said. “I buy so many spices, I’m fully addicted—my pantry is kind of concerning.” But she recommends people be realistic with themselves about their spice preferences.

She says to use half if you aren’t sure how you’ll like something, then add more. And be strategic in the spice purchases for how you’re going use them in what you make. Tahini Baby recommends stocking cardamom, fenugreek, Aleppo pepper, Baharat, caraway, cardamom, turmeric, and cinnamon among other things if you’re curious about Middle Eastern cooking and want to incorporate it into your weekly eating.

Embrace Tahini’s Versatility

For the sweet-heavy American palate, putting tahini in desserts might seem odd. But Grinshpan has recipes for fudge pops and rugelach for tahini in Tahini Baby. “It has this earthy, rich, satisfying flavor that balances out the sweetness,” she said. “I like raw tahini on a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a two-ingredient dessert.”

Life is short, and Tahini Baby offers all kinds of ways you can indulge, relax, and feel good about what you’re eating. Grinshpan writes in the cookbook’s introduction that “what it all comes down to is that this book is about food that makes you feel good. With their vibrant colors and bright, balanced flavors, these dishes can only be described as happy-making. No matter who you’re sharing them with (or not), eating well and having a great time doing it is the entire assignment.”

Story by Emma Riva / Photo by Chris Bernabeo

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Hand-Painted Plates for Special Occasions

By

Emma Riva

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November 1, 2024

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A green plate with glaze embossing on it

While I typically search for a range of products from all types of sources and at all price points, there are some standout plates for special occasions. But…they’re not cheap. They’re typically hand-painted on fine porcelain with intriguing patterns and unusual glazes. These pieces have an allure you just can’t find at big box stores. Assuming you don’t have over $10K to burn on a complete service for 12, a couple of these could serve as accent pieces. Or, maybe you purchase just two place settings, one for you and one for your partner or spouse.

Hand Painted Plates for Special Occasions

The Italian Stallion

Ginori1735

Long before there were ads featuring hottie Jake Gyllenhaal reclining on a divan, reading a book beside a mysterious pile of china worth thousands of dollars, Ginori1735 ceramics drew me in like a siren. In particular, the Oriente Italiano collection in the color Malachite or Iris intrigued. The way the green glaze partially obscures the pattern is unusual and alluring.

The French Connection

Raynaud Trésor Fleuri

Slightly lurid botanicals jump off the plate’s woven background, providing the plates with a ton of dimension. They’re made out of Limoges porcelain and are hand painted (of course!) in France. You can mix this pattern with two others to create a riot of color and pattern. That will be one very chic table.

The (Relative) Bargain

Sultan’s Garden

I originally saw this pattern, with the evocative name Sultan’s Garden, in a release about a vintage British pullman interior designed by directer Wes Anderson. The exotic pattern of palm and cypress trees immediately intrigued me. Made in the storied potteries in Stoke-On-Trent, England, it is hand painted bone china and is a steal compared to the other plates here!

Story by Stephen Treffinger

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Low Calorie Cocktails That Still Let You Indulge

By

Emma Riva

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October 30, 2024

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Article Updated March 10, 2026

“Low calorie cocktails” may sound like an oxymoron. A cocktail typically represents indulgence and decadence. But sometimes you’re trying to stay healthy by cutting back on sugar. We challenged bartenders and our staff to give us some lower-calorie options that go beyond the basic vodka and soda so a night out can be just a little healthier. These are all in the 150 or below calorie range, lower than average for cocktails. To accompany your cocktail, try a recipe for a swimsuit salad that ensures you’re ready for summer!

Low Calorie Cocktail Recipes

Negronish

This “Negronish” from bartender Jason Renner at Bar Marco swaps out gin for Fernet Branca and adds a little Aperol to a classic Negroni. This Negronish has no simple syrup, and the alcohol in it isn’t very sweet, so it’s a great lower-calorie option.

Giardineira-tini

A giardineira cocktail outside of a fine dining restuarant

Eating vegetables was never so much fun. A martini doesn’t have much extra sweetener in it, and Ritual House’s giardineira garnish might possibly qualify as a serving of vegetables. I suppose it’s a stretch to call it a salad, though.

Gin and Lime Juice

The “Gin and Juice” cocktail originated with Snoop Dogg’s hit song of the same name. If you don’t want the extra sugar from fruit juice, try fresh-squeezed lime juice (or lemon) to make an indulgent gin and juice without the sugar headache the next day.

Aperol Sour

This cocktail from luxury hotel bar Spirits & Tales uses aquafaba instead of egg whites for the traditional foamy effect of a whiskey sour. It’s as if an Aperol spritz and a whiskey sour combined, and it happens to be only 159 calories.

Cherry Bomb

In a tall glass sits a cherry diet coke cocktail with two cherries on a tooth pick laying on top of the glass as well as ice and orange bitters to the right.

Wondering what to do with that extra Diet Coke in your fridge? This cocktail combines Diet Coke, whiskey, and a Maraschino cherry garnish to makes an enjoyable low sugar drink with a smooth finish.

Honey and Whiskey

A rocks glass with a large ice cube, honey whiskey cocktail, and wedge of lime sits on a blue table with a small bowl of lime wedges to the left of the glass.

Swapping the simple syrup out for a honey flavor doesn’t entirely get rid of sugar content, but it does lower it. We used Green Bee Ginger Buzz Honey Soda and Dubliner Honeycomb Irish Whiskey to create a cocktail with a slight spicy ginger kick to it.

The Green Beast

It’s like green juice in a cocktail! Just kidding. But a gimlet is one of the classiest low calorie cocktails out there, and the bar team at fl.2 did not disappoint with their interpretation of it. They use Genepy green liqueur, which was new to us and quite delicious.

Smoked Bourbon Old Fashioned

Keeping things simple, an Old Fashioned keeps the calories low with just a little added sugar. In this recipe we use a smoked demerara syrup that adds an extra depth to this cocktail without the extra calories. Finish with a few shakes of orange bitters and kick up your feet for the evening.

Matcha Martini

One teaspoon of match powder only has five calories and often its the ingredients in a latte that make it so sugary. But, in a martini with just vodka and a dash of vanilla syrup, matcha is the secret weapon to a low calorie cocktail. Feel free to garnish with more matcha powder at the end too!

Story by Emma Riva

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Low Calorie Honey Whiskey Cocktail

By

Keith Recker

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October 29, 2024

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Why should those searching for low calorie options have to skip out on the fun of cocktails? As it turns out, a low calorie soda can help you mix up concoctions that leave you feeling refreshed rather than bloated. For this Low Calorie Honey Whiskey Cocktail, we relish in the delicate and sweet flavor of Green Bee Ginger Buzz Honey Soda. This mixer uses honey to naturally sweeten the soda and packs a slight bite from the ginger. When you combine it with Dubliner Honeycomb Irish Whiskey and a bit of lime juice, you get a complex but delicious flavor profile.

What Makes a Cocktail Low Calorie?

While low calorie goals can vary depending on your weight, diet, and lifestyle, it is often thought that low calorie means less than 200. You may think that would be impossible when ordering a drink or mixing one at home. But, with a little caution, you can relax and indulge in something enjoyable without the stress of unhealthy consequences. Low calorie cocktails can also come in handy when you’re enjoying a huge Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. This way you can save your calories for the dinner ahead rather than using them up on one glassful.

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