Enjoy a Low-Calorie Holiday Meal With All of Your Favorites

The holidays provide us with the perfect excuse to overindulge. Food is central to these seasonal celebrations and it’s difficult to avoid calorie overload. So we searched and found these delicious, low-calorie recipes for your favorite foods. Now, you can set a healthy holiday table without worrying about excess calories and excess fat. We hope you enjoy.

Minestrone ala Rita

Warm up your Thanksgiving feast with this popular Italian-style soup with only 150 calories and just 3.8 grams of fat.

Ingredients

1/8 cup each DRY pink beans, pinto beans, black beans, great northern beans, navy beans and small red kidney beans 6 cups of Red Ripe Tomatoes, chopped or sliced 1/2 cup Pearled Barley, dry 1 1/2 cups raw Onion, chopped 1 1/2 cups raw Celery, diced 1 cup each yellow, orange and red peppers, chopped 9 tsp Garlic 2 Tbsp Olive Oil 4 Tbsp dried Parsley 1 tsp ground Oregano

1/4 tsp black Pepper 4 cups 99% Fat Free Chicken Broth 2 cups raw Carrots, raw, chopped 2 cups, Zucchini, sliced 8 oz can Tomato Sauce, No salt added 1 cup water 1 tsp ground ginger 1 Tbsp basil 2 cups Summer Squash, sliced

Directions

1. Measure out beans in pot, fill with water, bring to a boil and then turn off heat for 2 hours.
2. In the meantime, set a crock pot to High, throw in fresh chopped tomatoes and 'stew' for 2 hours.
3. Turn crock pot to Low and add everything except squash. Cook on Low for 6 hours.
4. Add squash and cook an additional 1-2 hours on High. Makes 5 quarts
   

Nutritional Info

Servings per Recipe: 10 Amount per Serving Calories: 154.4 Total Fat: 3.8 g Cholesterol: 0.0 mg

Sodium: 430.5 mg Total Carbs: 29.6 g Dietary Fiber: 9.6 g Protein: 6.8 g

This and the following recipes were found on SparkPeople.com, one of the largest health-related sites in the world and voted best online health site by Business Week in 2006.

Simply Roasted Turkey

The turkey is the star of the show at Thanksgiving, so it’s no surprise that you want the juiciest, tastiest bird to sit at the center of your table. We think this one is a five-star winner.

Ingredients

1 whole fresh turkey, 10 to 14 pounds salt to taste freshly ground black pepper 3 sprigs fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried 2 bay leaves, crushed

2 medium onions, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces 3 carrots, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces 3 stalks celery, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces 2 shallots, peeled and halved

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Remove the giblets from the turkey and save them for another use or discard. Rinse the turkey, inside and out, with cold water and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper inside and out.
3. If you are using fresh herbs, chop them. Combine together the herbs, bay leaves, onions, carrots, celery and shallots. Stuff the mixture into the cavity of the bird.
4. Place the turkey in a roasting pan. Rub the olive oil under the skin of the turkey. Tuck the wings back, under the bird and truss it.
5. Place the turkey in the oven and roast until the skin is golden brown and crisp, the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a sharp knife, and your meat thermometer reads 170°F, about 3 hours. While it cooks, occasionally baste the bird with the juices that collect in the roasting pan. Note: After removing the turkey from the oven, allow it to rest for 20 minutes and then check that the temperature has come up to 180°F. (The bird will continue to cook after removing it from the oven).
6. Transfer turkey to a serving platter. Remove vegetables from the cavity and discard. Let the turkey rest for another 20 minutes before carving, and then serve.
   

Nutritional Info

Servings per Recipe: 9 Amount per Serving Calories: 235.6 Total Fat: 8.4 g Cholesterol: 82.8 mg

Sodium: 106.6 mg Total Carbs: 5.6 g Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g Protein: 32.8 g

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

What Thanksgiving celebration would be complete without pumpkin pie? This crustless version is sure to be a hit with the dessert lovers at your holiday table -- and with only one gram of fat and less than 130 calories you can enjoy it guilt free!

Ingredients

1 can pumpkin (15 oz) 1 can evaporated milk, nonfat (12 oz) 3/4 cup egg substitute (amount equal to 3 eggs) 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice 1 tsp vanilla extract, real 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. Beat all ingredients until smooth.
3. Pour into a 9" sprayed pie pan.
4. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
5. Leave pie in oven and decrease heat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutritional Info

Servings per Recipe: 8 Amount per Serving Calories: 129.5 Total Fat: 1.0 g Cholesterol: 2.1 mg

Sodium: 239.2 mg Total Carbs: 24.0 g Dietary Fiber: 0.6 g Protein: 6.5 g

Now that you have all the basics for your holiday dinner, make sure you include your favorite fresh vegetables or a salad and have a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving!