Ted Allen's Healthy Holiday Tips

No one likes to hear the words "healthy" and "holiday" together. We all want to believe that the holidays are a magical time when it’s acceptable for waistlines to expand and that Santa will all make it go away in the new year.

But Ted Allen thinks we should have a different strategy, and he believes you can have your fat-free cake and enjoy eating it, too. Allen has been working with Country Crock and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter,  and with them has developed new takes on classic recipes. His aim is to make them a bit healthier, but without sacrificing flavor. One recipe that he uses as a go-to is a vegetarian lasagna. The lasagna uses butternut squash and mushrooms, which help it retain a rich feeling but without the heaviness. Another strategy is to make mashed potatoes with golden beets — not only does it make the standard a bit more interesting, but it cuts out a lot of the starch that you’d get from using all potatoes.

For all of Ted Allen’s tips, watch the video above, and if the images make you hungry for his recipes, you can get all of the ones we mentioned at It Is Good to Know.

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