Creative and Easy Holiday Food Ideas

It may take less work than you think to create some wonderfully elegant holiday dishes. I’ve included a couple of recipes to get you motivated. Either would be perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas, or any other holiday you’re celebrating this fall and winter.

First up, Libby’s recipe for Baked Acorn Squash with Curried Vegetables

Ingredients

• 2 medium acorn squash
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil plus extra for brushing squash
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 can (15 oz.) Libby’s whole kernel sweet corn, drained
• 1 can (8.5 oz.) Libby’s peas and carrots, drained
• ½ c (about 4 ounces) cooked diced ham
• ½ c shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Cut squash in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds with a large spoon.
• Brush cut sides with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Place cut side down on a shallow baking dish; bake about 45 minutes or until tender.
• Remove from oven and turn oven to broil.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil and curry powder over medium heat until sizzling.
• Add corn, peas and carrots and ham. Cook, stirring gently, until heated through.
• Turn squash halves cut side up on baking dish; fill cavities with vegetable mixture.
• Sprinkle with cheese and broil about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

For more recipes from Libby’s, visit Get Back to the Table.

Here’s another recipe you can make in a snap: Marcona Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Salad by Tony Polito, a chef, writer and trainer who leads cooking demos at Whole Foods and writes for Boston.com. This recipe serves six to 10 people.

Ingredients

1. 2 tbsp Olive Oil
2. 1 tsp Mayo or Sour Cream
3. 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
4. ½ tsp Pumpkin Spice (Frontier)
5. ½ tsp Ceylon Cinnamon (Frontier)
6. Pinch of Sea Salt
7. 1 tsp Manuka Honey
8. ¼ c, Marcona Almonds or Walnuts
9. 1 Bag of your favorite mixed Salad

Instructions

• Place first 7 ingredients in a bowl and whisk for 30 seconds.
• Combine the last 2 ingredients and toss.

Tips from the Chef: It’s unlimited in what you can do by adding fruit like raspberries, Clementines or dried cranberries. These will increase the sugar, so make sure they’re not fighting or competing with the other ingredients. A handful is sufficient. Marcona almonds are shorter, softer, rounder, sweeter and softer than the California variety. It’s important that oil remains in the bag of almonds to help coat them this helps maintain the almonds freshness.

(Image via Libby’s; Image via stock.xchng)