Christmas Bliss Bowl + Cranberry Sauce Bonus Video!

The Christmas tree is up, the line to see Santa is over 4 hours long outside Nordstrom, and the Gingerbread Village is displayed in full Star Wars themed glory (Gingerbread Star Wars?!!!) at the Sheraton hotel – so it MUST be Christmas!

Our holiday always starts on Christmas Eve with mom’s yum-tastic Italian dinner, followed by a family breakfast and present opening on the morning of the big day, and then the grande finale… a rather large and festive Christmas dinner for a family of 24!!!

In readiness for my over indulgences during the holiday and in an attempt to keep me away from the Peppermint Chocolates, Festive Fudge and Pistachio and Cranberry Biscotti (OMG – this biscotti is SO GOOD I have to share the recipe with you in my next post!), I created this healthy Christmas Bliss Bowl. It offers all of the flavour of Christmas dinner, but takes a fraction of the time to make and is loaded with a sackful of nutritional goodness – see Santa, I am being good!

It’s also incredibly healthy, consisting of vegetables, lean turkey (or chicken if you prefer, but that’s not very Christmas-like!), and a dollop of sugar-free cranberry sauce to add even more festive fun – watch the bonus video below to see how easy it is to make the sauce!

But best of all, the Christmas Bliss Bowl cooks in ONE roasting tray, so there’s less to wash up – and if you use a non-stick baking mat like I do, you can just pop that into the dishwasher afterwards, so there’s not even a pan to wash up – bonus!

So do you fancy some Christmas Bliss? Simply prepare the veg, peeling and chopping as necessary. I think the bowls look nicer if you have a variety of shapes, so I sometimes cut the carrots or parsnips into rounds, rather than julienne strips, for no other reason than to make it look as good as it tastes!

Combine the olive oil, garlic, red pepper, salt and cumin in a mixing bowl, then throw in the veggies and toss to coat evenly.

Spread the vegetables onto a baking tray over a non-stick baking mat and place in the oven at 450°F and roast for around 20 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally – the less you stir the more the vegetables will turn a wonderful golden brown.

While your bliss bowl is cooking in the oven, make my delicious sugar-free cranberry sauce recipe – it tastes so much better than store-bought, I promise!

Once the veggies are cooked you can either leave them to cool and eat cold, or serve them fresh n’ hot from the oven with along with the cooked turkey (or chicken for the turkey haters!) and a topping of the cranberry sauce.

To make this Christmas Bliss Bowl I used the following equipment:

Readers in the UK, France, Germany, Spain & Italy can now purchase these, and other products, from the Arugula & Rocket Cookshop on Amazon.

Christmas Bliss Bowls

Servings: 4
Time: 35mins
Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

4lbs Cooked Turkey or Chicken
1 Cauliflower Head
5 Carrots
3 Parsnips
1lb Brussel Sprouts
¼ Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
5 Garlic Cloves, Roughly Chopped
¼ Tsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Cumin
1 Cup Sugar-Free Cranberry Sauce

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.

Chop the cauliflower head into bite-size florets.

Peel the carrots and parsnips and cut into thin julienne strips.

Trim the sprouts and cut into quarters.

Place the veggies in a roasting pan.

Combine the olive oil, garlic, red pepper, salt and cumin in a mixing bowl.

Add the veggies and toss to coat evenly with the oil.

Spread onto a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring only occasionally.

Serve the veggies in a bowl along with the turkey/chicken and top with cranberry sauce.