IS IT TIME TO TALK TURKEY SWAPS?
with cinnamon and drenched in syrup for a decadent, still-sweet option, or buttered crumpets – they’ll soak up all that Bucks Fizz you’ll be drinking.
LUNCH
If you usually have: Roast turkey and all the trimmings
Try: Having your favourite meal IF you’d rather avoid the stress of cooking a bird you only encounter once a year, particularly when you’re cooking for every single person you’re related to, it is totally fine to give yourself a pass.
Just do three chickens instead. Or a few ducks (with a mountain of red cabbage). Or you could even push the boat out and try pheasant perhaps.
Alternatively, steer clear of fowl completely and serve up the food that means the most to you. It might be platefuls of spaghetti
Bolognese with piles of buttery garlic bread; a veg-stuffed wellington and chips or a Chinese banquet. Why be held hostage by bread sauce and Brussels sprouts? Break free.
PUDDING
If you usually have: Christmas cake or Christmas pudding
Try: A sponge cake
IT’S hard to not enjoy setting something alight but, be honest, how many of us genuinely like eating Christmas pudding? And Christmas cake is good, but once you’ve picked away at the marzipan (the best bit), you’re basically left with a lump of sodden fruit and too-thick icing.
Instead try something light, airy and vaguely medicinal, like a ginger cake. With tea, please.
BOXING DAY
If you usually have: Turkey curry from the leftovers
Turkey fajitas
BRIDGET Jones immortalised the turkey curry buffet and we have nothing against it – especially if there’s naan bread and crisp onion bhajis involved.
But why not consider Mexican instead? Boxing Day fajitas offer plenty of virtuous veg – onions, peppers and all the guacamole you can physically eat.
They are also a good way to reuse your leftover turkey, as they come with lots of spicy tomato sauce and sour cream, and the carbs in the wraps should help soak up the Christmas Day booze.
Best of all, fajitas are a help-yourself meal – just place all the bits on the table.
Here are a couple of recipes that could really ring the changes at your dinner table come December 25.