Fun Holiday Recipes and Herbs to Incorporate into Your Holiday Cooking

The holiday season is the perfect time to add creative twists to your favorite recipes, and one of the best ways to elevate your cooking is by incorporating herbs and natural seasonings. Not only do they enhance the flavor and nutrients of your dishes, but they also bring freshness and aroma that capture the essence of the holidays. In this blog, we’ll share ways to use herbs and unique products like mermaid seasoning and herbal vinegar shrubs to take your festive dishes, desserts, and drinks to the next level.

Fun Holiday Recipes and Herbs to Incorporate into Your Holiday Cooking

Savory Dishes with a Twist: Roasted Vegetables with Mermaid Seasoning

Recipe: Roasted Veggies with Mermaid SeasoningIngredients:

• 2 cups of mixed root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon mermaid seasoning

• Salt and pepper to taste

  
  

Preparation Tips:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and toss them in olive oil.

3. Spread the vegetables evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with mermaid seasoning.

4. Roast for 25-30 minutes, turning halfway through, until the vegetables are golden and tender.

   
   

Flavor Tip: The blend of natural herbs and sea minerals in mermaid seasoning adds a complex, savory flavor that transforms simple roasted veggies into a standout holiday side. You can also use this seasoning to elevate deviled eggs or add it to a holiday bread recipe with nettles for a festive twist and nutritional boost.

Delectable Desserts: Eggnog Cheesecake with Poached Hibiscus & Butterfly Pea Pears

Recipe: Eggnog Cheesecake with poached pears

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup butter, melted

• 4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

• 1 cup sugar (substitute coconut sugar)

• 4 large eggs

• 1 cup eggnog

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 poached pears (prepared with hibiscus and butterfly pea tea)

  

  Poaching the Pears:

• Peel, cut, and core the pears.

• Prepare a tea using hibiscus, butterfly pea flowers, cinnamon, and a touch of coconut sugar.

• Simmer the pears in the tea for 25-30 minutes until tender.

• Set aside to cool.

  
  

Preparation Tips for Cheesecake:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter, pressing into the bottom of a springform pan.

3. Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in eggnog, nutmeg, and vanilla.

4. Pour the mixture over the crust and bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool.

5. Once cooled, top with poached pears, edible flowers, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary sprigs for a festive look.

Flavor Tip: Elevate your cheesecake by adding a hibiscus or butterfly pea simple syrup to the filling, and incorporate cinnamon into the crust for added warmth. The poached pears add a delicate flavor and stunning presentation. Butterfly pea is great for oxidative stress, focus, and as a brain, skin, and eye tonic from all of it’s antioxidant compounds. Hibiscus adds just enough astringent qualities to the sweetness of the pears to balance the flavors, but also provides your body with tons of Vitamin C and tonification for your body’s tissues. 

Festive Drinks: Spiced Chai Hot Chocolate

Recipe:

Spiced Chai Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

• 2 cups coconut milk or eggnog

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey

• 1 chai tea bag (or ¼ teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg, clove, cardamom)

• 1 peppermint sprig or candy cane for garnish

• Cinnamon stick for garnish

• Whip cream (optional)

  
  

Preparation Tips:

1. Heat coconut milk or eggnog over medium heat in a saucepan.

2. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar until well combined.

3. Add a chai tea bag or the individual spices and let steep for a few minutes.

4. Remove the tea bag and pour the hot chocolate into a mug.

5. Garnish with a peppermint sprig or candy cane, and top with whipped cream if desired.

   
   

Flavor Tip: This spiced hot chocolate combines the richness of cocoa with warming spices like cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg. It's perfect for cozying up during the holidays, and the addition of peppermint makes it festive and refreshing. A wonderful combination for the added health boosts of stimulating digestion with the warming chai herbs, peppermint assists with aiding inflammation in the gut, gas, or bloating, and cocoa opens the heart while uplifting mood.

Herbal Mocktail: Mojito with Holy Bunches of Berries Shrub

Recipe:

Herbal Mojito Mocktail

Ingredients:

• 4-5 fresh tulsi basil leaves

• ¼ cup fresh raspberries

• 2 tablespoons Holy Bunches herbal vinegar shrub

• Ice

• Club soda or sparkling water

Preparation Tips:

1. Muddle tulsi basil and raspberries at the bottom of a glass.

2. Add Holy Bunches shrub and fill the glass with ice.

3. Top with club soda or sparkling water, and stir well.

4. Garnish with a few extra basil leaves or raspberries.

   
   

Flavor Tip: The Holy Bunches shrub replaces the usual simple syrup in this mojito, adding a complex tangy-sweet flavor with the health benefits of an herbal vinegar base. It's a refreshing and festive alternative for holiday celebrations.

Herbal nutrients ‘Food as medicine concept’ doesn’t have to mean taking out all the delightful flavors or recipes that the holiday can bring and replacing them with some bland plant or sugar-free items, but instead using herbs and other healthier choices as an addition to or substitution for some of the others, in turn enhancing the dish with flavor and nutrients. Boosting the aroma while adding the extra bonus of more nutritional value to your diet that maybe you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. So, we encourage you to get creative this holiday season.

Learn about some new herbs, try some of our products, and start using them to boost your favorite dishes as well as your health.