When you think about Halloween foods, what goodies come to mind? Chocolate bars? Candy corn? Artificially pumpkin-flavored everything?
Halloween treats don’t get the healthiest reputation, but there are ways to enjoy this spooky holiday without abandoning your diet or commitment to natural foods. These banana “ghosts” and “clementine “pumpkins” pictured below are great examples! Here are some more healthy and natural recipe ideas to try this Halloween.
Spooky Stuffed Oranges and Orange Peppers
Who says that fruit and vegetables can’t get in Halloween spirit? Oranges and orange bell peppers are perfect for Halloween because of their festive hue and ability to be “carved.”
Grab a large orange and hollow it out with a knife. Carve a spooky face into the gutted orange, and soak up the juice inside with a paper towel. Dice the edible orange parts into small pieces and mix with other diced fruit that you like. Fill each orange with the diced fruit and repeat the process for additional servings.
You can do something similar with orange bell peppers too. The carved-out face in a bell pepper is a fun twist on classic stuffed peppers, which you can stuff with whatever mixture you like. Popular mixtures include ground turkey, chopped broccoli, chopped tomatoes, garlic, diced onion, and your favorite spices.
Halloween-Themed Roasted Vegetables
As an alternative to high-sugar Halloween treats, consider roasting up some vegetables and cutting them into fun shapes, such as ghosts, pumpkin faces, and witch hats. Roasted carrots make excellent pumpkin faces, white potatoes make great ghosts, and red beets are fun for witch hats.
You’ll need to add cut vegetables into a pot of water for about five minutes to soften them up. Then, cut the vegetables into ½-inch-thick pieces and make the festive shapes with a knife or cookie cutter. Bake the vegetables on a baking sheet at 400 degrees after sprinkling them with a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary for flavor. Bake for about an hour and flip the vegetables over at the 30-minute mark so they’re evenly baked on both sides.
Chocolate & Peanut Butter-Drizzled Apples
To satisfy your sweet tooth this Halloween, enjoy some fresh fall apples with a little decadence on top. Cut an apple into slices and set aside. Then, melt peanut butter chips on the stove with a little coconut oil mixed in. Dip half of the apple slices into the mixture and then sprinkle a couple miniature semi-sweet chocolate pieces on top. Allow the sweetened-up apples to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and serve as appetizers.
Delicious and Easy Pumpkin Soup
To get your pumpkin fix, focus your attention on the healthier side of this vegetable. Pumpkin soup is a great way to savor that tasty pumpkin flavor and warm up on a chilly Halloween night. Here’s a pumpkin soup recipe to try.
INGREDIENTS:
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 4 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped
- Pine nuts
DIRECTIONS:
- Combine and bring the stock, pumpkin, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme to a boil
- Reduce heat and allow to simmer uncovered for 20 minutes
- Use a food processor to puree the soup one cup at a time
- Return all pureed soup to the heating pan and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes
- Stir in heavy whipping cream
- Pour into bowls and top with parsley and pine nuts