I love Fruit & Veg from Europe: fruit and veg throughout Christmas and New Year

We can have a healthy lifestyle over the festive season. The heroes of Christmas lunch and New Year's Eve dinner are seasonal fruit and vegetables. The 'I love Fruit & Veg from Europe' project, supported by the Italian producers' organizations Agritalia, A.O.A., La Deliziosa, Meridia and Terra Orti and co-funded by the European Commission, has drawn increased attention to plant-based foods.  The aim is to promote the consumption of European fruit and vegetables, and their organic and PDO/PGI counterparts. The goal: a healthy, eco-friendly and more sustainable diet.

During this festive period, let's fruit and vegetables be an essential part of an elegant cuisine full of flavour and seasoned with health and wellbeing.  Celebratory meals will not only be about extravagance but also part of a healthy diet full of fruit and vegetables with their beneficial properties. Festive dishes the world over bring together contrasting and harmonious flavours, they evoke the past yet also modern combinations, and use an abundance of onions, potatoes, carrots, pomegranates and clementines.

Onions are essential in sauces and stir-fries, but try frying diced onions till crunchy, mix with almond, hazelnut or pistachio flakes and sprinkle over savoury dishes. Use potatoes in tarts or savoury cakes as canapes or side dishes.  Carrots are extremely versatile:  make decorative garnishes or use them in smoothies and juices. Orange, yellow and white carrots combined with oranges, grapefruit or apples, are great for this. Red or purple carrots can be teamed with pomegranates for a dose of antioxidants. Pomegranates are a symbol of good luck and traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve. Pomegranate seeds can be used to add colour to dishes. They boast several nutrients: antioxidants, such as anthocyanins and vitamins C and A, and fibre. Round off Christmas meals with clementines. Sweet and fresh and a source of vitamins A, C and potassium, they are mainly water, so aid digestion.

The I love Fruit & Veg from Europe project also suggests breaking with tradition:  eat dried fruit as a snack, and not at the end of a meal. It's full of fibre which helps you feel full for longer. 

Season's Greetings from I Love Fruit & Veg from Europe. Enjoy!

Discover more: www.ilovefruitandvegfromeurope.com

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