Making gifts for friends
Homemade food gifts are always a welcome treat at holiday time, and when they’re healthy as well as delicious, the lucky recipients are likely to be especially grateful.
If you like the personal touch of giving something you have created in your own kitchen, there are numerous South Beach Diet recipes to choose from.
For example, if you want to give a savory treat, our Marinated Olives with Lemon, Thyme & Rosemary, which can be refrigerated and enjoyed for several weeks, are irresistible. Make up a batch, transfer to a pretty jar, and attach a tag that includes the recipe. Or make a batch of our Spicy Roasted Chick-Peas, in which rinsed and drained canned chickpeas are seasoned with ground cumin, coriander, and red and black pepper before roasting. Pack batches in colorful holiday tins to keep them crispy.
For the chocolate lover on your gift list, whip up a batch of Dark Chocolate Bark with Walnuts, a delectable bittersweet chocolate and nut creation that takes just 20 minutes to make before being refrigerated for 10 minutes. Once the melted chocolate firms up in the fridge, break it into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a decorative tin. Tell the recipient that the bark will keep in the air-tight container for up to two weeks in the fridge.
If you’re heading out to a holiday party that’s not far from your house and want to take a homemade hostess gift, double or triple the recipe for these Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries, in which the berries are dipped into melted semisweet chocolate that's combined with a little whipping cream and a dash of almond extract, then refrigerated to set the chocolate. Make sure the hostess (or host) knows that your gift should be refrigerated if it’s not going to be served immediately!
And remember, if the holidays become overwhelming and you simply don’t have time to cook, you can always choose a healthy store-bought food gift, such as an assortment of unsalted nuts, a selection of mustards, a sampler of reduced-fat cheeses with a variety of packaged whole-grain crackers, or maybe a nice bottle of vintage red wine.