Christmas Recipes: Stuff Your Face, Watch Your Waist

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It's that time of year again. Time to your unwrap the gifts, relax with friends and family and cook up some fantastic food.

This year, if you are looking to pig out while beating the battle of the bulge, here, from our friends at Chow.com, are 12 great tasting recipes that will delight your senses but won't make you look like Santa Claus.

Herb Rubbed Turkey Breast

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Black peppercorns, garlic, fennel seeds, lemon zest, and rosemary are blended into a paste that gives this turkey breast a flavor that falls between a traditional bird and Italian sweet sausage.

What to buy: Uncooked bone-in turkey breasts may need to be special-ordered from your butcher.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Five Spice Chicken

Bid farewell to the traditional roasted chicken by giving it a dip in an Asian-inspired marinade.

What to buy: Tamari is wheat-free soy sauce. It can be found in gourmet groceries and Asian markets. If you have a hard time finding it, you can substitute soy sauce, but check the marinade's flavor because regular soy sauce is saltier.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Dukkah Crusted Salmon

Spice up simple salmon fillets with a dusting of dukkah, a Middle Eastern spice and nut mixture commonly used as a dip in Egyptian cooking.

What to buy: If you have the time, you can make your own dukkah. Otherwise look for it at gourmet grocery stores, Middle Eastern stores, or online at Spice Bazaar or Juliet Mae.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Fish in Parchment

Steaming fish in parchment paper makes for a healthy, tasty dish, and it's so simple you can whip it up in less than 30 minutes. Impress dinner guests by presenting them with their very own parchment pouches. As you cut through the parchment, a puff of steam rises. Oohs and ahs ensue.

What to buy: Parchment paper can be purchased at most grocery stores.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Minestrone

Minestrone--brimming with vegetables, pasta, and beans in a full-flavored broth--is one of the best-known soups around. It's healthy, filling, and easy to make.

What to buy: For a slacker solution, buy high-quality canned white beans and replace the bean-cooking liquid with water.

Game plan: This soup is even tastier the day after it's made, when the flavors have had a chance to meld. We used chicken broth in this recipe to give it a heartier flavor, but you can substitute high-quality vegetable broth to make it vegetarian.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Shaved Fennel and Pistachio Salad

The unexpected combination of roasted pistachios and crunchy fennel makes for an elegant salad that's great alongside savory egg pudding or even a simple roasted chicken.

Game plan: You can make this salad up to a day in advance; taste before serving and adjust the lemon juice and salt as needed.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Carrot, Leak, Parsley Mash

The carrots in this recipe are coarsely mashed with leeks and parsley for a quick, bright dish that sings of spring, even when it's still cold outside. Because the carrots are mashed, not mushed, they're a far cry from the baby food texture that makes so many cringe.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Basic Acorn Squash

After roasting, the center of this acorn squash becomes a tiny swimming pool of melty butter and molasses-y brown sugar--need we say more?

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Celery Root Soup

Celery root is delicious when simmered with potatoes and apples and then pur

Kids: Cracker Crusted Chicken Fingers

Baked instead of fried and coated in whole-wheat cracker crumbs, these tender chicken strips are a much healthier alternative to chicken nuggets. Serve them hot out of the oven with a kid-friendly dipping sauce like honey-mustard, barbecue, or herbed buttermilk, or let cool and pack them in tomorrow's school lunch.

What to buy: Wheatsworth crackers make a crunchy, flavorful coating and can be found in the cracker aisle of most supermarkets.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Grilled Portobello and Radicchio Salad

Sure, you've seen radicchio and mushrooms served together before. But throwing them on the grill and finishing everything with a sweet balsamic vinegar reduction livens up the bitter radicchio and earthy mushrooms, for a winning alternative to the standard green salad. Serve this dish with our Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers or as a first course on its own.

Full Recipe at Chow.com

Wasabi Dusted Pumpkin Seeds

A snack with an Asian slant; you can use additional wasabi powder if you want more of a kick.

What to buy: We used raw pumpkin seeds (a.k.a. pepitas) for this recipe. You can also use the seeds left over from carving a pumpkin or roasting squash. Just collect the seeds, rinse them in a strainer to remove the pulp, and thoroughly pat them dry. They may take a few minutes longer in the oven, depending on how fresh they are.

Game plan: The seeds are best fresh from the oven but will last up to 5 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Full Recipe at Chow.com