Healthy Holiday & Occasion Dinner Recipes

If you've never grilled lobster, you're in for a treat. The smokiness of a charcoal, wood or even a gas grill adds great flavor. If you are squeamish about the idea of cutting a live lobster, ask your fishmonger to do it for you, but be sure to cook the lobsters within about an hour after they have been cut.

Typically, pressed sandwiches are a celebration of many meats. Here, we've opted for grilled eggplant slices, artichokes and arugula to make a satisfying vegetarian version. Giardiniera, a type of Italian relish typically made from bell peppers, celery, carrots, cauliflower, olives, vinegar and spices, perks up the flavors of any sandwich. You can use convenient prepared giardiniera or homemade. Choose a hot or mild version, depending on your preference for heat.

Give classic pasta salad a fresher, more flavorful spin. This fast pasta dish calls for avocado to replace some of the mayonnaise, which makes it extra creamy. Whole-wheat elbow macaroni and fresh vegetables lighten up this healthy pasta salad that you'll be making all summer long.

Make this classic version of sweet and tangy barbecue baked beans in an electric pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, in a fraction of the time it would take in the slow cooker or on the stove.

These vegetarian and vegan baked beans are everything you want them to be--thick, sweet and smoky. Plus, they're so easy to make for a barbecue side that everyone will enjoy.

You can make these three-ingredient tomato-simmered eggs with things you probably already have on hand in your freezer and pantry. To make these baked eggs more like eggs in purgatory, look for a spicy tomato sauce and don't forget some whole-wheat bread for dipping.

These grilled kebabs have all the makings of a classic fajita--seasoned chicken, onions and peppers. Warm a stack of tortillas in a foil packet on the side of the grill to turn the kebabs into an easy fajita dinner. Or serve with lime-and-cilantro coleslaw for a grain-free alternative.

The classic flavors of jambalaya come together in these easy-peasy smoked sausage kebabs. Celery is one of the classic flavors in traditional jambalaya, so we included a pinch of celery seed in the marinade.

We've divided the tofu and veggies onto separate skewers because the tofu is delicate and sticks to the grill more easily than the eggplant and zucchini. If you like, swap halloumi cheese for the tofu for another twist on this combination.

This healthy take on a classic Italian dessert is far from traditional, thanks to ripe mangoes, agave syrup, and a creamy yogurt filling.

This super-quick vegetable side dish comes together in no time. Fresh snap peas need only a few minutes in a hot skillet-just enough time to whip up a simple soy-ginger glaze.

Yep, there's cauliflower in this potato salad. It cuts down on the carbs and calories, and is a perfect match for our tangy horseradish dressing.

Instead of deep-frying, the fish fillets in this quick-and-easy 5-ingredient recipe are coated with a flavorful seasoning blend and baked. Several varieties of flaky white fish can be used for these tacos. When you go to the market to purchase fish, the best strategy is to be flexible and choose the variety that looks freshest that day.

Nothing beats the taste of freshly griddled corn tortillas! They are easy to make, but you do need masa harina, which is available in Latin American markets and large supermarkets. Masa harina is made from corn kernels that are dried, treated with lime and then ground into a fresh dough. The dough is dried and ground into a powder to make masa harina (which means "dough flour").

This warming slow-cooker stew has all the flavors of corned beef and cabbage but with much less sodium, plus it's ready in half the time of traditional corned beef and cabbage. Rather than curing the beef in a salty brine for at least a day, we just throw the beef and veggies into a crock pot with pickling spice for that delicous briny flavor without the long soaking period.

In this healthy whole-wheat Irish soda bread recipe, the addition of fruit and caraway seeds is often referred to as ''spotted dog,'' but you can omit them if you prefer a more traditional Irish soda bread. Baked in a skillet, this crowd-pleasing bread is delicious eaten warm with a pat of butter.

A small quantity of compound butter, seasoned with garlic and herbs, makes a simple but delicious finish for a tender steak. We have rounded out this colorful healthy meal with roasted broccolini and mashed sweet potato--the perfect impressive yet easy dinner for date night-in.

Indulge your nacho cravings with this healthy vegetarian nacho recipe that's loaded with vegetables (thanks in part to roasted cauliflower standing in for chips) and protein-packed beans, and has a lot more fiber than traditional nachos. These baked cauliflower nachos, piled with guacamole, melty cheese, fresh pico de gallo and avocado, are great as an appetizer or could be eaten as a light dinner.

Take your veggies and dip to the next level with this colorful crudité wreath. This vegetable appetizer is a stunner with white cauliflower, red tomatoes and green broccoli, green beans, snap peas, kale and Brussels sprouts. It's also a delicious way to start your celebration with veggies (which there are rarely enough of at parties and holidays). The homemade ranch dip, which uses nonfat Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, takes just a few minutes to make, or you can use a healthy store-bought dip.

Sautéeing butternut squash in olive oil quickly yields perfectly cooked results and slighly caramelizes the squash for extra flavor. This recipe makes a delicious vegetable side dish to pair with roasted meats.