Healthy Kwanzaa Recipes

Air-fried chickpea snacks are intensely flavored and incredibly crunchy. Drying the chickpeas is essential to a good crunch, so don't skip this step. If you have time, leave them out on the counter to dry for an hour or two before frying.

Thinly sliced sweet potatoes fry to a crispy crunch in the air fryer. These homemade chips also use much less oil, which cuts down on calories and fat. They're a naturally sweet side for sandwiches, burgers, wraps and more.

Here's a shrimp sheet pan supper that's roasted and caramelized to perfection! The pineapple in this recipe makes a sweet sauce that balances the heat of the Jamaican jerk seasoning.

This is the macaroni and cheese recipe that would have been made in the kitchens at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson first became familiar the creamy, cheesy baked dish of macaroni from his time in Paris and it was enslaved cooks, James Hemings, Peter Hemings, Edith Hern Fossett and Frances Gillette Hern, who prepared this favorite dish over the years. The popularization of this iconic American dish can be traced to Black cooks, like Peter Fossett (the freed son of Edith Hern Fossett), Rufus Estes and Freda De Knight, who helped spread the dish throughout the United States. Learn more about Macaroni and Cheese at Monticello.

This purple version of classic sweet potato pie has a shot of brandy, which adds another layer of seasonal flavor. Serve with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Chocolate and bourbon? Say no more. Make this delicious hot chocolate recipe from scratch on a cold winter day.

These craveworthy fish cakes are made with a blend of crabmeat and pink salmon and coated with a panko-oat crust. Served on a bed of lemony arugula with a yogurt dip, this 45-minute entree is a great choice for a healthy family dinner.

These collards can be served as a vegan main dish or as a hearty side. If possible, serve with injera, the traditional crepe-like bread common in Ethiopia (see Associated Recipe).

A blend of dried spices gives the crispy panko coating on these oven-fried chicken thighs plenty of flavor, and marinating the chicken in buttermilk makes it moist and juicy. If you don't have an oven-safe skillet, you can roast the chicken in a baking dish in Step 5. Serve with your favorite vegetables (bake them alongside the chicken to make it easy) for a healthy comfort food dinner that requires just 20 minutes of active prep time.

This recipe from Mable Clarke, a South Carolina cook and activist, is the centerpiece for the monthly fish fry she started to save the Soapstone Baptist Church in her community. Juicy inside and crispy outside, it's what hundreds of people look forward to every month. Serve with lemon juice and a quick tartar sauce of mayonnaise, capers, relish and a touch of Tabasco.

The origins of coquito, a creamy Puerto Rican coconut- and rum-based cocktail, are not fully known. Some say it comes from Spain, and others say it comes from the United States.

The dessert menu at Brigtsen's restaurant in New Orleans offers "Bread Pudding du Jour," which changes with the seasons. This sweet potato version plays well during the holidays.