Intermountain Health’s executive chefs – many who hail from the resort industry – offers ideas to make holiday dishes healthier
(PRUnderground) December 15th, 2025
With the holidays nearing, many people are preparing to celebrate with meals both large and small. This could be cooking a traditional family favorite or experimenting with a new recipe in order to keep everyone excited and engaged around the dinner table.
At the same time, the chefs at Intermountain Health hospitals are busy preparing holiday-themed meal options for all the patients, caregivers and guests who will be in its hospitals. That is no small task since they serve 35,000 meals daily at health facilities across the Intermountain West.
Adding to that, are patients who have special dietary needs and the desire to prepare foods that provide comfort and promote healing for a diverse population of patients, caregivers, and guests.
“We serve all the traditional favorites such as turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. We also always have a vegetarian alternative to turkey,” said Christopher Delissio, an enterprise executive chef and Intermountain Health.
“This year we are featuring individual sized root vegetable pot pies and a baked butternut squash and brie with arugula and pomegranate molasses,” he added.
Here’s a few tips from Intermountain Health’s executive chefs – many who hail from the resort industry – about how to make holiday dishes healthier:
Easy Swaps to Make Your Holiday Dishes Healthier
- Swap sugar for honey in recipes like cranberry sauce to reduce the amount of sweetener needed, since honey is naturally sweeter, but also adds trace nutrients and antioxidants that refined sugar lacks.
- To cut back on sodium, lean on herbs and spices such as rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic, citrus zest, and pepper, which build flavor without relying on salt.
- Use a brine to help control sodium levels and season and penetrate the meat over time, resulting in better flavor compared to last-minute seasoning.
- For homemade mashed potatoes, it’s helpful to set aside some plain potato puree before adding mix-ins like butter, cream, or garlic, so you can tailor a separate serving for anyone with allergies or aversions, ensuring everyone has a dish to enjoy.
These thoughtful strategies not only improve the nutritional profile of your meal but also make it more welcoming for all your guests.
How to Make Holiday Dishes Appeal to Kids
Vegetables can be a tough sell for kids, especially on holidays when they might see vegetables they haven’t eaten before. Chef Delissio, who has led the kitchen at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital offers these ideas:
- Presentation can make all the difference in helping a child try a new food.
- Use naturally bright colors and serve food in smaller pieces to help prevent kids from feeling overwhelmed by large portions.
- Give dishes fun names to spark curiosity—for example, calling Brussels sprouts “Dragon’s Eggs” makes them sound exciting.
- Roast vegetables instead of steaming or boiling them to enhance their natural sweetness and add savory flavors that appeal to young palates.
- Invite children to help in the kitchen by stirring, arranging, or adding ingredients. This increases their sense of ownership and makes them more likely to enjoy eating the food they helped prepare.
By combining creativity with nutrition, you can turn mealtime into a positive and engaging experience for kids.
On past Thanksgiving menus, Intermountain Health has served a baked sage gnocchi as an alternative to turkey. The recipe is below.
BAKED SAGE GNOCCHI
A savory plant-forward spin on traditional stuffing that can also be used as an alternative to turkey. Gnocchi are small Italian dumplings made from potato, flour and eggs and can be bought already prepared. This recipe uses frozen pasta gnocchi.
About 2 lbs. or 2 quarts frozen pasta gnocchi
10 ¼ tbsp. canola/olive oil blend (75% canola/25% olive)
1 ¾ gallons of water
1 cup red onion, julienned
2 ¾ cups fresh button mushrooms, sliced
2 ½ cups zucchini squash, sliced in half moons
1 ¾ tbsp. canola/olive oil blend (75% canola/25% olive)
3/8 tsp. kosher salt
10 ¼ tbsp. crumbled feta cheese
5 tbsp. Asiago cheese, shredded
3/8 tsp. Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning
¼ tsp. black pepper, ground
¼ tsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
¼ tsp. poultry seasoning, ground
13 ¾ tbsp. vegetable broth
Step 1
In a large pot bring water to a boil. Add gnocchi into the boiling water with a strainer and cook briefly just to soften the gnocchi. Approximately 1-2 minutes. As an alternative steam the gnocchi.
Gently toss the gnocchi in some of the oil to prevent sticking. Lay out in a single layer on parchment lined sheet pans. This may need to be done in batches. Do not crowd the gnocchi.
When all gnocchi is par cooked, immediately sear on a flat top, in a tilt skillet. Sear on medium high heat. Gnocchi should be browned on both sides so that it has a bit of a hard crust but is not burnt. Cool down completely before using to finish the recipe.
This step is essential to success, and the Gnocchi must be treated gently so it does not break or stick together. Once properly seared the gnocchi is easy to work with. Gnocchi can be done a day or two in advance and held cold until ready to mix with other ingredients and cook.
Step 2
Toss the vegetables with the oil and the salt. Lay out in a single even layer on parchment lined sheet pans.
Roast at 400 degrees until the vegetables are browned and mostly cooked, but not turned to mush, approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
Step 3
Combine cheeses, seasonings and chopped sage. Toss together with the vegetable mixture and gnocchi. Pour vegetable broth into a large shallow pan. Add gnocchi and vegetable mixture and spread evenly over the pan.
Bake covered at 375 degrees for approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove the cover and continue to cook until gnocchi is hot throughout and begins to brown on top, approximately 10-15 more minutes. Yield: 12 servings of one cup each.
Calories: 314
Carbohydrates: 38.5 grams
Protein: 6.3 grams
Fat: 15 grams
Percent of calories from fat: 42.9%
Cholesterol: 9 milligrams
Sodium: 546 milligrams
Fiber: 3.2 grams
Calcium: 28 milligrams
For more recipe and health tips, see the Intermountain Health blog or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter.
About Intermountain Health
Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, over 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://news.intermountainhealth.org/. For more information, see intermountainhealth.org/ or call 801-442-2000.
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