Meat Lover’s Holiday Recipe Meal Plan

In Celebration of the Holiday Season, I wanted to share some of my favorite recipe combinations that make for the perfect holiday meals. This recipe series is perfect for meat-eaters. For vegetarians and vegans, check out my Vegetarian Holiday Recipe Series.

Simple Garlic Onion Soup 

*Serves 4

There are so many wonderful ways to benefit from garlic: eating it raw in salad dressings, adding it to soups and vegetables, and slowly baking whole garlic heads. There is even garlic ice cream! The soup becomes ideal for vegetarians if you use a vegetable broth.

I love making this garlic onion soup at least every few weeks. It’s rich and warming boosts immune function and cleanses the liver and bloodstream. Concerned about garlic breath? Just chew on some fresh parsley and share your soup with everyone around you.

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
• 4 whole garlic cloves
• Virgin cold-pressed olive oil
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1⁄4 cup white wine
• Sea salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley
• Croutons (optional)
• Hard goat cheddar (optional)

Directions

Cut the tops off the garlic heads just enough to expose the upper part of the clove. Drizzle olive oil over the heads, place them on a cookie sheet or small enamel dish, and bake them in the oven for 1 hour at 300°F. While the garlic is baking, put the onions in a large sauté pan with a little olive oil over low heat. Let them caramelize, stirring occasionally. When the onions are caramelized, turn off the heat and add the broth. When the garlic has finished baking, gently squeeze the cloves out of their skins and add them to the soup along with the white wine. Simmer the soup gently for 30 minutes so the flavors blend. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve, sprinkling some fresh parsley on top. As an option, you can also pour the soup into bowls prepared with croutons and hard goat cheddar.

Lamb w/ Balsamic-Glazed Vegetables 

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon ground fennel
• 3 lb lamb roast, deboned and well-trimmed of fat 
• 1 large red onion, cut into eighths
• 1 large parsnip
• 2 medium new potatoes, quartered
• 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Combine the salt, pepper, coriander, rosemary, mint, thyme, and fennel in a small bowl. Rub the seasonings all over the lamb roast.
2. Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker and add the lamb roast. Add the remaining vegetables. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the vegetables.
3. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then turn to low for 10–12 hours.

Apple Hazelnut Tart 

*Serves 8. Preparation time: 1 hour.

Photo by Dilyara Garifullina on Unsplash

Often we get the desire for a sweet dessert or pastry at breakfast time, but we know better than to eat sugary foods. This tart will fill the bill as it satisfies your sweet tooth. The combination of apples and nuts will provide stable energy and you can eat to your heart’s content. 

Ingredients 

Crust

• 2 cups hazelnuts  
• 2 cups almond flour or rice flour, plus ¼ cup almond or rice flour
• 2 eggs (duck or chicken)
• 1 tablespoon water
• Butter for greasing the pan
• 1 cup dried peas or beans (to weigh down crust)

Filling: 

• 2 apples, sliced into thin wedges 
• ½ tablespoon pure fruit spread (huckleberry, raspberry, strawberry, or blueberry) 
• ½ cup huckleberry juice or apple juice 
• 1 tablespoon oat flour
• ¼ cup hazelnuts, chopped

Directions 

For the crust

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Grind hazelnuts into a fine flour and combine with the 2 cups of almond or rice flour in a bowl.
3. Mix the eggs with the water and add this to the flour, mixing until a moist dough is formed. 
4. Place the remaining ¼ cup of flour onto a wooden cutting board. Form the dough into a ball and place on the board, kneading the dough lightly to integrate until you have a silky dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. 
5. Remove the dough from the fridge. Rub a pie plate or tart plate with a thin layer of butter to grease it. 
6. Flatten the dough a little and put it in the greased pie plate, pressing it to the edges of the pie plate. You may need to use some flour on your fingers so they don’t get stuck. Press the dough up the walls until it’s about 1/8-inch thick on the base. It’s okay to have extra flour in the dough. Carefully press the dough into the corners of the pan
7. Place a round parchment paper (see NOTE) on top of the dough. Spread the dried peas over the parchment (this keeps the crust from bubbling up while it’s cooking and it remains flat). 
8. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until dried out. Remove the peas and the parchment. 

For the filling

1. Place the sliced apples in the baking dish, fanning the apple slices around the edges of the pie crust, working from the edge to the center in a circular design. 
2. Carefully spread the jam over the apples. 
3. Mix together the huckleberry juice and oat flour and place in a small saucepan. Heat gently over low heat to integrate, but do not boil. Pour this over the apples. 
4. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts over the tart and bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes until the apples are tender.

NOTE: To make a rounded parchment paper, fold a square piece of parchment paper into a series of triangles until you have a thin, long triangle. Holding the point of the triangle at the center of the pie plate, and the base of the triangle at the rim of the pie plate, and cut off any excess paper that extends beyond the rim. Unfold the paper and you end up with a round parchment paper. 

Happy Cooking! Let me know what you think. I always love to hear feedback and fun cooking stories. These recipes are from Natural Woman: Herbal Remedies for Radiant Health at Every Stage of Life, Nutrition Essentials for Mental Health: A Complete Guide to the Food-Mood Connection, Salish Country Cookbook: Traditional Foods and Medicines from the Pacific Northwest. 

• Author
• Recent Posts

Leslie Korn, PhD, MPH

Leslie Korn, PhD, MPH, is a Doctor of Behavioral Medicine and a pioneer in natural and integrative medicine for mental health and chronic illness. She is the author of 10 books and the developer of the Brainbow Blueprint® model.

She served as a Fulbright scholar on traditional medicine, a Clinical Fellow at Harvard Medical School, and a National Institutes of Health-funded research scientist in mind/body medicine.

Latest posts by Leslie Korn, PhD, MPH (see all)

• Fiber and Fermented Foods: Your “Best Friends Forever” for Gut and Mental Health - April 13, 2026
• Somatic Therapies for Trauma: A Body-Based Approach to PTSD and Recovery - April 6, 2026
• Culture as Medicine: Why Trauma Must Be Healed in Cultural Context - March 27, 2026