Carla’s guide to gutsy Christmas food

The holiday season is here! A time where I love nothing more than gathering with friends and family over good (and good for you) food.  

I've whipped up some of my favourite Christmas recipes to inspire your own healthy holiday spread. From fresh seafood to salads, sides, and a mouth-watering mango dessert, they’re not only delicious but good for your gut. 

For a healthy holiday boost, try filling half of your plate with salads and veggies—a great accompaniment to any ‘main event’ Christmas meal.  

And when the rest of your schedule goes out the window, keep up your GLOW® or GLOW AGELESS™ habit with one teaspoon a day. Your holiday tummy (and skin!) will thank you. 

Carla x  

Carla’s Christmas menu 

Fresh prawn platter 

I love having fresh seafood at Christmas and prawns are always on the table. A great low-fuss option, just add a squeeze of lemon and you’re done!  

Buckwheat and seeded bread  

Gluten-free bread often gets a bad rap but this seeded loaf is delicious (especially fresh from the oven) and packed with omega-3 fats and collagen-boosting minerals. Serve with cultured butter for some probiotic power. 

Fig, pomegranate, radicchio, orange and feta salad 

This vibrant salad is one of my favourites for summer and tastes as good as it looks. Juicy figs and oranges are served alongside radicchio which contains inulin (a prebiotic), which increases bile production and helps us utilise skin-loving fats. 

Buckwheat noodles with miso-roasted pumpkin, caramelised onion and umeboshi plum salad 

Pumpkin and plum make for a superstar pairing in this moreish noodle salad. Buckwheat noodles are an excellent source of collagen building manganese and also contain rutin—a bioflavonoid that not only helps to boost and maintain capillary health but helps the body stabilise vitamin C and use it in collagen production. 

Chermoula-baked barramundi 

This gorgeous baked fish is my Christmas menu centrepiece. I love that I can prepare the chermoula paste ahead of time and leave the fish coated in the fridge overnight. It certainly makes for easy cooking come Christmas morning.

 

 

Mango & passionfruit cheesecake  

It wouldn’t be a festive feast without the perfect finisher. This gluten and dairy-free wholefood ‘cheesecake’ is a total crowd-pleaser, making the most of the fresh Australian summer fruits on offer. Another recipe that can be made ahead of time to save stress on the day! 

Carla Oates
Carla Oates Carla Oates is the founder and CEO of The Beauty Chef, and a pioneer in the ingestibles and gut health space. A former beauty editor turned wellness innovator, Carla created The Beauty Chef's first product Glow® in 2009—a groundbreaking fermented supernutrient powder with pre, pro & postbiotics. Today, she works alongside a team of naturopaths, nutritionists and microbiologists to develop The Beauty Chef's range of probiotic formulas, fermented for potency at their state-of-the-art Probiotic Lab in Sydney. Carla is also the author of three books, a longtime natural beauty columnist, and a sought-after speaker who has been featured at VOGUE Codes, WWD Beauty Summit and various international events and media.

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