Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes ♥ December

Seasonal Soup and Salad recipes, ideas perfect for the month of December, all from A Veggie Venture's decade+ collection of 1000+ vegetable recipes. December's recipes are mostly veg(etari)an and call for easy-to-find ingredients. Find your December salad (and soup!) inspiration here ...

Let's Give the Gift of Salads!

There's a meme flying around Facebook that upends holiday expectations. "Give Presents" turns to "Be Present." "Make Cookies" converts to "Make Memories." My mantra?

Give The Gift of Salads, celebrating the season and gifted with abandon. Somehow salads embody the "hygge" of the kitchen in a way that even summer's freshest garden salads cannot. Simple but sumptuous. Bright with winter color. Wondrous with tastes that are too rich except during the holidays, fresh, crisp greens paired with dried fruits and glazed nuts and tiny bits of pungent cheeses. And so welcomed, before and after resplendent holiday foods. Gift your family, gift yourself, gift everyone you know ... with a salad. I mean it!

About December's Recipe Collection

These are the salad (and soup!) recipes I've shared on A Veggie Venture during December since 2005. The truth is, I don't actually post often during the month of December. Ha! Should it come as a surprise that readers are more interested in cookie-baking than figuring out new ways to cook vegetables?! even if you'll be back in force in January?! So I'm quite pleased with this many-year collection. The salads are perfect for December, as seasonal as you can get. The soups will sustain you through the month, then help welcome in the new year. Happy cooking, all! Tis the Season! (And let the cookie-baking begin ...)

Quick Lists for December

(click right through or scroll down for more information on why I've chosen each recipe)

SALADS of the Month – DECEMBER
Simple Dandelion Salad 15min/15min–ww3–pp3–sp4–fs3–green3–blue3–purple3–carb5 ♥
Celery & Apple Salad 10min/10min–ww2–pp2–sp4–fs2–green2–blue2–purple2–carb8 ♥
Festive Celery, Cauliflower and Apple Salad 10min/10min–ww1–pp2–sp3–fs2–green2–blue2–purple2–carb7 ♥
Red & Green Warm Spinach Salad 40min/40min–ww3–pp4–sp4–fs3–green3–blue3–purple3–carb4 ♥
Healthy Red & Green Green-Bean Salad 25min/25min–ww1–pp1–sp2–fs1–green1–blue1–purple1–carb6 ♥
Festive Holiday Salad (my signature salad!) 10min/10min–ww5–pp6–sp8–fs8–green8–blue8–purple8–carb11 ♥
Easy Make-Ahead Endive & Apple Salad 20min/24hrs–ww3–pp4–sp5–fs5–green5–blue5–purple5–carb4 ♥

SOUPS of the Month – DECEMBER
Cabbage & White Bean Stew 20min/24hrs–ww1–pp2–sp3–fs0–green1–blue0–purple0–carb13 ♥
Hoppin' John Soup 40min/2hrs–ww2–pp3–sp3–fs1–green2–blue1–purple1–carb9 ♥
New Year's Soup with Black-eyed Peas & Collard Greens 30min/90min–ww1–pp2–sp3–fs1–green1–blue1–purple1–carb10 ♥

Want to Know More?

There's more info about each recipe below. Just scroll down!

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Seasonal Salads for DECEMBER

Simple Dandelion Salad Concept Recipe. Vegetarian but Easily Vegan. Naturally Gluten Free. Low Carb. It's been eight years but still, I so remember the day when my personal mantra for the holidays became, "Let's Give Salads with Abandon". Truth? I have no idea what the presents were that year, given or received. But I do remember that simple salad, especially how it eased a stressful shopping day. I "give" it every single year. PS Some of my better writing here too, me thinks. PPS Dandelion greens definitely not required.

Celery & Apple Salad Quick. Vegan. Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free. Weight Watchers Friendly. Whole30 Friendly. One of my very favorite salads on all of A Veggie Venture, a wintry mix of celery leaves, apples and a seductive lemon vinaigrette. Watch the produce section for celery stalks with lots of leaves, this is the salad you want, a celebration of celery leaves! There's a version with cauliflower too, Festive Celery, Cauliflower and Apple Salad.

Red & Green Warm Spinach Salad Vegetarian. Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free. Very Christmas-y! So festive and pretty, yes?! I adore red and green salads for Christmas! This Middle-Eastern spinach-yogurt-pomegranate combination is totally captivating and refreshing, way more than the sum of its parts.

Healthy Red & Green Green-Bean Salad Vegan. Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free. Very Weight Watchers Friendly. Whole30 Friendly. Who's noticed that fresh green beans are prettier in November and early December than most other times of the year, including summer? That makes green beans perfect for this simple salad, a heathy "concept" salad for holiday buffets, potlucks and special meals, a red and green salad that looks as festive as it is healthy.

Festive Holiday Salad Super Easy to Make, No Measuring! Works for One to Many. Naturally Gluten Free. Low Carb. Say "hey, beautiful" to my signature salad during the winter months, no recipe really required, just the suggestion of a few common pantry ingredients. I love how it works for one or two (post-shopping, say) or easily feeds a crowd.

Easy Make-Ahead Endive & Apple Salad Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free. Great Crunch. Did I mention Easy & Make-Ahead? This simple endive and apple salad comes from the Alsace in northeastern France on the Rhine River plain. It borders Germany, so the food is a mix of French and German. But for us? It's a great make-ahead choice for holiday buffets or potluck gatherings, adding welcome freshness and a bit of "crunch" to rich food. Better yet for harried holiday cooks? It's good the first day, even better the second!

Seasonal Soups for DECEMBER

Cabbage & White Bean Stew Quick to Make. Vegan. Naturally Gluten Free. Very Weight Watchers Friendly! This is one of my oldest, most favorite recipe, just recently I came across the original 3x5 recipe card! It's a quick and simple cabbage soup studded with carrots, celery and beans. Better still? It's spartan and spare, a welcome reset for our bodies and tastebuds after indulging in rich, heavy food. If you're going to a holiday event at lunch? Plan this for supper. If you're going to an evening event? Plan this for lunch. It's a great way to balance the day.

Hoppin' John Soup Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free. Hearty Tasting While Still Weight Watchers Friendly. For a double-dose of good luck in the new year, try a soup version of Hoppin' John, the traditional food of "good fortune" in the American South. It's packed with lucky black-eyed peas and for extra measure, lucky collard greens too. Rave reviews!

New Year's Soup with Black-eyed Peas & Collard Greens Vegan. Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free. Very Weight Watchers Friendly. Another soup for the end of one year, the beginning of the next, a tradition to follow year after year. By southern tradition, black-eyed peas bring "good fortune" to the new year and greens – any green, that's collard greens, turnip greens, kale, chard, etc – bring "financial success". Why risk it?

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An Entire Year of Seasonal Soup & Salad Recipes? It's COMPLETE!

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from A Veggie Venture

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from Kitchen Parade, my food column

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Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

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