Halloween’s just around the corner and you’ve probably already been planning. Invitations have been sent, costumes picked, decorations designed…but, there’s still something missing. You’ve planned out plates-full of delicious eats – sweets, punches -- but they’re not quite Halloween-y enough, and there’s a lack of healthy options. Chips and queso? The only scary thing about that is its lack of nutrition.
No need to scream about it though, and no need to fret over the lack of fright conveyed by what you currently have planned for party provisions. A dash of chilling chickpeas here, bloodcurdling barley over there, and some alarming lentils everywhere, and your Halloween cuisine will become the perfect mix of horrifying and healthy. For starters, here’s a list selected from our own recipes page that can easily be dressed in a costume to give these dishes the terrifying twist you need:
| RECIPE NAME | RECIPE NAME WITH HALLOWEEN TWIST |
| 1. Green Lentil Stew | Ghastly Green Lentil Stew |
| 2. Farro & Kale Soup | Freaky Farro & Conniving Kale Soup |
| 3. Crimson Lentil & Apple Salad | Blood-Crimson Lentil & Forbidden Fruit Salad |
| 4. Lentil Lasagna | Distressingly Delicious Lentil Lasagna |
| 5. Purple Prairie Barley Stuffed Squash | The Screaming Squash That Got Stuffed (with Purple Prairie Barley) |
| 6. Chocolate Lentil Cake | Chocolate Lentil Cake So Good It’ll Give You Chills |
| 7. Delectable Brownies | Death by Delectable Brownies |
That’s only a short and sweet assortment drawn from the many recipes available on our website. However, if your RSVP list is going to require a bit more sustenance than the list we’ve laid out, let your imagination be the limit, and go ahead and apply some Halloween word play on any number of the remainder of our recipes.
If you’re not the Halloween party type and still want to treat your family to a bit of seasonally thematic fun, then the above recipe retitling can be just as applicable. In fact, you could turn it into a game with the kid(s) which can turn into a lesson on both cooking (healthy) and creativity. By spending time teaching your kid(s) how to make any number of the healthy Halloween-themed dishes above you accomplish three things at once:
1. Learning how to cook a homemade meal.
2. Inspiring creative thought processing.
3. Pride for having accomplished making and creatively re-naming a dish that they can boast as 100% their own.
If you’re a parent the added bonus is that you have also, in that process, taught them that healthy eating can be yummy and fun. And, in doing so, you ensure a future for them where placing health among their top priorities will simply be a norm.
Parties and parenting aside, we hope you all discover a frightfully fun way to get out and enjoy this season’s splendors and spooks. Happy fall everyone!