Every year, the Capital Area Food Bank puts together holiday boxes that include all the comforts and trimmings of a Thanksgiving meal. Holiday staples like mac and cheese, sweet potatoes and mustard greens are among the boxes’ nearly 20 items. Agencies from across the Washington metro area order the boxes every year to distribute to their clients, often times handing out the boxes along with a Thanksgiving turkey. This November alone, the food bank will distribute 1,300 holiday boxes.
For the first time ever, the Holiday Box will include three healthy holiday recipes that feature a variety of the box’s items. The recipes span from the conventional, such as holiday stuffing, to the unique, like our Chipotle Corn Sauté, which uses adobo peppers and cheese to give canned corn a flavorful kick. Even better, the recipe cards are in both English and Spanish, and offer more than just recipes – they include cost and nutritional information, as well as healthy eating tips.
This year’s Holiday Box recipes are just a glimpse of what’s to come. Beginning in January, our website will feature a database of delicious, healthy and affordable recipes. Partners and community members can download and print recipe cards for personal use or distribute at their agency. All of our recipes, including those in this year’s Holiday Box, are designed by professional chefs and taste-tested by food bank staff and partners. We love the ones we’ve tasted so far and we think you will too.