From a festive pear salad to delicious pumpkin bars and a warming winter soup, the Tao to Wellness team shares a few favorites for your holiday table.
The holidays have a way of bringing us together around food. Whether it’s a beautifully prepared Thanksgiving dinner, a cozy gathering with friends, or a quiet evening at home, there’s something special about the dishes we look forward to making each year.
At Tao to Wellness, we believe food is more than just fuel. In Chinese medicine, food is also a way to nourish the body, support digestion, and stay connected to the rhythms of the seasons.
And while we love a good holiday indulgence (because life is meant to be enjoyed!), we also appreciate dishes that leave us feeling nourished rather than overstuffed.
So this year, we asked our acupuncturists to share a favorite holiday recipe. Deanna, Marny, and Emily each chose something a little different, and together they’ve given us a lovely seasonal menu.
Deanna’s Pick: Pear Salad with Balsamic and Walnuts
Fresh, colorful, and a lovely balance to all those rich holiday dishes.
Not everything on the holiday table needs to be warm and hearty, often a crisp, beautiful salad is exactly what a meal needs for balance and variety.
Deanna chose this gorgeous pear salad from Love and Lemons, featuring ripe pears, tender greens, thinly sliced fennel, dried cranberries, toasted nuts, and shaved pecorino cheese, all finished with a balsamic vinaigrette.
It’s a wonderful combination of sweet, savory, crunchy, and tangy, and it looks just as beautiful as it tastes.
A Little Chinese Medicine Wisdom
Pears have a special place in Chinese medicine, particularly during autumn, the season associated with the Lung system.
Traditionally, pears are considered cooling and moistening. They’re often used to nourish fluids, soothe dryness, and support the Lungs, especially when the air becomes dry during the fall and winter.
Walnuts bring another interesting dimension. In Chinese dietary therapy, walnuts are traditionally associated with nourishing Kidney Yang and supporting the Lungs.
Fennel, meanwhile, is considered warming and is traditionally used to support digestion and ease certain types of abdominal discomfort.
Together, these ingredients offer an interesting balance of cooling and warming qualities.
Why we love it: It’s refreshing without being boring, and the combination of pears, fennel, and walnuts brings several traditional Chinese dietary principles to the holiday table.
Get Deanna’s complete pear salad recipe
Marny’s Pick: Chocolate Chip Coconut Flour Pumpkin Bars
Because a little chocolate belongs at the holiday table, too.
Let’s be clear: healthy eating doesn’t mean skipping dessert!
Marny chose these delicious pumpkin bars from Ambitious Kitchen, and they’re a lovely alternative to some of the heavier holiday sweets.
Made with pumpkin purée, coconut flour, almond butter, maple syrup, warming spices, and dark chocolate chips, these bars have all the cozy flavors of pumpkin pie with a little chocolate thrown in for good measure.
They’re naturally gluten-free and the combination of pumpkin, eggs, and almond butter gives them a little more nutritional substance than a typical dessert bar.
A Little Chinese Medicine Wisdom
Pumpkin is considered sweet and warming in Chinese medicine, with an affinity for the Spleen and Stomach systems, which are responsible for transforming food into nourishment and energy.
Traditionally, pumpkin is used to support digestion and strengthen Spleen Qi, particularly when someone experiences fatigue or digestive weakness.
But the spices deserve some attention, too.
Ginger is considered warming and is traditionally used to support the Stomach and ease certain types of digestive discomfort.
Cinnamon and cloves are also warming spices, traditionally associated with encouraging warmth and supporting the body’s Yang energy.
From a modern nutritional perspective, pumpkin provides beta-carotene, while almond butter contributes healthy fats and some protein.
Why we love it: These bars strike a lovely balance between wholesome ingredients and holiday indulgence. They’re sweet enough to feel like dessert without being overwhelmingly rich.
Get Marny’s complete pumpkin bar recipe
Emily’s Pick: Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Warm, comforting, and perfect for a chilly holiday evening.
There’s something about a bowl of creamy pumpkin soup that feels like a warm hug. Emily chose a beautiful recipe from Cookie and Kate that combines roasted pumpkin, coconut milk, and aromatic spices for a soup that’s rich and satisfying without feeling heavy.
The roasted pumpkin provides natural sweetness, while cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves give it that unmistakable holiday flavor. And with coconut milk instead of heavy cream, it’s easy to make entirely plant-based.
A Little Chinese Medicine Wisdom
Like Marny’s pumpkin bars, Emily’s soup features an ingredient that Chinese medicine has long valued for supporting digestion and nourishing the Spleen and Stomach.
But there’s something particularly appealing about enjoying pumpkin as a warm, cooked soup. In Chinese dietary therapy, warm, cooked foods are generally considered easier on the digestive system than cold or raw foods, particularly during the cooler months.
The addition of warming spices complements pumpkin’s naturally sweet, nourishing qualities. Cinnamon, for example, is traditionally associated with warming the interior and dispelling cold.
This makes pumpkin soup a lovely choice for people who tend to feel chilly, experience digestive sluggishness, or simply crave something grounding and comforting as winter approaches.
Why we love it: It’s cooked, warming, easy to digest, and full of seasonal ingredients. Just the kind of nourishment Chinese medicine encourages as we transition into winter.
Get Emily’s complete pumpkin soup recipe
A Healthier Holiday, One Delicious Bite at a Time
One of the things we love about Chinese medicine is its emphasis on balance.
Food doesn’t have to be perfect to be nourishing. And the holidays certainly aren’t the time to turn every meal into a nutritional calculation.
Instead, we encourage you to enjoy the foods you love, incorporate seasonal ingredients, pay attention to how your body feels, and remember that the experience of sharing a meal matters, too.
Whether you’re preparing a big holiday feast or bringing one special dish to a gathering, we hope these recipes inspire you to try something new.
From all of us at Tao to Wellness, we wish you a holiday season filled with good food, good company, and plenty of opportunities to nourish yourself.
Happy holidays from Deanna, Marny, Emily, Veronica and Christina