Festive baked grapes and feta recipe to boost your eye health this Christmas
How can grapes benefit your eye health?
As exciting as the festive season is, we know it can also be incredibly stressful when meal planning for the Christmas period – especially if you’re hosting! Today’s recipe is perfect if you’re looking for a quick starter or side dish with only five minutes of preparation time (plus 25 minutes in the oven) required. We’re sharing our favourite baked grapes and feta recipe which is ideal for when you want something speedy but delicious. Grapes also have numerous benefits for your eye health which we’ll of course share with you – just so you can enjoy a load of melted feta alongside them, and know that you’re giving your vision a little boost at the same time.
One of the ways in which grapes are thought to benefit your eye health is that they can contribute to a decreased risk of developing cataracts. 18 million people have cataract treatment each year, highlighting just how common an issue they are. Cataracts naturally form with age, occurring when the natural lens in your eye becomes cloudy, due to proteins clumping together. This impairs your eyesight and, if left untreated, it can leave people with fully impaired vision.
Research which looked at the variation between diets in the US and in the Mediterranean found that the differences between the two actually contributed to worse eye health (amongst numerous other organs and functions) in the US. This research noted that a typical Mediterranean diet is rich in grapes and the antioxidants in these are suspected to prevent the clumping of proteins within your eye’s lens, therefore preventing a cataract from forming. Additional research also found that a diet heavy in natural antioxidants, such as those found in grapes, promotes healthy retinal pigment epithelium cells and overall improved retinal health and function. This contributes to a decreased risk of age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease which causes your central vision to deteriorate.
So, there you have it. Grapes have benefits for your eye health and also obviously count as one of your five a day when it comes to ensuring you get enough fruit and veg. Now we’ll share our favourite baked grapes and feta recipe which is sure to go down a treat this Christmas.
Christmas baked grapes and feta recipe
First things first, the quantities in this recipe are variable to your own taste. You can add more or less of any ingredient to ensure that the dish is right for you.
Ingredients:
- 1 punnet of black or red grapes
- 1 block of feta
- 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 2 tablespoons of a dried herb of your choice (thyme or oregano recommended)
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Bread to serve
Method:
- Place the feta in the middle of baking tray and surround it with the grapes (removed from the bunch).
- Drizzle over your olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey. Toss and shake the tray to ensure an even coating on all of your grapes.
- Sprinkle your dried herbs over the tray and add your sprigs of rosemary on top. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the tray into a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celsius and bake for 25 minutes, or until the feta is browning.
- Serve with bread – either dip your bread into the feta if you’re a family of sharers, or spread the feta onto individual slices of toast and top with the roasted grapes.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! If you do make this recipe, please send us some photos via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter – we’d love to see!
Recipe inspired by and adapted from Olive, In The Mood For Food, and Grapes From California with our own Optimax twist and recommendations.
