Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, Easter gives us the chance to celebrate with friends and family—usually around a big meal topped off with a chocolate bunny. You can lighten up your Easter dinner without sacrificing flavor and boost your nutrition if you make some smart picks.
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Leg of lamb vs. spiral ham
Winner: Leg of lamb. When it comes to calories, fat, and saturated fat, there’s very little difference between these two meats. A serving of lamb (3.5 ounces) has 123 calories while the same amount of spiral ham has 109. Both have 4 grams of fat. The ham has one gram of saturated fat, the lamb has 1.6 grams. You get more iron, niacin, vitamin B12, and zinc from the lamb, but what really gives it the edge is that it has no sodium. The ham provides 895 milligrams—40 percent of the maximum amount you should have in a day.
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Green beans vs. asparagus
Winner: Asparagus. A cup of asparagus (equal to about eight medium-sized spears) is packed with folate, vitamin A, vitamin K, and iron (believe it or not, more than the lamb). The two veggies have about the same fiber count. To preserve the nutrients, color, and texture, cook asparagus until its just tender—you’ll see it turn bright green and if you pick up a spear, it should bend just slightly.
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Rice pilaf vs. roasted red potatoes
Winner: Roasted red potatoes. Not only do the potatoes have fewer calories—154 for a medium potato compared with 352 for a cup of pilaf—but they also have three times the fiber and supply vitamin C, iron, potassium, and niacin. Toss them in olive oil before roasting, and instead of sprinkling with salt, season them with fresh chives or rosemary.
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Jelly Belly Jelly Beans vs. Peeps Marshmallow Chicks
Winner: Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. All of the calories in these two treats come from sugar. There are about 6 teaspoons (25 grams)—the recommended daily maximum intake—in 25 of these tiny jelly beans (100 calories), which is considered a serving. Five Peeps have 140 calories and 34 grams of sugar.
Find the best boxed chocolate and chocolate bars in our chocolate buying guide.
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Lindt Gold Milk Chocolate Bunny vs. Lindt Gold White Chocolate Bunny
Winner: Milk Chocolate. First thing to know: The Nutrition Facts label on both the milk chocolate and white chocolate bunnies says each contains 2.5 servings. Granted, they’re 3½ ounces each, but one would think that a single bunny is a single serving. If that fact escaped you when you perused the nutritional info, you might eat the whole thing without realizing you’re getting 2.5 times the calories, fat, saturated fat, and sugar.
That said, the advantage goes to the milk chocolate rabbit. One "serving" has 270 calories, 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, and 24 grams of sugar. The white bunny has about the same calorie and sugar content, but will cost you 6 more grams of total fat and 3 more grams of saturated. But remember: Unless you're willing to consume 675 calories, 32.5 grams of fat, 20 grams of saturated fat, and 60 grams—15 teaspoons—of sugar, split the bunny with a friend.
—Trisha Calvo
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