While the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is known for potato latkes, jelly doughnuts, and other fried foods, man cannot live on potato pancakes alone for eight days. All that fried food and sugar can make the Festival of Lights seem anything but ... light. The trick is to balance the Hanukkah treats with some "real food" like these hearty winter dishes. The holiday recipes below are elegant enough to delight your friends and family while letting the traditional foods on your Hanukkah menu shine brightly.

Oven-Braised Beef Brisket

Beef brisket is a welcome centerpiece at many a Jewish holiday table, from Passover to Rosh Hashanah to Hanukkah. This Yummly original recipe is brimming with rich flavors (and tastes even better the next day), and features a homemade pan gravy.

Oven-Braised Beef Brisket by Yummly

Chicken with Apricots, Prunes, and Carrots

Don't let the lengthy ingredient list scare you away from this delicious and filling main course; it's mostly spices and liquids that are tossed together to make a sweet honey-and-dried-fruit sauce that covers the easy-to-clean-up-after sheet pan meal. The recipe is also easily halved if you've got a smaller crowd around your holiday table.

“Tzimmes” Chicken with Apricots, Prunes, and Carrots by Epicurious

Bourbon Coffee Beef Brisket

For a less traditional take on beef brisket, check out this Thanksgiving-inspired recipe with a double shot of bourbon: one for the brisket and one for the cranberry sauce (OK, fine, triple shot, if you need one, too). Rubbed with coffee and fennel, this Hanukkah recipe is sure to wake up your guests and have them asking for more.

Bourbon and Coffee Braised Brisket with Cranberry Sauce by What Jew Wanna Eat

Slow Cooker Beef Cholent

Cholent, a classic Jewish stew of hearty beans, potatoes, and short ribs for Shabbat, will warm up any cold December night. While it spends 12-15 hours in the slow cooker, you'll have nothing left to do but sit back, relax, and pop a couple jelly doughnuts.

Slow Cooker Beef Cholent by Fit Slow Cooker Queen

Olive Oil Confit Chicken with Cipollini Onions

Confit chicken is a delightful way to celebrate the miracle of the oil. These chicken thighs are baked with rosemary in four cups of olive oil; when you're finished cooking, you're left with a delicious rosemary, lemon, onion, and fennel-infused oil that you can use to fry up latkes the next day. This is yet another recipe that can be made mostly in advance and finished off in 10 minutes the day you serve it.

Olive Oil Confit Chicken with Cipollini Onions by Epicurious

Citrus and Herb Oil Poached Salmon

The bright flavors of lemon and orange combine with fresh herbs for a light and elegant centerpiece that provides balance to richer side dishes. Poaching the salmon in olive oil not only allows you to keep with Hanukkah traditions of cooking with oil but also results in a tender, delicate fillet. Use blood oranges to add an extra pop of color to your Hanukkah celebration.

Citrus and Herb Oil Poached Salmon by Fodmap Everyday

Moroccan Style Beef Brisket with Dried Fruit and Capers

This brisket recipe is replete with spices, fruits, and winter vegetables for a savory meal that you'll want to keep on your holiday table year round. This spin on the Jewish favorite would be wonderful served with these low-carb cumin and sweet potato latkes.

Moroccan Style Brisket with Dried Fruit and Capers by Once Upon A Chef

Lamb Shanks With Pomegranate And Walnuts

Lamb shanks are decadent in and of themselves, but, when combined with pomegranate molasses, walnuts, wine, and spices, you have a dish worthy of any holiday meal. Save the doughnuts for another day — this recipe is best followed by a bite of Hanukkah gelt.

Lamb Shanks With Pomegranate And Walnuts by Epicurious